Literary Analysis

M.T. Anderson’s The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing delves into the past, set within the late 1700s, right on the brink of the Revolutionary War.  The novel deals with themes of science, philosophy, and the corruption that interweaves within it as a discriminating bias devours ethics.  This novel is a warning against how scientific studies can be manipulated by the researchers for their own personal gain.  The Novanglian College of Lucidity were running experiments to fairly and objectively determine whether or not the African race was another species entirely or whether they too were human beings, using an African princess Cassiopeia and her son Octavian as experiments.  As they began to suffer financially, however, the philosophers, such as 03-01, were forced to be at the mercy of cruel investors, led by Mr. Sharp, whose number one goal was to prove the inferiority of the African race.  “‘The nature…of the experiment…has changed.’ ‘How?’ I asked.  ‘We receive our funds now from a consortium of men of affairs who have some interest in proving the inequality of African capacities.’” (pg. 169-170)     

Another novel by M.T. Anderson Feed also deals with similar issues, but rather than a historical fiction, this futuristic setting also deals with themes of the cruel and inhumane tendencies behind investors.  Feed shows how investments are greater than human life, when Violet is denied a new feed which leads to her death.  “Unfortunately Feedtech and other investors reviewed your purchasing history, and we don’t feel that you would be a reliable investment at this time…I’m afraid you’ll just have to work with your feed the way it is.” (247) 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing was set in a time when the United States was fighting for their independence from Great Britain, in the late 1700’s, the Revolutionary War brought men of all races together, to fight for their country.  However, at home, there were African slaves across the colonies that were looked to as inferior and only counted as 3/5^th of a person in regards to representative purposes.  Anderson’s fictitious telling is not unbelievable then, when put within this context that men of philosophy and science would be intrigued to discover whether or not the European’s discrimination was based on superficial facets rather than on provable data.  It is admirable then, that these men wanted to objectively prove what most assumed.  However, it is also believable that Mr. Sharp would fear his own discrimination was inaccurate, and in order to save face and save his investments would skew the tests in order to falsely claim his already deeply rooted beliefs.            

Young adults often feel as though there are forces outside of their control, keeping them from standing up for themselves or making a difference within the world.  Both of Anderson’s novels show how handicapping it can be to be looked to as an outsider, whether it is in regards to racial inferiority or as a resistor to society as a whole.  Both novels are shocking in regards to violence and cruelty, and some reviews stated that they are not appropriate for the young adult genre.  However, the way in which Octavian and Violet dealt with the cruelty can be very important for young adults to read and to relate to.  Young Adults should not be underestimated with their intellectual capacity to understand and relate to the themes and content within these novels.