Unplugging Philco - Book Report/Review Example

 It seems that the modern dystopia written according to the best traditions of “1984” and “”Brave New World” has it all what is needed for a demanding reader: clever and up-to-date message, cultural criticism, sarcastic approach and free flow of words. The novel tells the story of Wally Philco, a humble average man who lives his comfortable but loveless life in Brooklyn. The world that surrounds the main protagonist has changed seriously after the Horribleness Day, the event that divided the history of the United States on two periods literally: before and after. All that happened after this lead to the establishment of a strict order and control in the state in order to save the citizens from the threat of terrorism. The purpose of strict measures, total control, and bureaucracy seems reasonable: protection of common people from Australians but the results it gave turned out to be unpredictable: general paranoia and subsequent madness. Every little accident as well as disease and crime are explained by the cunning efforts of terrorists. The main hero dares to get out of his zone of comfort by unplugging himself from governmental surveillance and gets into the secret and extremely weird society of Unpluggers, people united by the idea of freedom and quiet life. The idea of Knipfel is not new. It looks like numerous conspiracy theorists and dystopian writers try to warn the population of the world about the consequences of the choices we make starting from growing consumerism, increasing powers of corporations and government manipulation. However, the author makes readers think about the price we pay for ignoring these tendencies and thus accepting them in our everyday life. So with this satirical novel “Unplugging Philco” Knipfel tries to show people how even the most unnoticeable attempt of understanding the reality and changing it can prevent a huge catastrophe. Kniphel had a rather serious challenge to accomplish as writer- to create the text that would become a new dystopia not parodying and not copying the ideas of great writers and he managed to do just concentrating on the époque. In the center of every dystopia there is some decline of society involving either undesirable totalitarian regime, loss of humanity or excessive robotization and technological development. “Unplugging Philco” combines all these characteristic features but the most frightening is that it is depicting not-so-distant reality, it is possible to even say, tomorrow reality of civilization. Honestly, probably it is the best thing to do for a good writer- to capture the moment and to reflect the reality that is unfolding in front of his eyes without making up parallel universes. Orwell did it several decades ago witnessing the spread of communism and Knipfel using this very effective technology concentrated on the present frightening phenomena of the modern world. Communism is not alarming anymore and those things that are actually alarming are not so evident: ubiquitous surveillance, annoying and very intrusive marketing and insatiable consumerism that follows, and treating terrorist problem as the only way to justify all the negative aspects of society. The most disturbing moment that there is a huge difference between “1984” and “Unplugging Philco”: while Orwell`s world was mostly fantastical (Big Brother never had chance to appear i poorly developed USSR), Knipfel`s world is more real than imaginary, and the society that is depicted in the novel does not seem dystopian at all. Knipfel only exaggerates certain things to make readers analyze them closely, think of them more accurately and make a conclusion. First and foremost is emergent technology and surveillance. All the inventions were created to serve humanity to alleviate its mundane life but the truth is they change this life irrevocably. Take a look: everywhere where you go there are CCTVs: supermarkets, airports, roads, schools, offices. People have forgotten about privacy a century ago and got used that they are being watched “for their own benefit”. However, the real benefit from the government watching is hardly possible to trace except for creating a paranoiac society. And it is only a visible part of the surveillance because the larger part of the iceberg is the surveillance online. Social networks are controlled and basically personal information can be retrieved easily even from the inside of PC, and only some people imagine what identity theft can mean. So even today if you are plugged to the Internet, you are accessible and totally unprotected. In “Unplugging Philco” this all is hyperbolized but are we really that far from having chip implants in our heads? Look at smartphones, they are getting smaller and thinner, they carry more and more personal information about a man with all these incredible applications. It is possible to have credentials, bank accounts connected to the smartphone. In the latest mainstream movie which is called “Kingsmen” released in 2015 the most serious villain attempts to destroy the world with the help of smartphones- so cunningly and so simply. So evidently, the very idea of such a close connection of all people is such a simple control with the device that everyone has is genial. Moreover, most documents will be soon substituted with electronic cards so actually chips look like a very down-to-earth innovation. Wally Philco does his best to be a good citizen, does drug tests, allows his bosses to humiliate himself, but still lives in constant stress and fear because the circle he is in is closed: the more you allow other control and manipulate you the more scared you become, the more antiterrorist actions you perform, the more frightening and threatening the environment looks to you. America has been living in a fear of attack (first communists with nuclear bombs, today terrorists) for a century already and the only thing that is changing is the level of control which is heated by the degree of fear. However, this contradicts to the basic moral value of humanity and American nation in particularly- freedom, and it seems that the society does not notice how it has involved into the process of self-surveillance. People are ready to expose their precious personal data and intimate family photos to the observation of the whole world in order to be appreciated and are ready to follow the lives of their ex-girlfriends. Knipfer portrays it satirically with the help of “ratter neighbors” and the fear of being punished for Unmutalism. The satire is very precise and very obvious. Another aspect that the author managed to notices the increasing interconnectedness of the government and consumerism. It is true, America is built on capitalism but still the very idea was so much distorted that it somehow led to the common understanding that “you are what you buy”. People are sometimes even not aware of the fact that Google is tracing their search history and creates advertisement according to their latest requests. So everything is almost as it is described in the novel only we do not have ads that beam directly at the brain and the TV sets are still not on steroids. But it is only the matter of time, the appetites of humanity increase proportionally to the purchasing power. It turns out the people are ready to stay in long lines to buy the latest models of smartphone when they barely can explain why they need the first model of this brand. Those who do not notice that the world is going crazy about goods must also take a look around and consider how many of the stuff which was bought was actually essential not fashionable or desirable. So the world is changing too rapidly for most people to notice it while some talented writers have this gift of capturing the spirit of the age. Unfortunately, progress with its irritable surveillance, technological devices, and consumerism is slowly turning the world into an alternate dystopian reality where the best and the bravest people are forced to live underground in order to have a few minutes of peace and calm. Dystopia that is crawling slowly with pleasant innovations is the most threating and it is time for people to be aware of this. Read More