Monday, September 7, 2015
The Disturbing Spiderhead
George Saunders' "Escape from Spiderhead" was an interesting, thought-provoking short story. It was similar to other dystopian stories such as: Brave New World, The Hunger Games and Divergent. All are set in a futuristic setting where authorities are experimenting on or controlling the thoughts of other members of society. Initially, the book's plot is confusing as the author puts the reader in the middle of the story. As the plot develops, this dystopia becomes more disturbing. Despite the story only being 44 pages, Saunders' rich detail makes it easy to imagine oneself in such a society. Similar to Brave New World, the main character is so distraught at living in a world in which one does not control one's own emotions that he decides to take his own life.
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I agree that Escape from Spiderhead is similar to Divergent. The testing done on Jeff seems similar to the testing done on Tris because both test what the participant would do under certain conditions. Jeff has to interact with Heather and Rachel after being administered drugs by Abnesti. Similarly, Tris has to interact with Four and Four has to interact with his father in their own respective fear landscapes. Additionally, Jeff and Tris both try to defy the system that they are in and avoid the testing.
ReplyDeleteThe connection between this story and the other popular novels is interesting because they all discuss the over exertion of government power. These types of ideas kind of make me think as to if there are any similarities in our modern day society.
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