The new kind of social interaction.
Is Wade antisocial?
Now,
for some of you the answer to that is a resounding yes. However, I believe the
situation is more complex than that.
While towards the end of the
book we can see that Cline is developing Wade into a more social person, we
sort of get Turkle’s “Alone, Together” concept. For example, when all of the
players get together at Ogden Morrow’s house, they all log on to the OASIS in
separate, neighboring pods. When Wade logs in, he is suddenly highly secluded
on his asteroid stronghold. What’s happening is sort of the reverse of Turkle’s
idea. They are together, but alone. Only to be together again online. When you think about it, you notice that
these last scenes are the first time since the beginning of the novel Wade is
physically with others, besides the times when he ventures out but does not
speak with anyone. In the beginning of
the novel, we only see Wade interact with his aunt and his neighbor. We can see that in reality, Wade isn’t actually
interacting socially.
In the
beginning of the book Wade admits that he only has one friend, and at the end
he finds he wants to spend more time with real people. He is not pretending to
be very social, and there’s no denying his advancement. However, I believe that as the narrator, Wade
is painting a picture of himself as slightly more social than he really is. In the opening scenes of the novel he says he
is close with his neighbor, but there is only really “telling,” and very little
“showing.” When the explosion occurs, Wade is only moderately upset over her
death. Overall, the relationship isn’t convincing. Wade calls Aech his friend that
he tells everything to. In the beginning before the two have met, Wade has no
doubts about the closeness of their relationship. However, even if they are
emotionally close, he still doesn’t know crucial details of her personal life. Wade additionally often says that Artemis,
Daito, and Shoto are his friends. He
hardly knows Daito and Shoto, the latter especially. He only met Shoto about
twice, both times on OASIS. In the case
of Artemis, the two have undoubtedly gotten close, but their romantic feelings
get in the way of them having a real friendship. I believe Wade feels a kinship
with these people for being in a similar situation to him, but I think he is
confusing this with a real friendship. Overall, while Wade is becoming more
social, he seems to hype his relationships to more than they are.
Cline
also creates a strange dilemma in “Ready Player One.” He is making Wade find
his way back to social interaction by putting him in an individual competition
where in many cases it is best to isolate oneself. Maybe Cline is trying to draw attention to the
necessity of social interaction?
So, give me your opinions. Do you think Wade is antisocial? Why or why
not?
I don't necessarily think that Wade is antisocial but, at the same time, find myself grappling with the concept of friendship after reading your blog post. I would normally consider someone to be antisocial if he spends all his time in seclusion, not interacting with or talking to anyone. Yet, if this were the definition of antisocial then Wade is certainly not antisocial. He is "social" in that he talks with others, even if they are online. He does not physically interact with or talk to anyone, but by doing so in an online world he is technically being "social" in the most basic sense of the term. Wade considers many of his fellow gamers to be friends, especially Aech and Art3mis, and he really is relatively "social" with them through his long conversations with them and spending time with them, even if that time is spent in a virtual reality.
ReplyDeleteThis said, are any of these people really Wade's "friends"? For most of the novel, he is being social with people who are essentially strangers. He does not know what they look like, where they are from, or even who they actually are. At what point does socializing with someone turn into friendship, then? Do you have to know someone physically before you can be invested in them emotionally? In reality, Wade has probably spent just as much time (if not more) interacting with Aech as the average person spends interacting with his or her physical friends. Yet somehow this relationship is different. Why?
I think that Wade is extremely antisocial. To me, as I've stated in class, I think Wade is just a total loser. To top that off, he lives in a time period in which it is very easy to be an antisocial loser. The age that Wade lives in allows him to be a shut-in with no intimate personal relationships and still have a psyche that remains relatively intact due to his online connections. Although Wade may not hide that much of his true identity over the computer, a majority of the users that he encounters have done so making his online relationships (his only relationships) shallow and superficial. Although Wade is able to get past Aech being a homosexual african american female relatively fast his relationship with her has been built on a lie. The future may allow for more online relationships and interactions but I still don't find even the time period to be a valid excuse for why Wade is such a freak.
ReplyDeleteAntisocial might better describe Halliday who were extremely nervous to talk to others and isolated himself in the games. I think Wade learned the social ability and established friendship while hunting for the keys. When Wade hacked into IOI threat assessment folder, he wanted to risk his own life to warn and to save Art3mis, Aech and Shoto. He then drastically altered his dangerous escape plan. Before he cleared the final gate, he claimed to share money identically. Moreover, he even “wasted” his wish to resurrect others avatars. These plots touched me because I could tell Wade was growing from a little high school boy to a mature young man. Wade gradually appreciated those friends and was willing to stay at the reality where he had Art3mis, Aech and Shoto.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Ready Player One, Wade finally meets Aech and Art3mis in person. When he finally meets them, it doesn’t seem like his relationship with those two has changed. Initially, his first real life encounter with Aech is awkward, but after warming up to each other it was like they’ve been good friends for a long time. Even with Art3mis, he is able to communicate with her in person and express his feelings towards her. If Wade was antisocial, then he wouldn’t be talking to any of these people and wouldn’t be able to connect with them in the real world as well as he does in the virtual. All of the characters seemed to have kept their personalities consistent online and in reality; had that not been so, then maybe the ending would have been a little different.
ReplyDeleteI do not think wade is antisocial. Contrary to what you think, I believe Aech is a good friend of Wade's, as is Art3mis. I recall Wade giving key clues to both of them for the successful retrieval of the copper key. This indicates that they had a friendship that prevailed over the competition. The fact that he has such a close circle of friends does not necessarily make him anti-social either. I think the primary reason why he only has a couple of friends is because he is committed to his cause, which of course was finding the Easter egg.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt would be absolutely wrong for one to compare a concept with a definition that has been out dated. For example, our definition of obese would be very in discord with the definition of obese that existed a 1,000 years ago, when there were no cars or McNuggets. This was a time when people had to be more active due to lack of today's technology. Therefore, we can assume that they were more fit than we are today. Although I may be prone to getting 'The Brick' here, but their definition of obese might have started at a lower BMI. Therefore, it was wrong for you to compare relationships of the future with our definition of anti-social. One should bear in mind the time when the book is based is when almost everyone uses the Oasis for the most meager of tasks such as schooling or pizza delivery. Hence, making a judgement about wade based on the fact that he uses Oasis was wrong as such behavior was mainstream. In relation to our standards he can be considered anti-social, but to the standards of the people from the year 2044, such behavior was average.
ReplyDeleteEven though Wade makes it clear throughout the book that he prefers not to interact with humans in the real world, I don't think it's because he does not want to socialize. He enjoys spending time in the OASIS much more than he enjoys spending time in the real world, but this does not make him antisocial. In the OASIS, Wade socializes with Aech, Artemis and other avatars. He clearly finds it easier to talk to avatars than to talk to humans. He mentions early in the book that in the real world, people made fun of him for his physical appearance. In the OASIS, he can socialize without showing his real identity. I can imagine this type of socialization is easier because the fact that the person is not revealing their true self can eliminate many insecurities that would prevent easy socialization in the real world. Wade is not antisocial, his socialization methods are not natural ones, but he is not antisocial.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the Oasis, Wade spends time building relationships online instead of in person. However, I believe this book attempts to show that online relationship can lead to emotional and real friendships in the future. The book portrays the Oasis as being the reason Wade has very little contact with the outside world, but in the end, Wade essentially meets the love of his life and his best friend through the Oasis. Therefore, I believe the book actually portrays a positive outlook on where online relationships can take us. The Oasis brought them together, but the relationships took on deeper meaning once they met in person, which I believe is the lesson the book gives on online relationships.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be to harsh to say that Wade is "antisocial" as many of you have said, he is just a result of the common social interaction of that time, maybe he is a looser from our perception; but in that setting he would be a loose if he was not in "Oasis". Regarding friendships I think the relationship Aech and Wade have over Oasis is more real than some relationships people can have in the real world, their friendship it is indeed based on common interests they are friends because tehy want to, while sometimes i feel people are just friends because they are forced by a certain stereotype.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Wade is anti social.The people whom he did know in the stacks are dead. The Oasis is a way that people can interact with one another from a safe distance. Wade spends all his time interacting with avatars of other users because it is the only way to interact with other people that he has ever known.When there are so many social interaction happening in the Oasis how can be considered anti social. It is not a case of people using a device to keep track of friends. People live their whole lives on the Oasis. It is a new medium for social interaction
ReplyDeleteI don't find Wade to be antisocial given the context of the time period that he lives in. By our standards in 2013, I can see how it is easy to group him with other antisocial people in Turkle's book. However, I think in Wade's time period, whether it is realistic or not, OASIS has more or less replaced the reality that we know and understand. Knowing that OASIS is where a lot of people choose to work or educate themselves, it seems like a majority of the interactions that we make today would now take place in OASIS. Since this is the case for 2044, the interactions that Wade has with other would be by all means considered normal in the world that he lives in. The users of OASIS interact with others just as much if not more than we would choose to interact others in the reality that we currently exist in. If you want to call Wade antisocial, you really need to think about which lens you're viewing him through: a 2013 lens or a 2044 lens
ReplyDeleteTHE BRICK GOES TO CARLY! HURRAH!
ReplyDeleteYou must now justify that anti-Wade rant with evidence! Consider how the lad changes, or does not.
I look forward to your reply at this blog!