Monday, April 8, 2013
Why Wade is a Total Freak
My post may have been a generalization. However as was stated in class, the sociability of an individual is an extremely subjective description. My feelings on Wade are based on if Wade were to exist in current American society. Wade spends a majority of the novel locked up in a blacked out room hooked up to the OASIS. He is completely devoid of human connection. His only "friendly" social interactions occur with Aech, Art3mis, Daito, and Shoto. However Wade eventually manages to alienate Aech and Art3mis his two "best friends" leaving him more alone than ever. Wade makes some changes throughout the course of the novel that may lead to him being a more social person. However, I feel the novel ended too abruptly for readers to be sure that this change is really permanent. Wade spent a grand total of about ten minutes talking to Art3mis in person. Although he may state that he has no desire to log on again, the addictive nature of the OASIS and the countless hours of his life that he has dedicated there will make it extremely difficult for him to pull away. For Wade, I see the OASIS as an addiction, an addiction that feeds into his antisocial behaviors and allows him to be a shut-in. Perhaps if the ending gave a brief description of Wade years later completely off the OASIS still with no desire to log-on I'd be more convinced that he'd really become a different person.
Through the lens of my place and time I see Wade as a freak. Freak is also a subjective word. Therefore I feel that I have the ability to use it at my disposal. I feel that Wade is a freak, others may not. It would be similar to saying that I think that Mila Kunis is pretty while others may not (jokes everyone thinks Mila is pretty). Perhaps the way I posted my comment was slightly rant-like but I have little sympathy for those who hide from reality. Wade lives in a world of immersed humans so perhaps if everyone is a freak no one is? Yet the few examples that we have been given of other non-gunter characters are not as extremely distant as Wade. IOI employees come to work and then go home, it can be assumed they have some sort of real personal connection whether it be with a spouse or children. That being said, Cline barely even describes non-gunters so I have nothing to compare Wade's behavior with other than my current surroundings, in which, he would be a freak.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You have redeemed yourself and convinced me that anyone who would do what Wade does would seem like a "freak" to us.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the best defense of Wade is that he's trapped by the real world. His choices are an awful aunt who abuses him or a wrecked van where he can escape muggings or worse. I wonder how many of us would be tough enough to avoid the siren song of OASIS were we teens in such a world. For the same reason, I feel some pity for train-hoppers, runaways, and teens who turn to drugs. These are choices, true, but unless we were in their desperate lives, we can't really judge who "freakish" their choices are.
Of course, you can dismiss what I wrote. I'm most certainly a freak, having no idea who Mila Kunis is.