Insignia TIEA, Compare and Contrast Paragraph

Claire Chung

TIEA

In the novel Insignia, S.J. Kincaid indicates that the uses of avatars in daily life causes trust between people to become less. When Heather tells Tom that her appearance wasn’t an avatar, Tom doesn’t trust what she said.  “Sure it isn’t,” Tom thought… But he nodded like he believed her” (Kincaid, pg. 7)  In modern society, it is easier for us to decide whether or not we are going to trust each other when we come face to face. Looks reveal personal identity and thoughts, which allows other to be more likely to trust what we are saying. For example, on the internet, usernames and avatars are like masks for any person who has access to it. The internet is full of people we don’t know, but instead people tend to trust it too much. I think the author of Insignia wrote about the use of avatars to let readers know what it will be like if we rely on the Internet about everything. Contacts between human and human will be less, brain functions will decrease, and bonds will break. This leads to the discussion of neural processors, where machines are taking over our human brains. Ever since technology starts advancing in an exponential rate, everything we do is closely connected to the use of google, and causes the use of our own brains to become less and less. As a conclusion, using avatars as mask causes mistrust between people, and even though Tom’s “perfect society” doesn’t exist, there can be a possibility that it will take over the world we are in today.

Compare

In the novel Insignia and All Summer In A Day, both imaginative societies are a foreshadow to the what global issues we have now, might lead to. In Insignia, S.J. Kincaid writes  “Life at the Pentagonal Spire bought something new into Tom’s life… Routine” (Kincaid, pg. 158) “  In All Summer In A Day, Bradbury writes “Speak when you’re spoken to.” He gave her a shove. “ (Bradbury, pg. 3) In Insignia, Kincaid foreshadows the world we are in now with rapid climate change, military taking over society, and lack of humanity, while in Insignia, S.J. Kinkaid foreshadows lack of trust, machine controlled world, and a revolutionized society. All of these problems about the environment, humanity, and power over others are becoming a more major problem in today’s world. Both of these stories are an exaggeration of the problems we have now, and both author’s motivation to write this book is to raise the awareness of what a growing problem now might lead to in the future.

Contrast

Insignia is an utopia, while All Summer In A Day is a dystopia. In Insignia, S.J. Kincaid writes  “Life at the Pentagonal Spire bought something new into Tom’s life… Routine” (Kincaid, pg. 158) “  In All Summer In A Day, Bradbury writes “Speak when you’re spoken to.” He gave her a shove. “ (Bradbury, pg. 3) In Insignia, Kincaid shows that routine bought a sense of power over others, and everyone has nothing to do except to obey. With no messes, no commotions, and very less humanity, there isn’t supposed to be any special cases coming up in an military academy. In All Summer In A Day, Bradbury puts everything in the worst conditions. The military seems to be taking over the world, and caused the boy who shoved Margot to speak like he is in the military. Even when Margot is locked in the closet, there is no sign of regret from any other person, and no one seems to be wanting to share their happiness with someone unique like Margot.