I first read the book in 9th grade. The writing is pedestrian and clumsy, but the many of the ideas from it made me sad.
The image that struck me most deeply was of the Epsilon elevator operator. All the real joy he had in his life was to take people up to the roof and for those few seconds – that was it. Roof! ::shudders:: Doomed to turn 60 and be sent off to the crematorium to become fertilizer.
Oh, and all the conditioning with the hypno-audio. That’s happening for real all day everyday to to almost everyone. Maybe not in boxes, but with messages from boxes to buy, to accept. Messages from parents to kids, from schools to kids: Conform, conform. I’m aware I’ve swallowed some of it too, just to not feel left out and to fit in.
I think because I’ve gone along to get along many times and knew that I was doing it was why I was angry at the Alpha Plus Plus dude being all freaked out by the prospect of going to the island and separating from the society he supposedly hated. It was a good thing! And he couldn’t see it until it was pointed out to him. Some Alpha Plus Plus he was, huh?