Poem Analysis: The Feed By M. T Anderson

How would you feel if someone could control what you were thinking? In “The Feed” written by M.T Anderson, everyone living in the community had a feed in their brain that was controlled by one large organization. Violet, the main character, suffers through a malfunction in her feed that changes the way she sees her society. Most people’s opinions can be changed when they have experienced the benefits and the disadvantages of something. Since Violet is aware of how life is with and without the feed, she becomes hesitant to believing that her community is being run efficiently. She realizes how her feed affects everything she does and how without it, she would be incapable. Based on her experiences, thoughts, and actions, I can infer that Violet

In paragraph 23 she says, “Maybe I am like that. Maybe that’s what’s wrong.” This shows that Violet believes that her body caused her to become ill. Based on this statement, I can infer that Violet’s feed malfunction affected the way that she felt about herself. This most likely caused her to be insecure, or apprehensive. She blames herself for the failure of her brain implant. In the story, Violet apologizes to her father. The author says “She rubbed her hands together. I’m sorry. Please tell Quendy I’m sorry.” In this sentence, Violet is asking Titus to tell her father that she is sorry for her condition. Her actions show that she is nervous and feels as if she is an inconvenience to other people. She is apologetic towards Quendy, her father, because she is ashamed that she turned out this way. When in reality, her feed caused her to become infirm and that she had no control over the circumstances that she was in. This later affects her overall opinion on her feed and on society because she realizes how people’s personalities can be greatly affected by the feeds that are implanted into people's

Violet realizes how her feed erased a year of her life and she begins to feel sorrow and anxiety. She tells Titus, “I lost a year. During the seizure. I can’t remember anything from the year before I got the feed. When I was six. The information is just gone. There’s nothing there.” I can infer that Violet is anxious because of her tone in this part of the novel. Violet’s words also show that she is aware of the downsides of her feed. She experiences a loss of a year's worth of memories which affects her overall opinion of the brain implant. She begins to realize that her feed is causing her suffering and troubles. In paragraph 35 Violet says, “...there’s so much I need to do. ...You can’t even know. I want to go out right now and start. I want to dance. You know? That’s ....so cliché, but that’s what I see myself doing. I want to dance with like a whole lacrosse team, maybe with them holding me up on a Formica tabletop. I can’t even tell you. I want to do the things that show you’re alive …” This shows that Violet wants to live her life before it is possibly taken by the feed. Based on this, I can infer that Violet wanted to retrieve back her memories by making new ones. She did not like the idea that she had lost a year. This effects Violet’s opinion on society because she realizes how her feed can take away