Since 2009, we've done this reading group and in the process covered dozens of readings. But perhaps we've never read a short story quite like Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's "The Era." It's a story set in a future world after various wars and a re-organized society where genetic engineering has apparently gone to extremes, and brutal honesty has quite brutal.
After reading "The Finkelstein 5" and now "The Era," I think we have to say something, really a lot of things at some point about the creative and intriguing ways that Adjei-Brenyah's mind works.
Alright, I'm not even fully sure what questions to ask you because "The Era" disoriented me in unexpected and ultimately useful ways. So for now, let's do this: imagine several of us were in a room discussing this story. What should we focus on first concerning "The Era"? Why?
66 comments:
An important focus in The Era was how in this future society feelings and emotions are a weakness. Being anything but happy is ridiculed and treated like some kind of disease that they even have a cure for. It was sad to see the main character addicted to the "Good" just like any other drug we have now. Money could literally buy happiness in this society and the main character still wasn't happy.
There are a couple of focuses that come to mind with this story, but the main ones are the concept of "Good" and the children characterized as "optimized." Good seems to be like a drug that is the only source of happiness, which illustrates how happiness should not be taken for granted. The "optimized" children are ridiculed and bullied based on their appearance, and placed beneath everyone else. These children are denied before being able to get a chance to express themselves.
Samantha A.
An important concept to focus on is how things that are known to bring us happiness such as cake or a strong family connection has been eliminated from this society. Instead of having multiple sources of genuine happiness, they depend on doses of good to get them through the day. I believe “good” can represent the various substances people believe brings them happiness. The importance of being numb in this future society reflects parts of our reality.
Kahleea W
The first thing I would make a case on is that “Good” is like a drug. At first, I thought it was like a granola bar or a little snack because he went to get some from the school nurse before lunch. As the story went on, I understood that “Good” is like the feeling of good, calm, mellow, or relaxed. The second thing I would make a case on is that if you weren’t perfect there wasn’t a safe space for you; at school, you could be bullied by everyone and even hit by other students with no consequences for anybody, just laughter. Even at home, the “not perfect children” would be told that they were a mistake and bullied by their parents.
-Raven G.
The first thing I would make a case on is need to be perfect and not being emotional. Their parents chose for them not to have emotions because it showed weakness. The main character struggles with the fact that he is not perfect and has to turn to the "Good" to fit in and meet society standards. He was constantly reminded how he was mistake.The main character was very blunt with his speech and thoughts because he was being honest but would hurt other in the process. Being able to express yourself is important but people also need to be aware of other's feelings.
A major focus that I would bring up are the definitions of "clouding my truth" and "emotional truth clouding" as they both seem to mean the same thing but are different things? Both statements seem to mean, "telling the truth", but telling the truth in an emotional way in this dystopian society is bad. I would bring up this focus in a group setting to see how everyone interpreted the definitions of these two statements. Also, while reading this story, I was shocked to see just how honest people were and the different punishments that came with being honest and how people interpreted different characters honesty.
- Alexis S.
The first thing that I would make a case on is the significance of “optimized” people. From what I understood, “optimized” people have had different chips inserted into their bodies as well as technological upgrades to their body systems to make them more advanced. For example, towards the beginning of the story we learn that most of Mr. Harper's class has had chips installed in their bodies that allow them to read at ridiculously fast speeds. This immediately reminded me of the controversial baby gene-editing debate that started in 2018. I think that if we continue to attempt gene-editing, we could have a society like the one in this story.
-Chai Curry
I would focus on first how hypercritical people are in this future world. If you are anything other than what they describe as “perfect” , you’re disdained. It seemed like almost any trait/action we would consider normal would be scorned upon in this world. It was also concerning how insensitive the people were and that they were purposefully made to act that way.
-Kayla P.
Society seems to be caught up in being perfect, which consequently causes chaos and separation amongst those in the new society. This story allowed an individual to get away from then new societal norms and feel comforted by others instead of artificial happiness. Lack of point of view and perspective creates tension that divides nations and leaves everyone wondering, what if...?
McKenna C.
An important idea to focus on is that the character in this story seems to be addicted to the "Good". While reading this story, I came to the thought that the "Good" is like a drug, and it seems to be the only thing that brings the character a sense of happiness and calmness. Without the "Good", the character seems to struggle emotionally. This idea can relate to the real world in terms of how people in society may struggle with drug-related addictions.
The first thing that I would make a case on was the lack of value between family members in the inner section versus in the families that lived in the outer part of the section. The McStowes saw the good and the bad and learned to accept what came with those emotions. Because when you accept the primary you can enjoy multiple aspects of life like comedy, sweets, and family.
I also thought it was interesting how the children were prescribed Good in the morning, the father of the McStowes family prescribed three days a week with them in the era and that he would be good as new. Both sides are on completely different pages of how to live.
I would focus on the idea of how the main character was stuck on being "Good". The idea of being good seems to be the only thing that would satisfy the main character. A lot of people in reality struggle with trying to be perfect assuming that they need to be for society. The fact that happiness only came from being "good" goes to show how affective society can be. Society can influence one so much to where in this case the main character wasn't happy unless it meant being perfect.
A case from this story that was brought to my attention is that the truth is the highest form of communication. No matter how mean, rude, upsetting the truth is, it must be told. This creates no filter within the society as people just say what's on their minds without any thought of consideration of how their words may hurt others. And the thing is everyone just has to be okay with it, there is no consequences for telling mean truths or insulting people, as lying was the causes of the Wars. Another aspect that was very interesting to me was optimization and Optilife. I loved the touch of how optimization prebirth can make a person perfect but, sometimes it does go haywire, which is a result of Marlene and Samantha. This creates realism in the story as things are not always perfect and when you even try to make things perfect they may end up less than perfect or a nightmare.
The importance of "optimized" people is the first point on which I would build a case. According to what I've learned, "optimized" people have had various chips implanted in their bodies, as well as technical enhancements to their bodily systems, to make them more advanced. For instance, we learn near the beginning of the story that most of Mr. Harper's students have chips implanted in their bodies that allow them to read at breakneck speeds. This quickly brought to mind the contentious debate over newborn gene editing that erupted in 2018. If we keep attempting gene editing, I believe we will end up with a civilization similar to the one depicted in this scenario.
-Tamia Flowers
The case I would focus on is this society's emphasis on labels. There are many examples of this such ass "clear-borns, "optimal", and "optimal or ideal". These labels are held in high regard because they are associated with the potential of the individuals within this society to achieve perfection. I would argue that fundamentally this society is flawed despite its emphasis on honesty and performance because they are in pursuit of something that humans can't achieve. Labels tend to overgeneralize people and box them in which can harm the overall development in the long run.
I would focus on how much perfection seems to be valued in this story. The idea of being “optimal” or “unoptimal” seems to weigh heavy on the characters. There are also a lot of physical descriptions in the story, like when the character talks about Mr. Harper and Ms. Higgins, and I think that just further supports that these characters are obsessed with being perfect or good enough for society. They view non perfection as less than, and I think that is similar to reality when people are too hard on themselves.
My case in this text would be the fact that perfection is the standard. From a different perspective, perfections sound wonderful. However, in this text, it's more like having insurance. If you are not perfectly protected by anyone. People have to turn to good for it to compensate for happiness as seen with the main character.
One thing I have noticed about the author's stories so far is that they initially sound outlandish until you realize that they are just exaggerated. The biggest detail of the era that stuck out to me was the insistence that emotions are unnecessary and they have been holding people back. This sounds crazy when you think about it at 1st. Until you realize how in our society we are expected to move on from tragic and historic events in a matter of days like it never happened.
-Daniel Allison
One thing I would make a case focused on first would be the concept of “Good”. “Good” in this story was almost used as a drug. Once they got that “Good” it made them feel relaxed, calm, etc. It also seemed as if it was there only source of happiness which shows how happiness shouldn’t be taken for granted. Being anything but happy is treated like some kind of disease that has a cure for it which would be the “Good”. The author so far has done a decent job of connecting points from society now.
Something I would focus on is how being emotional is considered not optimal. I pointed out in the last blog that our blackness was something we tried to adjust in our lives in real life, the story was just an exaggerated version of that. It is the same way in this story, we are expected to move past our flaws, which could be "being too emotional" because that is not celebrated in our society.
One thing that instantly caught my attention is the whole concept of the power of truth and emotion, and how if that balance is disturbed, the whole state of society is put into a flux. The whole idea shines a light on the current state of our world, where the line between truth and emotion is constantly blurred, particularly on social media. When a society thinks that the solution to the world's problems is to suppress emotion and encourage brutal honesty, humanity is ultimately lost.
Jalen W
Something that I would focus on when discussing “The Era” that is significant is how emotion have been seen as a weakness in the story. Specifically, that the characters had to only be happy. “The Era” gives a perspective of what society should be like in a perfect world, yet these ideas are detrimental to society. The chapter also shows the haunting truth about society today and how many time emotions are masked for the rest of the world.
Ebonie BYrd
The thing that I would like to focus on is how brutal that brutal honesty has become. And how the people just take it. In the beginning of the story, when Mr.Harper is talked about, he never showed emotion about how a student thought about brutally hurting him. It's easy from the start to see that emotion is not something that people show in this story, and so I'd like to focus on that.
-Tiffany E.
An important focus of this story is the concept of being Good associated with being perfect. It parallels how in today's society with social media especially there are so many people who associate the two together. I think that the concept of Good as portrayed in this story is a feel-good emotion, but in today's world people can associate themselves thinking perfect and good equal the same thing.
Tiana J
Something that caught my attention was the concept "Good". It almost seems like a drug that relived people in the aftermath once they got it. The author did a good job of relating the idea of being perfect in the story and connecting it to society today.
Something I would focus on is how flimsy their society was. If a person was unable to regulate their emotions/bring themselves back to the their standards, it seemed to overwhelm the society quickly. Everyone in their society has to conform to its standards because any deviation or feeling could ruin it.
The important focus would be how "Good" is used. The "Good" is a drug used as a source of happiness, which in reality is what many drugs are used for now. Ben is addicted to "Good" because everything around him negatively impacts him which leads him to be sad. Sometimes the "Good" does not make him better. The main concept I would bring up is how drugs can be the only source of happiness for a person.
- Lexis Lewis
My focus would center around the question "what does the "Good" symbolize ?" I personally believe that it is an actually drug i think it symbolize how in today's time how so iett uses drugs to escape life. Ben hats feeling depressed and sad from the messed up world he lives. The knly thing that keeps him from suicide is this drug. I think that symbolizes how today's teenager and young adults use drugs to escape mental health and the world issues.
When I first started reading the assigned pages, I was taken aback. I was wondering why are the teacher and students being so rude to each other and why is this even being allowed? But, I guess "The Era" is meant to be some futuristic society, and how people interact with each other would not be common in today's society. This society accepts people who are rude, blunt and tend to suppress their emotions; and those who wear their emotions on their sleeves are considered outcasts
Nijay S.
The focus of The Era is selective blindness. Everyone always is selective on what they deem acceptable in the realms of sadness, justice, and happiness. This creates a split in how people see the world which stems instability in society.
-Brooke Harris
I would make a case on “being emotional isn’t prideful, and being truthful, prideful and intelligent are the best things.” People make it seem like having emotions and being honest with yourself is the worst thing you could. A person needs to have a balance of different emotions or you will end up unhappy like Mr.Harper. I can tell Mr. Harper is very full of himself and doesn’t want to show any kind of weakness. People have to understand that we are all human and nobody is perfect. Be who you are, if people don’t accept you for being you then they are not meant to be part of your life.
One focus I would talk about is the facts that the shoelookers are basically the sad and depressed people of society. The shoelookers are looked down upon compared to the others. This shows how people tend to judge those with depression and other mental health issues. It's also crazy how Ben eventually became a shoelooker once he stopped indulging in "Good". I think "good" represent temporary un-genuine happiness in this story.
-Ehriana .C
One thing to focus on is the parallels between the society in the story and ours. Everyone in this story was so focused on being the perfect person for society and not in ways that were actually meaningful. Just like in our society people put so much emphasis in their lives on fitting the "perfect" standards in society, so much that they never seem to be pleased with themselves.
-Walter Carroll
Something that was very evident in this story to recognize is the innate desire to achieve "Good". "Good" is what made the people feel happiness and was less of a intentional purpose and more so an addiction. Something else to consider is how being emotional was not looked at in a good light. Being anything besides good was seen in a negative light. Lastly the whole concept of perfection really shines through this story and the society. Perfection was more than just something to strive for in good faith, it was almost a requirement for happiness.
I would focus on the standard of "Perfection" and the main characters needs for the "The Goods". When the parents told the main character he was a mistake and they forgot to put the correct genes in him while in the womb, I was shocked. He was left behind and put in this place because he was not created in the "Perfect" image. "The Goods" was a drug that the main character was entirely dependent on this for a glimps of comfort and peace. This chapter was a scary reality.
-Chelsea Cooper
I would focus on how "The Era" was disorienting purposefully. I believe the story was disorienting to discuss how emotions can be disorienting, especially in a society where it is frowned upon to be shown. When we have to supress our emotions, we feel that same disorientation because we are unsure of what to do, and I find that very interesting.
One thing that I would make a case to focus on is the immense sense of depression and sadness surrounding the characters in the Era. This story had much symbolism on the subject of depression that could be related to our current society nowadays. Ben is a good example of depression in this story. In the beginning, you could feel the pull of sadness dragging him under just by the context of his words.
Kiarra Chark
The first concern I had about “The Era” was how people did not believe in the term fake it til you make it. I’m my opinion not one person will have all the right tools to be successful or how to do anything right the first time through. Believe in him yourself is the first step and acting as if you have it is the next until you actually get it. Everyone who used Good was not actually being themselves. They were being a fake version of themselves and that isn’t faking it til you make it. It’s just faking it. The McStowes were the few people who still believed in making things for yourself by yourself. Ben understood this too, but his family tried to make him not. In a sense they were creating him to be a revolutionary leader in many ways.
Alexis H.
The main focus of this story to me is being unemotive. But I think no matter how “inefficient” it is, it’s the most significant part of human exitance that we take for granted. Even though genetic testing as illuminated the necessity for positive feelings, not everyone seems to be allowed to get it. It has created a power distance between people with different types of testing. Another focus of “The Era” is the main characters struggle with humanity. He’s struggling to control his “irrational” emotions because he isn’t allowed to express himself. Almost everyone around him was constantly reminding him that his lack of genetic modification made him inferior.
- Carah F.
An important focus would be how everybody idolizes being "Good". They take it as being good like a drug, the happiness that you get when you are being good. It questions what lengths people would go to in order to achieve being "good". It is a strive to be good and perfect which isn't healthy.
The part of this that deserves the most focus is how regular human emotion in the way that it exists today is completely eliminated from society. Instead there is an artificial system that disperses feelings of good as if it were food. What I got out of this was a deeper appreciation of feeling a range of emotion and appreciating the good rather than everyone in society being given "good".
-Will A
Meghan N.:
One of the most important themes include the concept of perfection. So many morals, values, and even respect is considered not normal in today's society. People are not always considerate of others nor perspectives and challenges. People must look out for others always.
2/25/22
I think we should bring attention to the focus of perfection in the story. It aligns with so many people because in reality, nobody likes making mistakes. We could take away the lesson from this point in the story by remembering that it is okay if life does not go our way all the time
One focus of this story is the about term being " Good". It remind of something we as a society goes through today with the idea of being perfect is associated with a drug. But it was upsetting to see because it something that we see today in society with teenagers and adults always trying to be consider perfect but suffering in the end.
The numbing nature of this future is blatant. This reminds me a lot of the game "We Happy Few", which surrounds an existence that is dependent on Happy pills. This idea of universal numbness seems relative to dehumanizing humanity.
Ilysa Walker
I'd make a case to focus on how much emphasis people in this era put on being "perfect". To mask your emotions and only be happy to put out an image that a society is brewing with happiness and positivity only to realize it was fake all along. I think many people could make a case for this type of thing in certain places of the world. Especially in places on the west side of the world.
A focus that comes to mind with this particular story is how the characters are given “Good” to determine their happiness and mood. Having the “Good” as a source can make the characters feel like they can’t create their own happiness unless they have that, which makes it seem like a drug. Also, it can come off as trying to be perfect, because they always want to have it and be happy, but in reality everybody has their different moods and it is normal.
This story was definitely interesting, and personally took me on a mental trip. I think a few focuses come to mind with this story for me. One of the main ones is how Ben's dependency on "Good", seemed to parallel to one suffering from addiction, specifically drug dependence or substance abuse to me. People will look to abuse these things to have confidence, to feel happy, more at ease or relaxed (as overall mood enhancers). And though this happens to people, it's often that most people tend to look down on others that are sad and suffering, or people that abuse drugs or have addictions to substances for mood enhancing effects. When in reality instead of their being divides of people that are sad (the Shoelookers), people that rely on "Good" or drugs/substances (ex. Ben), and those that don't, we need to be thinking about as a collective how we should try to be more like the McStowe's. Seeking happiness upon ourselves and valuing the connections that we have with others, is what they represented to me. Also, emphasizing the idea of being open to understanding other possibilities and uplifting and supporting those that we can. I think the McStowe's served as the reality to the dystopian society within this storyline. This family represented the understanding that there is no standard that matters aside from your own, and that "normal" can look different for everyone.
If we were sitting in a room I would make a case about the shoe lookers. This may not be super important but it does play a role in what the setting and the society of this story is suppose to look like. We could discuss whom the so called shoe makers in our society would probably represent. We also could show what the “good” in our world symbolizes compared to this stories.
The first thing I would make a case on is need to be perfect and not being emotional. Their parents chose for them not to have emotions because it showed weakness. The main character struggles with the fact that he is not perfect and has to turn to the "Good" to fit in and meet society standards. He was constantly reminded how he was mistake.The main character was very blunt with his speech and thoughts because he was being honest but would hurt other in the process. Being able to express yourself is important but people also need to be aware of other's feelings.
Geonel M.:
The era is a futuristic society also called the new federation. It looks a lot like the past but is a-lot worse. It is a perfectionist society. People could achieve this perfection through unnatural routes. As a matter of fact, fertility is optimized in the new federation. Meaning that parents could choose certain traits for their children before their conception.
In the era, people are not allowed to show emotions and stand against everything that the present generation fights against. We can also note that people are stripped away from social mechanism (e.g: no lies). Which leads me to question if becoming better will not be more harmful than being perfectly flawed.
Ashanti Y.:
A major focus to look at is how normal feelings and emotions were cut. If you weren’t what the deemed “normal” or “perfect”. It seemed like every trait is as society declare normal they didn’t. I think because of this is why everyone was so desensitized to everyone else’s feelings
Josephine Kanyi said...
I haven't had a passage throw me in for such a loop as much as this one did. It's important to focus on the constant dissatisfaction that people living in the industrial era are facing. The era is not just about futuristic predictions but does a good job at depicting mental health specifically depression. To the main character Ben, Good is simply an escape from the sad reality his life is and reflects on how a lot of people find different avenues to distract themselves from their current reality, and some end up being addictive coping mechanisms like "good" was for Ben.
February 23, 2022 at 10:45 PM
(Originally posted to https://www.culturalfront.org/2022/02/haley-scholars-group-2-nana-kwame-adjei_23.html)
Jasmyne Rush said...
My case for the readings this week would pertain to how someone is viewed and how they feel about it. In the beginning of this section, The Era, the teacher, Mr. Harper, is doing a terrible job at building his students confidence. He is instead pointing out and telling them how imperfect they are and why they'd always be "unoptimal" to others. The students can't even express their emotions truly because their emotions are disregarded by others because it shows them as being inadequate. Also, I instantly noticed how some students have an implanted chip in their bodies while those who are "unoptimal" don't.
February 25, 2022 at 11:31 PM
(Originally posted to https://www.culturalfront.org/2022/02/haley-scholars-group-2-nana-kwame-adjei_23.html)
Unknown said...
Charles R
The Era focus on the future, society, family, and how emotions are handled in a dystopia. In Era, the sister Leslie is judgmental of others while the brother works on being good. Also, the parents telling their child that he was a mistake show how emotionally disconnected families are to each other.
February 25, 2022 at 12:11 PM
(Originally posted to https://www.culturalfront.org/2022/02/haley-scholars-group-2-nana-kwame-adjei_23.html)
Unknown said...
In discussing "The Era," the point of focus I would like to address is the standard of perfection/ "optimal" being. It's fascinating that some of the qualities that makes human beings beautiful (empathic, sensitive, genuinely loving) are considered as a weakness/defect.
_Jacqueline Smith
February 25, 2022 at 6:37 PM
(Originally posted to https://www.culturalfront.org/2022/02/haley-scholars-group-2-nana-kwame-adjei_23.html)
The yearning for perfection and the lack of emotion. Emotions showed weakness which is something that today's society is trying to shy away from but is still struggling with, myself included. The desire to be. perfect is almost scary in today's society and the one discussed seeing that people would do anything to be perfect.
One thing that needs to be discussed is this bizarre society. It is extremely important to not show emotions in this society. So much so that the main character was discouraged from speaking his truth because it was coming from an emotional state. Emotions are seen as an imperfection and this society strives for perfection. And they even go to the lengths of changing peoples genetics to make them perfect.
-Darius C.
One thing I found interesting was how they said the reason why we all humans fight or argue is because of people being living wrong which causes distrust. I noticed when they were talking about emotions, it was one reason which led to war/problems in the world. Another one was being "Good", appreciation wasn't accepted which is really wrong. This whole story just felt not okay.
The first concern we should bring up is how society feels about people who is shown through the main character. He not only attacks himself, but almost everyone in the book because they are not "perfect" in the eyes of society. I was shocked by how the characters value emotions as weaknesses and value "honesty" in the form of insults as showing strengths. It's also concerning that once you are marked with something, you cant develop or change from that. The main character describes himself as dumb, slow, and more of a thinker than a listener, but at home, he's able to read the chapter. It seems like the character could grow with help and maybe prosper in the previous society.
- Dasmin W
If we were to sit down and have a discussion, I would focus the conversation on the “good” and how the main character strives for perfection and that is how he defines his happiness. I think this conversation would open up a good space for explaining what each individuals perception of “good” is. Being that we all have different experiences, everyone understands certain situations differently. I would also like to discuss in what ways we all feel we can relate or compare to the main character.
Jamie Tabron
Anonymous said...
One of the major things I focused on was parents being able to pick out their children's characteristics. All children are blessings. So how they come into this world is how they are supposed to be. I also thought that the dad was being a little hard on the kids. It is important to raise them in the right manner though. Everyone is different, but everyone is perfect as they are. It was really hard for me to see how other kids were treating each other.
-Rotrisha Epps
March 4, 2022 at 1:06 PM
(Originally posted to https://www.culturalfront.org/2022/02/haley-scholars-group-2-nana-kwame-adjei_23.html)
Fatima B.:
Concerning "The Era" I think we should focus on the concept of "Good" first. It draws many parallels to real life where "Good" symbolizes drugs, alcohol, or anything else used to achieve a false sense of happiness. Also, the obsession with perfection is quite shocking. These high expectations lead to never feeling fulfilled and content.
Breana B.:
What I would discuss is the origin of the war and how it began. I would talk about this because it reminds me so much of today. People are doing things not because they want to but have to work to survive. People always make sacrifices for the greater good when they suffer in return. I enjoyed reading this chapter.
One major thing I focused on and discussed was the perception of "right". or "good" in the society in the text and how it translate to the current society. Often times I see this notion is what drives us to make many our decisions and leads me to question what really is free will and do we have it in our current civilization.
If I were in a room discussing this story, I'd potentially propose how relatable I feel, at times, to Ben. I'd inquire if we feel that in some ways, elements of The Era play out in today's world. I'd inquire about whether Ben and the other non-optimized folks are actually the problems or if it is the perfectionists who are the problem. Overall, I'd present how, in some ways, we aren't too far off from The Era. Good, in today's world, can be many things - it could be how individuals use and depend on weed, medicine, etc. to feel good and to regulate their emotions and body.
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