The Teen Scene

M.T. Anderson's Feed is a work usually assigned to the genre of juvenile fiction. Consider the intended audience for the work and explore what issues may especially connect with younger readers. Anchor your discussion to at least one scene in the novel that you think exemplifies this connection to this particular audience.

M.T. Anderson’s Feed is a novel geared towards the adolescent audience by incorporating modern day teen activities such as spring break, parties, fashion and relationships with both parents and friends. The characters experience the typical drama and excitement of a teenager’s life. The language Anderson uses helps the young reader easily connect with the characters as opposed to reading adult fiction.

In Feed, Anderson foreshadows the way society is moving forward. The author intends this novel for young adults because he hopes they too can foresee the consequences of a rapid changing world. In the novel Anderson discusses important issues such as education, family values, global warming, and how technology takes over humans. By addressing these issues, he brings awareness to younger generations so they can prevent such things from happening.

Throughout Feed, fashion is a major factor that influences the character’s popularity and lives. Although the trends change much faster throughout the novel than they do in present day society, it is still representative of how every teenager needs to have the latest fads in fashion. Feed also takes this to an extreme by incorporating self mutilation as a form of beauty and style. Lesions, which are cuts on the body, develop on the character's skin and are deemed popular by a television show that plays on the feed. Quendy gets fake lesions all over her body to outdo Calista who has one on the back of her neck. Titus says, “I was disgusted, like, Huh? You can see her like muscles and tendons and ligaments and stuff through the lesions.” Marty then says, “which makes you kind of think about what’s inside, huh? Which is sexy.” This exemplifies the extent at which teenagers will go to fit in and be wanted in their social circles.

The characters attend a party hosted by Link and they experience different peer pressures. The party is a typical example of the ridicule of an outsider, in this case, Violet. They play spin the bottle which is when Violet goes ballistic and criticizes the others. Violet starts screaming, “Look at us! You don’t have the feed! You are feed! You’re feed! You’re being eaten! You’re raised for food! Look at what you’ve made yourselves!” Because of Violet’s reaction, the other characters poke fun at her which is an example of how teenagers who think for themselves are not easily accepted into established cliques.

Because of these factors, young readers can relate to the characters more appropriately than any other age group. The book deals with the struggles of everyday teenage life but in a more rapidly changing way of life.