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The moon
At the beginning of the novel, the characters are all suffering from mysterious lesions that cause their skin to peel away. It’s suggested that these lesions are caused by environmental devastation brought about by corporate expansion and pollution. But over the course of the book, something strange happens. Lesions come to be seen as hip and even attractive—such that young women get artificial lesions all over their bodies, and young men seem to see them as an appealing feature. The implication is that corporations, rather than slowing down their environmental destruction, have simply found a way to glamorize the wounds that their environmental destruction causes. In this way, lesions are a symbol of the decay of the natural world and of the unthinking habits of consumers in the face of marketing strategies in an age when corporations can successfully glamorize even physical deformity and illness in the interest of maximizing profits.
Lesions Quotes in Feed
The Feed quotes below all refer to the symbol of Lesions. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 3: Undervalued Truffle
Quotes
"It is not the will of the American people, the people of this great nation, to believe the allegations that were made by these corporate “watch” organizations, which are not the majority of the American people, I repeat not, and aren't its will. It is our duty as Americans, and as a nation dedicated to freedom and free commerce, to stand behind our fellow Americans and not cast . . . things at them. Stones, for example. The first stone. By this I mean that we shouldn’t think that there are any truth to the rumors that the lesions are the result of any activity of American industry.
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Part 3: Our Duty to the Party
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Violet was screaming, "Look at us! You don't hate the feed! You are feed! You're feed! You're being eaten! You're raised for food! Look at what you've made yourselves!" She pointed at Quendy, and went, "She’s a monster! A monster!"
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Lesions Symbol Timeline in Feed
The timeline below shows where the symbol Lesions appears in Feed. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Impact
...parties, but this time, they’re turned away from everywhere they go. The friends have “the lesions that people were getting.”
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Part 1: The Nose Grid
Quendy comes out of the bathroom and complains that her lesion is “spreading.” Link says that her lesion isn’t noticeable, and he asks the girl for...
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Part 3: Undervalued Truffle
...President Trumbull has attacked “corporate watch organizations” for daring to criticize corporations, and denies that lesions are in any ways related to American industry. He repeats that America is a “free”...
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Part 3: Lose the Chemise
...mall. There, Titus sees that Violet is wearing a shirt to show off her new lesion, which Titus thinks looks cool. He remembers that celebrities have been showing off their lesions...
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Part 3: A Day in the Country
...and Smell Factor is dreaming about talking giraffes. On his own feed, Titus learns that lesions are “hip” now. As he falls asleep, the feed whispers, “All shall be well.”
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Part 3: Limbo and Prayer
On Monday, Titus goes to School™ and notices that Calista has a “macrolesion.” Link kisses Calista and tickles her lesion. Titus chats Violet about Calista’s lesion and her...
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Part 3: Flat Hope
...the floor,” but they broadcast music into their feeds. Quendy’s entire body is covered in lesions, which Violet finds horrifying. Violet chats Titus that “the only thing worse than the thought...
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Part 3: Our Duty to the Party
...and when they kiss, Quendy kisses him on the mouth—Link is too afraid of her lesions to push back. Marty chats Titus that Quendy looks great, but Titus tells him that...
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