The story opens on our hero, Sebathius Samsa, waking up one day to find that he has been transformed into words on a screen. Initially shocked by the change, our hero -lapsing into his Protestant work ethic conditioning- soon begins to worry that he will be late for the office. While he struggles to get out of bed, the words on the screen ironically detail the dysfunctional functioning of the corporate world and the stress disorders this creates. Our hero, unfamiliar with his new text body, fights to regain anonymity and uniformity so that he can catch a crowded train and rush to a job which he tells himself makes a difference despite it being so far removed from any difference he can observe. The words on the screen poke fun at the conflict and highlight the denial but really do nothing about it to bring about change. His boss calls to inquire why his employee is not at his desk as he is late for a conference call outlining some exciting new strategies for growth. Sebathius responds that he is slightly ill but will soon be on his way, he makes enthusiastic comments while the words on the screen make derogatory comments about knowing he will agree to stupid decisions so that he can keep his job executing the stupid decisions. Finally he manages to leave his flat but his blog-like appearance startles passers-by especially as people are now more used to Tweets. He tries to reason with them but they stop paying attention after 140 characters. Retreating back to his flat, his finds his reflection is now nothing but a flashing cursor. Words appear in midair, they wonder how the means became the end, and then he disappears into a full stop.
Notes: Add a speedboat chase? Write story without using the letter 'e'? Too lighthearted, make more downbeat/dark?
No comments:
Post a Comment