On page 247 of ‘ Super Sad True Love Story’, the author described Lenny’s and Eunice’s running back to Manhattan at the special time of political upheaval.  When they needed to get on the ferry, Eunice told Lenny that she could go to find her sister and David alone but Lenny thought that Eunice’s credit was too low to be distinguished from the LNWI protestors that she would easily be killed by mistakes.

   What a horrible and dystopic world! In my picture above, the bad credit card and good credit card are pointing to different life directions; this book corresponds to this picture very well that bad credits point to death and good credits point to life. In the world Lenny lived, people were no longer fresh bodies but digitalized credit numbers. When people were interacting, it would not be one’s integrity or characteristics that can make people like him but his credits. Humans were put in rankings just by credits; there is no human equity deep down people’s thoughts. When one’s number is lower than one certain value,  he would be no longer deemed as valuable and worthy to be saved. Worst of all, this pathetic phenomenon could be a vicious cycle that if people only appreciate high credits, then people who have credits could be put in higher positions and had priority in using social resources, which can result in generations of high credits. Gradually, the social wealth would be controlled by small amounts of social elites, causing opportunities to climb up social ladder to be infinitely small. What would happen then? Turmoil. Killing. War.

     Thus, I believe that as the biggest threat of world relying on highly developed technology, digitalization is also the most dystopic point in this book.

Pg 8-9

It only makes sense that a notable characteristic of a dystopian society is introduced at the beginning of the novel when the setting is being introduced. Upon his return to America, Lenny is confronted by an otter that questions him regarding his activities abroad. What is particularly reflective of a dystopian society here is that everything has to and will be reported to the overarching government. When the otter was asking Lenny intimate questions such as accounts of sexual intercourse, it became clear to me that the world of SSTLS is an exemplary anti-Utopian society in which the government surveils the lives of the citizens to the point where the word privacy essentially becomes a null term. Furthermore, the way in which the otter tries to promote patriotism is characteristic of a totalitarian society in which the public is brainwashed to serve the nation for the “collective good”.

The picture I chose is very self-explanatory. It shows, perhaps in an exaggerated way, how in the world of SSTLS, the lives on people are often spied upon by the government. I found it interesting the way Lenny was passive-aggressively questioned about his daily life and the way patriotism is promoted but not enforced. This to me is an indication of the world heading towards the path of a totalitarian society and it sheds grim premonitions about the future events that are to unfold in this novel due to a seemingly dystopian setting the audience is introduced to.

A dystopic scene from Super Sad True Love Story is one presented by Eunice’s friend “Grillbitch”. On July 10, Eunice writes a long, passionate message to Grillbitch about Lenny and, at the end, her sympathy for David and the rebels. Two days later, Grillbitch sends an emotional reply, saying how her father’s factory was taken over by LNWIs because the LAPD no longer exists and the National Guard is too useless to do anything, ruining her life (200). I see this as particularly dystopic due to a variety of factors, the largest being anarchy. Due to the weakness of the Bipartisan leadership, there is no one in clear control as rebel groups pop up around the country. This is a disturbing scene: chaos as a regular business is overthrown due to the anger of impoverished people retaliating against those who are better off without seeing the damage they cause in others’ lives.

I agree with the notion that dystopia is a prediction of the future based on humanity’s flaws, but I also believe that dystopias reflect themes from today’s society. The picture here is from the Houthi takeover of Yemen’s capital. In an extremely violent conflict, Houthi Shiites stormed the capital of Yemen, run by Sunnis, because they felt marginalized by an unorganized government. This scene is in line with the one Grillbitch describes, with those who feel damaged and undermined rise up with lack of foresight of what their actions may cause. Only in this case, it is 2015, and other countries around the world are willing to pitch in to stop the conflict, trying to restore government.

Pages 56-57

I interpret a dystopian society as one that is not only imperfect but as also one that strives for a perfection that will never be achieved. It is clear that in Lenny’s world, the concept of perfection is closely tied with the concept of immortality. However, realistically, even everyone in this world is mortal. As Lenny returns to the United States of America following a yearlong stay in Rome, Italy, he decides to pay a visit to his boss Joshie at The Post Human Services division of the Staatling- Wapachung Corporation. As Lenny returns, he smells and describes fetid “post-mortal odors” thought to be the “scents of immortality” and reflects on the anxiety of younger co-workers that cry about their “blood-glucose levels” and “adrenaline stress index”. Further, his reappearance is not warmly greeted and he is chastised for his skewed “insulin levels”. Despite him being a skinny thirty-nine years old, Lenny is still not accepted because of his off scale body values. In this society, one no longer cares about living happily and healthily in the moment. Rather, one attempts to push untouchable buttons to achieve something that cannot be achieved, immortality. A waste of energy and a waste of life.

According to nature and their genetic make-up, penguins cannot fly. Penguins would be able to fly only if they defeated the basic laws of nature that clearly define how one’s anatomy can or cannot facilitate flight. In Lenny’s society, it seems a common goal to want to defeat nature. But nature cannot be neither defeated nor tricked. If penguins had minds and suddenly decided they wanted to have an anatomy capable of supporting flight, they wouldn’t be able to do so. Perfection cannot be achieved.

Image Source: http://pravda-team.ru/eng/image/photo/2/3/2/69232.jpeg

A scene in Super Sad True Love Story that strongly represents a distopic image of the world is demonstrated on page 103 as Eunice and Lenny visit Central Park together. In the scene, Lenny describes the dying transit system, explaining that it now is run in a for-profit manner by corporations aligned with the corrupt American government under the repeated propaganda that “Together We’ll Go Somewhere”. He continues to describe the segregation that exists on the train between the business class who pay, as he explains, “the extra ten dollars” to be given a small piece of somewhat comfortable seating and the protection from the National guard against Low Net Worth Individuals who find themselves restricted to the regular cars.

Not only does the transit system represent an unjust, apocalyptic, survival-like arrangement dedicating to protecting the upper class, but the notion that there would be any form of unity and togetherness as brought-forth by the slogan of the ARA is simply preposterous. Eunice’s interjecting question “Why do you live here?” perfectly sums up the attitude of readers of the novel who find this to be a sad, broken state of living. The horror and disgust towards the system she feels resonates with that of any sane point of view on this lie of an existence.

I chose the image of a Nazi propaganda to demonstrate the notion that corrupt and broken governments have continuously through history utilized such falsities in order to gain the approval of citizens and to create perhaps a sense of hope in a time of absolute doom. In Germany, this doom was created by the aftermath of World War one in the form of the great depression and the treaty of Versailles. In Super Sad True Love Story, this is represented by the systematic degradation of the US.

A particularly dystopic passage from Super Sad True Love Story that I have found interesting is pages 89-90.  In this scene, Lenny is being taught by Noah and Vishnu in a bar how to use all of the new features on this apparat.  The new features use the plethora of information on each person’s profile to determine various rankings.  Everyone is so absorbed by these ratings, and they have such a strong influence over people’s actions and behavior to the point where books have become “artifacts.”

This image is from The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.  In this novel, the society is infected with this disease that makes men’s thoughts able to be heard by everyone at all times.  This never-ending stream of thoughts called “Noise” is similar to the continuous flow of information and data found in Super Sad True Love Story.  Everyone has access to all of the little details and secrets about everyone else.  There is no hiding in either of these societies.  In both of these situations, the disease and the technology cause the population to be in a daze, and control their lives.  These limitations dehumanize the population and strip away their lives to that of a monotone nature.

Super Sad True Love Story’s most prevalent theme of dystopia revolves around the lack of privacy that comes along with society’s rare manner of using technology to communicate. On page 141, Lenny’s mother mentions to Lenny that Ms. Vida, his neighbor, heard him appear on the stream “101 People We Need to Feel Sorry for.” Lenny, of course, is embarrassed and had previously asked his parents not to look or listen to streams or data about him. The availability and constant broadcasting  character’s every day lives is what I consider disturbing and what characterizes the novels society as dystopic. There is no sense of privacy what so ever.

The image I chose is a person checking their Facebook. This represents the scene on page 141 because people are checking technology to gain insight on what is happening with other peoples lives. The only difference between Facebook and SSTLS’s streams and data is that posting is optional. In the novel, there is pretty much nothing you can do about having your life and opinions constantly broadcasted, invading the privacy of all individuals.

In the book Super Sad True Love Story, the author incorporates various scenes that appear to be dystopian flashes his piece of literature. An example of these scenes is provided on page 146 when Grillbitch is writing to Euni-Tard about her depression. She says the main cause of her sadness is that her boyfriend Gopher is having an affair “with this Mexican betch that I saw blowing him, and then I figured out his password on Teens…” The dystopic aspect about his scene is how Grillbitch handles the situation. Usually, women will stay silent of their knowledge and make her guilty partner blur out some evidence that she could use against him. Other times, women take their partner’s phone with of without their permission and begin to search the messages and the phone calls. Then, they would ask the typical questions: who is this number, why were you talking for so long with this person, why does your shirt have lipstick stains, why did you come home so late last night, etc. On the other hand, the author Gary Shteyngart plays a twist on this situation and makes Grillbitch say the following, “I went on this new Teens site called ‘D-Base’ where they can digitize you like covered in shit or getting fucked by four guys at once and I sent Gopher all these Images of myself getting fucked by four guys at once.” According to girls’ behavior in this book, they have to receive respect by having their significant other be aware that they could have an affair with others also. To this day, that action is not deserving of respect. Actually, Grillbitch could be despised by society today for not respecting herself and her dignity.

This image (taken from pixabay.com) demonstrates a vivid image of an affair where the girl behind the wall could represent Grillbitch and the man could represent Gopher having an affair with the Mexican girl.

I find the scene on pages 129-131 particularly dystopic. It describes Lenny and Eunice disembarking a train and encountering many security guards, as well as people of many different nationalities. This scene also portrays the security guards as hasty and accusatory, as they scan each person’s apparat and make judgements based on their information which should remain private. They scan Lenny’s apparat and deduce that he is guilty of “malicious pervasion of data.” These officers judge Lenny for only what they see on his apparat, which is not a fair representation of his true character. Unfortunately, rash judgement is not only seen in Super Sad True Love Story, it can be seen in America today, as was the case in Ferguson, Missouri. Many have concluded that police officers stereotype African Americans as more violent, and therefore are more likely to use unnecessary, excessive force.

This image shows a person, looking innocent to the viewers of the photo, facing armed police. This image relates to the scene where the security officers are accusing Lenny of “malicious pervasion of data” without having any incriminating evidence, much like the police officers in this image. Sadly, even when they release Lenny, the officers are rude and condescending, solely because they knew a few choice things about him from his apparat. This image reminded me of the racial stereotypes in Ferguson, not only because of the way the officers act toward Lenny, but also because he mentions the diversity of the area. This scene represents a sadly realistic dystopia in which people are judged based on a few facts that others know about them, which is magnified by the fact that anyone can glean information about a person from their apparat.

One scene in Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story that I have found particularly dystopic is sadly a very realistic occurrence. On pages 246 to 248, Lenny is fleeing Staten Island with Eunice, Noah, and Amy, after receiving orders from Joshie to return to Manhattan as soon as possible. There are two ferries departing Staten Island, and Noah and Amy board a different ferry than Lenny and Eunice. While Lenny is communicating to his “American Mama” Nettie Fine that he is on a ferry to Manhattan and his friend Noah is on a different ferry but they are both safe, she asks Lenny which ferry he is on. This should alert him to an incoming problem, but he doesn’t see the red flag. Almost immediately after Lenny tells Nettie Fine which ferry he is on, the opposing ferry is blown up in the water.

The image I have chosen to represent this scene is a photograph taken of New York City on September 11^th, 2001. The twin towers, located in lower Manhattan, were hit by airplanes as part of a terrorist attack on the city. Many were killed, even more were injured, and the city was shut down for weeks. This event hits particularly close to home for me, literally and physically, as I was living in New York City when this occurred. Nobody could believe what they were watching on the news, that something like this could actually happen. For months after 9/11, New Yorkers were scared to leave their homes, worried that the city was going to be targeted and hit again. As I was reading this scene of Super Sad True Love Story, I knew one of the ferries was going to be blown up. I got a gut wrenching feeling and immediately thought back to 9/11. I don’t remember this specifically, but my mother has told me that I knew something bad was happening in New York, even though she hadn’t told me. I was only 4 years old; I wasn’t supposed to know that. On this one day in New York’s history, the beloved city appeared to be a dystopic nightmare.