Over Thanksgiving break, I read this book Ready Player One on a whim. It was a
young adult futuristic novel that takes place in the year 2044. In a world
driven by natural disasters, resource shortages, and overpopulation, there is a
vast online virtual reality universe called OASIS that people—especially the
main character Wade—spend all their time on in order to escape their bleak
reality. The world is filled with everything from virtual reality videogames to
virtual classrooms. However, people who engage in the virtual reality world are
all obsessed with one common mission—the quest of finding the virtual “keys” in
that world somewhere that would eventually lead to the late OASIS founder’s
fortune, a fortune that he left behind for the first person that would solve
his riddles and find all three of his “keys”, in order to claim both his
fortune and control of OASIS. The game pits unlikely hero Wade against
corporations battling to find the keys and take control of OASIS with entry
fees and limited access.
Though I mostly considered Ready Player One to be a fast-paced, thrilling adventure book, I
also found it to contain revelations about our current and future society. We’ve
become increasingly virtual since personal computers and cell phones were made.
As time progresses and technology gets even more elaborate, would we choose to
abandon reality in favor of virtual worlds? In the novel, the main character Wade
has lost his parents from an early age, and lives with extended family that he
hates, so it makes sense that he would spend all his time involved in his
online quest. But what about other people who live in close-knit families and
communities? Would they choose to separate themselves from the “real” people
around them to pursue the experiences and people that the encounter online?
Another topic that is addressed in this novel is regarding
the differences in the ways we present ourselves online versus the ways we
present ourselves in real life. In the reality world, Wade augments his
features, making his avatar slightly slimmer and less acne-prone. One of his
best friends on OASIS is this avatar named Aech. Aech is a white male, and yet
Wade finds out later in the book that the person behind Aech is actually a
black female who made her avatar white and male because she thought being a white
guy would make her more successful and give her more opportunities. It’s no
secret that when we can create virtual versions of ourselves even in today’s
society—in games, social forums, etc.—we often augment the “good” parts of
ourselves, like Wade, or change our appearance entirely, like Aech, in order to
communicate across to others a better version of ourselves. Though we might be
able to project our “ideal” selves, it does potentially hurt the genuineness of
our communication—we might become entirely different people on the Internet,
and people would make friends with not our true selves but the selves we
project.
This sounds like an excellent book!
ReplyDeleteOne of the awesome things about science fiction is that it provides its audience space and distance from contemporary issues to reexamine them through the lens of a different society. It sounds like this society provides a perfect perspective from which to examine the effect of technology on our lives and the way in which we behave in relation to technology. It seems that prejudices and struggles that we find offline find their way online both in this novel and in real life, which seems to be a reminder that technology is ultimately what we make of it and how we use it, rather than something inherently good or evil by itself. As technology continues to advance, the lessons that you point out in this book will become ever increasingly important to us. Great post!
I also really enjoyed this book when I read it in eighth grade, and I think you did a really good job explaining some of the important themes of the novel. In addition to the themes you identified, I think the novel also has an anti-capitalist element to it. An important actor in the novel is the corporation IOI, who seeks to win the key hunt within OASIS and then charge its users a monthly fee (OASIS is currently free to use). This fee would make OASIS inaccessible for poorer individuals, which is especially problematic because most of life now takes place within OASIS. Cline also portrays IOI as Wade's main competitor and the antagonist of the novel throughout the key hunt, further developing this anti-capitalist element of the story.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY want to read this book now! you don't know what a feat that is. I haven't wanted to read a book since... Well... I think I was still wearing skorts. But the whole action/dystopia/video game combination sounds really compelling! Adding it to my list (actually, creating a list, and it's only one item long).
ReplyDeleteDude, I just wrote my blog post about this! Such a great book! (I mean, you were the one to recommend it to me...)
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was how it blurred the lines between reality and the game. Cline's subtle language usage sometimes tricks the reader into forgetting the characters we're seeing are not actually real. This often happens when we hear about the death of an avatar. Cline uses language that makes us feel so upset when an avatar dies, and he even mentions some characters going into grief after their brother's avatar dies. But then we remember that the avatar is a simulated character and that the person controlling the avatar is perfectly fine and probably taking a much needed stretch as they create a new avatar. We get attached to the characters and forget that they are fake projected images and could be some random person who is completely different (as is the case with Aech).
Great blog post! Love the book and thanks again for the recommendation!