Vox

Vox

Adult Dystopia
"Tonight at supper, before I speak my final syllables of the
day, Patrick reaches over and taps the silver-toned device around my
left wrist. It's a light touch, as if he were sharing the pain, or
perhaps reminding me to stay quiet until the counter resets itself at
midnight..."
Have I got a dystopia for you!
Christina Dalcher's Vox is set in a horrifying America. The
president is a puppet of the Pure Movement, sort of a moral majority
on steroids. People considered dangerous, such as gays, are kept in
labor camps doing the hardest work. It's a kill two birds with one
stone situation. Women have been stripped of jobs and relegated to
the wife and mother sphere. Boys and girls are educated separately.
Girls learn how to be wives and mothers. Boys study Pure Movement
propaganda instead of history and science. Each woman and girl is
allowed one hundred words a day. A counter on her wrist keeps track
and can deliver a severe shock if she exceeds her quota.
One hundred words a day. Even in a pandemic most of us have
blown through that quota not long after, if not before breakfast.
Think of all the thoughts you would have to keep to yourself to
conduct just basic home and family running stuff.
Jean was a neuroscientist before she was relegated to
housewifery. Her focus had been on searching for a cure for a
specific kind of brain damage that makes it impossible for sufferers
to comprehend language and produce lucid speech. One day she is
visited by Reverand Carl, he who dictates to the President. A skiing
accident has left the president's brother aphasic. Her research
skills are needed to help effect a cure.
But something seems not quite right to Jean when she starts her
new job. The necessary and very expensive equipment she will use is
not new. And there are three research teams rather than the one she
has told about.
What if the mission she is a part of is much more nefarious than
what she's been led to believe?
What scares me the most about the book is that the premise is
not at all that far fetched. Trump, many of his pals still in power,
and a lot of the people who put him in office would consider the
society portrayed to be heaven on Earth.
Before you tell me this could never happen, recall:
*That clown can't possibly win;
*A few months in office will moderate his views and actions;
And *Congress or the Supreme Court will restrain him.
We aren't out of the woods. Word is he's planning a 2024
comeback. And he's got these friends working on ways to silence
inconvenient voters.
Throughout the book Jean regrets not being politically aware and
involved. Let's not let that be our regret. Let's work to evolve
into an America in which all citizens have voices.
On a purrrsonal note, I had an uneventful weekend. I did submit my
2nd assignment and bit the bullet. I got 95. Just seven more to go.
I went to zoom church. It was warm enough to walk Sunday. Otherwise
I kept to my pandemic usual.
Today I got exciting news. Adam secured me vaccine appointments. My
first is Thursday afternoon. I have to admit I'm a little scared.
I'll let you know how it goes in my next post. (Jules)
The hoomans getting vaccines? What is this world coming to? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the diligent workers who are getting
the world immunized.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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