One interesting concept that this book has been very subtle
to show, yet plays a large part, is human greed. As you know, whoever finds
Halliday’s Easter egg receives over 200 billion dollars. That is a very large
sum of cash. One would think that popularity, power, and a satisfying life
would accompany the egg and its money, but I think otherwise. Art3mis tells Wade
that now that he has found the copper key, many would “assume that he knows
where and how to find the egg. There are a lot of people who would kill for
that information” (97). I would like to point out the word kill. Wade has only
found the copper key, and there are probably already a few gunters out to get
him, not including the sixers whom which will brutally kill for the
information. Money can change a person’s attitude a surprising drastic amount.
Look at any competition show on TV, if there is money, there are sabotages,
brutal fights, and out of control behavior. Halliday was trying to create a
utopia, but instead sabotages himself by making avarice the creamy center of
his perfect world. That would only hurt an already injured world.
As Spencer has pointed we have spoilers surrounding this topic. So besides telling if someone dies I will look at a competitive show on TV, Survivor. Survivor offer has back stabs, named by the host "blindsiding". When some one is blindsided the defense is always "Chill man, its just a game", OASIS is not just a game though. People live there, people who don't care about the egg. The Quest is not a game to Wade, it is a life style now. With out the Quest a chunk of Wade's personality is missing and he does nothing else with his free time.
ReplyDeleteYes, greed can bring out the worst in people, like the Sixers, who now have actually made an attempt on Wade's life, however, not all people succumb to the greed of which you speak. Art3mis herself says she wants the egg to use to feed the people of the world, not to buy herself some fancy car or other such selfish end. The Sixers are obviously driven by greed in looking for the egg, and will do anything for it as you have pointed out. Wade seems to be in a grey area, realizing that the world is doomed, and pointing out Art3mis's naivety in trying to by the world food to saves its problems, but he is not altruistic in his use of the money, saying he wants to go out into space and game or the rest of his life. Wade seems more fatalistic in his view of the world than greedy, and thats what motivates his selfish idea for the use of the money.
ReplyDeleteI love this point, that Halliday "sabotages himself by making avarice the creamy center of his perfect world." I think this idea is what brings the OASIS out of a utopian vision and into the dystopian realm. Although Halliday was intending to create something wonderful and exciting, he actually places people in opposition to each other, in a very real sense. Although this PvP idea works in a video game, where real-life consequences are involved, the situation becomes more extreme and more intense. I'm curious, though, about Spencer's perspective of Wade as "fatalistic." In what way?
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