Resistance Theme Analysis

Like much science fiction, Feed is a thinly veiled critique of the present. Americans in the 21st century may not have chips implanted in their brains, but they’re arguably the victims of corporate brainwashing, and they are certainly rampant consumers. Their government ignores evidence of environmental degradation and corporate malfeasance while sanctimoniously claiming to support “free trade.” Anderson even dedicated his novel to “all those who fight the feed.” This might suggest that Anderson wants to encourage his readers to fight society’s problems before they get out of hand. To this end, his book studies different ways of resisting consumerism and corporate power, suggesting that, in the long run, love and respect may be the most effective means of resisting the culture of consumerism.

Feed is full of characters who passively accept society’s rules. But there are many other characters in the book who actively resist corporate expansion and environmental devastation. First, and most obviously, Titus notes that there are various activist groups—all computer hackers—whose mission is to destroy the feed. Toward the end of the novel, readers learn that the governments of the world (collectively, the Global Alliance) are uniting to declare war against the United States, reasoning that “the biological integrity of the earth relies at this point upon the dismantling of American-based corporate entities.” These coalitions are willing to resort to breaking the law, sometimes with acts of violence, in order to fight corporate expansion. They believe that they’re justified in breaking the law because the situation is so dire, and that to sit back and do nothing would guarantee total environmental collapse. However, Anderson hints that this form of resistance, whether or not it’s morally justified, is unlikely to save the world. As the novel ends, the Global Alliance’s chances of winning their battle against the United States are slim. Instead, it seems more likely that, in trying to save the world from environmental destruction, the Alliance will only succeed in sowing further destruction.

While Anderson alludes to various groups who resist the feed through violence and crime, he spends more time writing about the people who resist corporate expansion “from the inside”—in other words, people who participate in consumerist activities but use their influence to weaken corporate power. For example, Violet Durn, one of the few characters in the novel who expresses strong dissatisfaction with the feed, believes that, by shopping for a mismatched array of products, she can create an unintelligible “consumer taste profile” that will confound her feed—so that it won’t know how to advertise to her. However, Violet’s act of resistance achieves only the most minimal success. It backfires when her feed breaks down, and the corporation that installed it refuses to pay for upkeep, since Violet is an “unpredictable” customer. In this way, Anderson suggests that a culture of consumerism can’t be sabotaged through more consumption.

Anderson writes about many different forms of resistance to the feed, and to corporate control in general, but none of the forms of resistance he discusses are shown to achieve their goal—with the result that, at the end of the novel, mankind still seems headed straight for destruction. However, the novel ends with a scene that could be interpreted to point to a more effective form of resistance. In the final chapter, Titus seems to opt out of consumer culture by destroying his clothing and going to visit Violet Durn, who is nearly dead. For one of the first times in the book, Titus seems sincerely devoted to Violet. He’s not thinking about shopping or planning a trip to the moon—he’s fully present with Violet. He refuses to participate in a culture of apathy and casual cruelty, treating people like products. The passage presents Titus’s behavior as a heroic and exemplary form of resistance to consumerism because (unlike crime, violence, and sabotage) it creates a true alternative to consumerism: love and respect. If everyone were to follow Titus’s lead, corporations would lose their business, and with it their power. Anderson’s point isn’t that Violet and Titus are going to save the world singlehandedly—it’s too late for that. Rather, he suggests that the best way to resist the culture of consumerism may be to take after Violet and Titus by focusing on human relationships—rather than products—as the greatest source of fulfillment.