Andrew sullivan: society is dead, we have retreated into the iworlds

Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld Order No. 320216 September 09 Andrew Sullivan: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld Andrew Sullivan in his article, Society is dead: we have retreated into the iWorld, discusses how technology is changing our world and gaining control over people. By examples and by using figurative language like the use of metaphors the author describes how iPods have completely encompassed our daily life. The author through this article demonstrates that it is because of this iWorld that we are losing our sense of reality. Though the main theme of the article is not entirely original, the article is well written and emphasizes the isolation that results from listening to portable music. He compares this isolation to living in a bubble created by this portable music.
Sullivan develops this argument by creating vivid pictures with apt choice of words, sentences, examples, metaphors and similes. The picture he creates attracts attention and the readers are also able to relate to the scenario he is discussing. The description of the scene in a subway in New York makes us feel that we too like him are in a subway in the middle of New York watching people around us. Sullivan describes the scene thus: “ There were little white wires hanging down from their ears, or tucked into pockets, purses or jackets. Each was in his or her own musical world … almost oblivious to the world around them. These are the iPod people” (Sullivan, 2005). This indeed paints a perfect picture.
The sentence patterns Sullivan uses allows him to stay focused on the subject. The sentences used are short and to the point. For instances sentences such as this: When others say “ Excuse me” there’s no response. “ Hi”, ditto” (Sullivan, 2005) convey that the people listening to the iPod are in a world of their own and do not react to people around them. This is the subject of his article. Again sentences like this: “ Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t overhear, don’t observe. Just tune in and tune out” convey the point that people today are as he says, “ anaesthetised by technology”. (Sullivan, 2005)
The author uses many metaphors and similes to put forth his views. The metaphors used are very apt and give the readers a sense of what he trying to convey. For instance, in one place he compares an Apple store to a Church. Here he says, “ Every now and again I go to church — those huge, luminous Apple stores, pews in the rear, the clerics in their monastic uniforms all bustling around or sitting behind the “ Genius Bars”, like priests waiting to hear confession.” (Sullivan, 2005). By this metaphor he wants to show that technology has become something like a religion for us. The use of similes like “ cocoon” and “ bubble” when he writes, “ They walk down the street in their own MP3 cocoon, bumping into others, deaf to small social cues, shutting out anyone not in their bubble” demonstrates isolation and tells us how people have begun to live life in their own bubble isolated from society. Again the use of the metaphor “ hermit crab” in the sentence where he says that iPod owners “ walk around the world like hermit crabs with our isolation surgically attached” aptly describes how iPod owners are detached from society. The author also uses paradoxes. When he says, “ Now I have my iTunes in my iMac for my iPod in my iWorld. It’s Narcissus heaven: we’ve finally put the “ i” into Me” conveying that he too is using an iPod. This indeed is a paradox as the whole article is against iPods.
In short the article is an angry outburst against what Sullivan feels is the anti-socializing effects of the iPod and the MP3 music player. Technology today is everything for us. Andrew feels that there is more to life. There is a need to experience different cultures so that we can connect to people around us. Here he says, “ And so we enrich our lives from within, rather than from white wires.” (Sullivan, 2005). This is his main argument and he puts forth this argument exceptionally well by a correct choice of sentences, metaphor and similes.
References
1. Sullivan Andrew (2005), Comment: Andrew Sullivan: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld, The Sunday Times, Retrieved from http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/comment/article516577. ece? token= null&offset= 0&page= 1 on 11/9/09