On page 239 of the text, Rita explains to Nell that “In some tribes, children are regarded as an economic asset of their parents. So if one phyle shelters runaways from another phyle, it has a possible economic impact which is covered under the CEP.” The impression that I am getting from this passage, as well as other sections of the text, is that children are seen as economic pawns in Stephenson’s dreamt up world. The primer is targeting young girls, so that they can reap the most benefits in the future. In the passage seen on page 239, Rita is making it sound like children are seen as Foucaultian docile bodies in the sense that the primer is used to control their actions as well as thoughts.
Another aspect of part two that I find interesting is seen on page 245, when Miranda describes the colorful Coke ads and descriptions of blue plate specials that she is able to see by looking outside of her window. I read this particular section in two ways. First, the Coke ads and blue plate specials indicate to the reader that Miranda is operating in a capitalistic society. Second, the Coke ads and blue plate specials can be seen as signs dictating the society’s reality. But is it really reality that they dictate? After reading this section, I thought of Baudrillard and how he believes that signs are used to distance people from actual reality. Are the Coke ads and blue plate specials simply used to cover up the fact that Miranda’s world is entirely fabricated?
Near the beginning of part two, Nell offers the reader a detailed description of the mediatrons in Constable Moore’s home: “In one of the cine feeds, a man was lying on the ground, his dusty uniform almost the same color as the dirt. Suddenly this image moved; the feed had not been frozen like the others” (P 251). Nell’s description caused me to view Moore’s mediatron/ cine feeds as surveillance systems. Maybe Stephenson is posing the argument that today’s television will one day advance to the mediatrons and cine feeds in the text. Stephenson is most likely over dramatizing, but I’m not sure this is that much of a stretch considering that today’s televisions, like the mediatrons and cine feeds in the book, operate as surveillance systems for institutions in power. Everything that is seen on the television has been approved by the institutions of power, and in some way the messages being presented to the viewer dictate the ruling ideas. For instance, popular makeover shows are everywhere these days, and on these reality shows viewers are told, through the repetition of images, that in order to be successful in today’s society they must look a certain way. Viewers then internalize this message and buy popular items that are seen on the show, so that they too can advance in life. By purchasing certain items, the economy is kept afloat and the institutions possessing massive amounts of power remain on top. I think the mediatrons and cine feeds in the text work similarly to the television, because they watch individuals to ensure that they are operating according to the proper protocol.
During last class, we spent a decent amount of time discussing the argument that Stephenson is making about education in the text. One page 255, Constable Moore explains to Nell that life is more complicated than the primer. Moore also suggests that in order to be considered intelligent, one must be exposed to life and education. I took this to mean that in order to educate future generations, literature from the canon needs to be tailored to individual students. Essentially, supplemental materials are needed. I am not done with part two yet, but I am assuming that the primer will fail a great deal of the female children, because it is teaching them lessons they will not understand how to use in their real life. For instance, Nell is taught martial arts, but she is not taught how to successfully protect herself in an actual fight out in the real world.
