These blogs were created as personal reflections on the book JPod. The first three cover different approaches to the book using the literary theories of Reader Response, Archetypal, and Feminist.
Blog Post #1
Applying The Reader Response Theory to JPod
After reading the first third of Douglas Coupland's book Jpod, I have come to the conclusion that the book relies heavily on the reader's interpretation and response. These are some of the ways I personally interpreted the text in response to reading it.
1.Prediction: The book starts you off fast, in the first twenty pages of the book, the character's mother accidentally kills a person. This is stated in dialogue between the main character and his mother on page 20: “Ethan, I killed a biker.” “You killed a Biker?” This event is most likely the only event that offers some predictability in this first third of the book. The entire thing is written in a style that covers events on a day-to-day basis. We see life through Ethan's eyes, and so we are unable to see the future. Issues and events are experienced by the character as they appear and we as the reader cannot see past that. The event of the biker's death however presents some potential for a future prediction. I predicted that the body would be found eventually and that the character would have to deal with that issue when the time came. After Ethan had dealt with the biker, no more insight was provided on the subject. Perhaps it will be referenced later in the book.
2.Mental Imagery: This book casts its own world in a very unique way. There is almost no drama. The world feels still. When something happens, the characters in the book never react very emotionally. The setting is very neutral, not much description is provided about the environment except where Ethan's parents live, which is described on page 22 as a “gloomy evergreen cocoon.” Every matter in the book is handled very nonchalantly by the characters. For example, when Ethan's mother kills the biker and they discuss it on page 20, Ethan says, “You killed a Biker?” Ethan wasn't putting emphasis on the killing part, but on the biker instead. When he arrived at his mother's house, she says after Ethan's questioning, “I was gonna eat my sandwich, but okay, Mr Impatient, follow me.” Ethan's mother says this right after murdering somebody. After the discussion, the two simply buried the body and left it at that. The whole story is written in this fashion where the characters seem to be going though the motions. The mental image as a whole would best be described as silence. The world and the characters are very quite, calm, and nonchalant. This is a very interesting writing style that I have not encountered before, and it makes reading the book very easygoing as there's no drama or action occurring in the world of the story.
The final point to be made is that the author is rather cryptic in his writing. Throughout the book, he features random pages of text that can either resemble that of a commercial for a product or just seemingly random text. Some pages are filled with smaller text and they ramble about different ideas and string together sentences that bombard the reader with topics. Given the perspectives and ideas presented throughout the story, such as the fact that we are all slaves locked in the cycle of work, the author may be trying to convey ideas about what corporations are really trying to do when they run commercials or bombard you with idea upon idea. Perhaps the author was trying to illustrate the confusion and chaos some corporations intend to instill with their messages. They create confusion by listing off points rapidly, to distract the viewer and cause them to miss some points. An example of this could be medicine ads on television. They list the benefits slowly and in a manner that is easy to understand, then they list the side effects rapidly in a barely intelligible voice, so as to cause the viewer to miss some of the side effects.
In conclusion, the author's writing style is very unique in that it presents dramatic situations in a calm manner, and although his words are descriptive and can lay out the setting for you, the meaning behind his cryptic messages is left up to the interpretation of the reader.
After reading the first third of Douglas Coupland's book Jpod, I have come to the conclusion that the book relies heavily on the reader's interpretation and response. These are some of the ways I personally interpreted the text in response to reading it.
1.Prediction: The book starts you off fast, in the first twenty pages of the book, the character's mother accidentally kills a person. This is stated in dialogue between the main character and his mother on page 20: “Ethan, I killed a biker.” “You killed a Biker?” This event is most likely the only event that offers some predictability in this first third of the book. The entire thing is written in a style that covers events on a day-to-day basis. We see life through Ethan's eyes, and so we are unable to see the future. Issues and events are experienced by the character as they appear and we as the reader cannot see past that. The event of the biker's death however presents some potential for a future prediction. I predicted that the body would be found eventually and that the character would have to deal with that issue when the time came. After Ethan had dealt with the biker, no more insight was provided on the subject. Perhaps it will be referenced later in the book.
2.Mental Imagery: This book casts its own world in a very unique way. There is almost no drama. The world feels still. When something happens, the characters in the book never react very emotionally. The setting is very neutral, not much description is provided about the environment except where Ethan's parents live, which is described on page 22 as a “gloomy evergreen cocoon.” Every matter in the book is handled very nonchalantly by the characters. For example, when Ethan's mother kills the biker and they discuss it on page 20, Ethan says, “You killed a Biker?” Ethan wasn't putting emphasis on the killing part, but on the biker instead. When he arrived at his mother's house, she says after Ethan's questioning, “I was gonna eat my sandwich, but okay, Mr Impatient, follow me.” Ethan's mother says this right after murdering somebody. After the discussion, the two simply buried the body and left it at that. The whole story is written in this fashion where the characters seem to be going though the motions. The mental image as a whole would best be described as silence. The world and the characters are very quite, calm, and nonchalant. This is a very interesting writing style that I have not encountered before, and it makes reading the book very easygoing as there's no drama or action occurring in the world of the story.
The final point to be made is that the author is rather cryptic in his writing. Throughout the book, he features random pages of text that can either resemble that of a commercial for a product or just seemingly random text. Some pages are filled with smaller text and they ramble about different ideas and string together sentences that bombard the reader with topics. Given the perspectives and ideas presented throughout the story, such as the fact that we are all slaves locked in the cycle of work, the author may be trying to convey ideas about what corporations are really trying to do when they run commercials or bombard you with idea upon idea. Perhaps the author was trying to illustrate the confusion and chaos some corporations intend to instill with their messages. They create confusion by listing off points rapidly, to distract the viewer and cause them to miss some points. An example of this could be medicine ads on television. They list the benefits slowly and in a manner that is easy to understand, then they list the side effects rapidly in a barely intelligible voice, so as to cause the viewer to miss some of the side effects.
In conclusion, the author's writing style is very unique in that it presents dramatic situations in a calm manner, and although his words are descriptive and can lay out the setting for you, the meaning behind his cryptic messages is left up to the interpretation of the reader.
Blog Post #2
Applying the Archetypal Literary Theory to JPod
After reading the second third of Douglas Couplands JPod, I have written this blog to discuss and investigate the presence of archetypal literary theory in the story. We will be looking at common character roles, symbols, events, and journeys that can be compared to other works and media.
In the book, JPod, the characters present resemble common archetypes found within many media works. Ethan Jarlewski starts of in the book as a typical, undeveloped character. He simply breezes through life, not diverting most of his effort to any one thing, and usually very un-reacting to events. As the story progresses we start to see more and more into Ethan's personality. He begins to grow and develop and we see what he is thinking. For example, early in the story, Ethan is offered furniture by Kam Fong, a people-smuggler who holds a lot of wealth. When Ethan receives his furniture he complains about it saying “It's just not, me,” and wants his old furniture back. Ethan at this point in the story has lived a very cyclical, routine life, and was not used to change and did not welcome it. Later in the story, Kam Fong moves in with Ethan as a roommate, and Ethan's response when questioned about it on page 220 was, “Actually, not too badly. I'm surprised. Best roommate I ever had.” While this is only a small statement that is a feature in a conversation, it shows that Ethan is growing as a character, he's developing from the routine person he used to be, and is now learning to better accept change in his life. This is illustrated again on page 300 when Douglas Coupland (featured within his own story) writes him a letter. The letter states, “But, for the love of God, grow up. Or read something outside your normal sphere...” This is showing that the character Ethan Jarlewski is trapping himself in a bubble, he's not leaving his comfort zone. The author is trying to push him beyond his comfort limits and develop him into a better character.
The story in JPod is similar to many other stories written before it. The basic premise behind it all is the same. The undeveloped main character lives within his comfort zone and is at ease with what he is, even if he isn't all that he could be. This is shown through Ethan's responses to JPod and his place of work. He always begrudgingly complies with the assignments he's given and even sometimes tries to sabotage them, as evident on page 271, “Part of my job in subverting SpriteQuest is to provide Ronald's creation myth-his backstory that tells players how he ended up in his secret lair, dedicated to mayhem.” SpriteQuest is the game Ethan and his team are working on, and Ronald is a rogue character Ethan created to sabotage the game. This shows that character secretly wants more from life, he yearns to escape the endless limbo of JPod, but makes not effort to do so. He is eventually thrown into mayhem and discord when his mother murders a biker, his dad has an affair, his brother smuggles people through his house, and Ethan gets shipped off to China to rescue his boss, Steve. Ethan does not have control over his China trip as stated on page 292 when he has a conversation with Kam Fong.
Kam Fong: “You're in luck, I heard this morning that he's fine. Do you want to go get him?
Ethan: “Sure. Where is he?”
Kam Fong: “China”
Ethan: “What?”
Kam Fong: “Too late. You said you'd go. You can't back out now.”
In conclusion, we see a lot of archetypal character development and story in the book JPod, and in many ways it is similar to many works that have been written before it, but despite this, it still remains a very unique story on its own. While its story and style are unique, its basic premise remains a common archetype: Undeveloped main character leaves comfortable life and is thrown into discomfort, which leads to him growing as a person.
After reading the second third of Douglas Couplands JPod, I have written this blog to discuss and investigate the presence of archetypal literary theory in the story. We will be looking at common character roles, symbols, events, and journeys that can be compared to other works and media.
In the book, JPod, the characters present resemble common archetypes found within many media works. Ethan Jarlewski starts of in the book as a typical, undeveloped character. He simply breezes through life, not diverting most of his effort to any one thing, and usually very un-reacting to events. As the story progresses we start to see more and more into Ethan's personality. He begins to grow and develop and we see what he is thinking. For example, early in the story, Ethan is offered furniture by Kam Fong, a people-smuggler who holds a lot of wealth. When Ethan receives his furniture he complains about it saying “It's just not, me,” and wants his old furniture back. Ethan at this point in the story has lived a very cyclical, routine life, and was not used to change and did not welcome it. Later in the story, Kam Fong moves in with Ethan as a roommate, and Ethan's response when questioned about it on page 220 was, “Actually, not too badly. I'm surprised. Best roommate I ever had.” While this is only a small statement that is a feature in a conversation, it shows that Ethan is growing as a character, he's developing from the routine person he used to be, and is now learning to better accept change in his life. This is illustrated again on page 300 when Douglas Coupland (featured within his own story) writes him a letter. The letter states, “But, for the love of God, grow up. Or read something outside your normal sphere...” This is showing that the character Ethan Jarlewski is trapping himself in a bubble, he's not leaving his comfort zone. The author is trying to push him beyond his comfort limits and develop him into a better character.
The story in JPod is similar to many other stories written before it. The basic premise behind it all is the same. The undeveloped main character lives within his comfort zone and is at ease with what he is, even if he isn't all that he could be. This is shown through Ethan's responses to JPod and his place of work. He always begrudgingly complies with the assignments he's given and even sometimes tries to sabotage them, as evident on page 271, “Part of my job in subverting SpriteQuest is to provide Ronald's creation myth-his backstory that tells players how he ended up in his secret lair, dedicated to mayhem.” SpriteQuest is the game Ethan and his team are working on, and Ronald is a rogue character Ethan created to sabotage the game. This shows that character secretly wants more from life, he yearns to escape the endless limbo of JPod, but makes not effort to do so. He is eventually thrown into mayhem and discord when his mother murders a biker, his dad has an affair, his brother smuggles people through his house, and Ethan gets shipped off to China to rescue his boss, Steve. Ethan does not have control over his China trip as stated on page 292 when he has a conversation with Kam Fong.
Kam Fong: “You're in luck, I heard this morning that he's fine. Do you want to go get him?
Ethan: “Sure. Where is he?”
Kam Fong: “China”
Ethan: “What?”
Kam Fong: “Too late. You said you'd go. You can't back out now.”
In conclusion, we see a lot of archetypal character development and story in the book JPod, and in many ways it is similar to many works that have been written before it, but despite this, it still remains a very unique story on its own. While its story and style are unique, its basic premise remains a common archetype: Undeveloped main character leaves comfortable life and is thrown into discomfort, which leads to him growing as a person.
Blog Post #3
Applying the Feminist Literary Theory to JPod
After reading the final third of Douglas Couplands JPod, we look to the final literary theory that we will be using to analyze this book. This final literary theory we will be applying to JPod is feminism. In the case of the book JPod, feminist ideas are directly stated outright.
The author makes no attempt in JPod to hide the feminist ideas he is stating in his text. Or at least, that is how it appears at first. Even in his direct stating of his ideas, the author has hidden yet more to discover. Anybody can read JPod and recognize the ideas of capitalized names imply a hierarchy (as stated by Ethan on page 434, “Is that Yarrow with a capital or lowercase Y?” to which John Doe replies ,”Actually, it's capitalized. Long Story.”) or that females have the right to express their power (Ethan's mom states on page 434, “I just think it is really important at this point to explore my she-power.”) but these messages are merely on the surface, they have no depth, and frankly, they seem more like radical ideas created within a cult. The real feminist messages lie a bit deeper, underneath the surface.
Throughout the book women play a strong role in the story, they are treated and react as expected in today's modern society. They aren't oppressed, shunned, or controlled. There is no real fight to equalize men and women. This is evident throughout the story in characters such as Bree, who is described as outgoing and provocative, often tempting and controlling other men through her looks. She exhibits this in one section of the story with her french boyfriend, on page 214 she discusses how after she gave her french boyfriend some expensive wine, he immediately started treating her as a “classy layyyyyydy” where just earlier their relationship was failing. She also makes a point immediately after on the price of the wine, stating, “I looked online, and it turns out the wine was worth seven hundred bucks. Shriek!” She seemed more interested in the price and profit she could make from the wine rather than properly maintaining a relationship.
Another example of feminist power illustrated in the novel was Ethan's mother. She came across sweet and innocent to everybody on the outside, but led her own life of secrets. When people became too interested in her, she would react and “deal with them.” She did this through her own means and through Kam Fong (Although she admittedly didn't exactly show any “feminist power” when going through Kam Fong, since he did all the heavy lifting). On page 20 she mentions she killed a biker when he tried to extort her for pricing on her marijuana crop, and she barely reacts to it, simply stating she wanted to eat her sandwich and bury the body. Another incident was when she went to make a money collection for selling her “crop.” In this case, on page 128, it states, “She pulled a gun from her purse, and one shot later Gumdrop met his maker,” Gumdrop being a rabid dog who bit her shin. She then proceeds to storm the house, armed with her gun, when the client refuses to make their payment.
The third and final example of the balance between male and female characters is illustrated through the character Kaitlin. She is even featured in the final third of the book, where various passages are written in her voice from her perspective. These passages covered various interviews and assignments she had to complete during her schooling at the Kwantlen College Learning Annex. She is also seen to have equal balance in her relationship with Ethan, as evident on page 217 when Ethan states, “I was feeling pretty pleased with myself about this little observation until I misplaced the copper Haida bracelet Kaitlin had given me for my birthday. Boy, did fireworks fly. Guess who was sleeping on the floor until he remembered leaving it in the basement on top of the box the new furnace filter came in.” This statement, although a little extreme, shows that there isn't really any dominant side to the relationship most of the time.
In conclusion, Douglas Coupland does a good job of matching and balancing male and female characters in JPod, with neither party rising above or surpassing the other.
After reading the final third of Douglas Couplands JPod, we look to the final literary theory that we will be using to analyze this book. This final literary theory we will be applying to JPod is feminism. In the case of the book JPod, feminist ideas are directly stated outright.
The author makes no attempt in JPod to hide the feminist ideas he is stating in his text. Or at least, that is how it appears at first. Even in his direct stating of his ideas, the author has hidden yet more to discover. Anybody can read JPod and recognize the ideas of capitalized names imply a hierarchy (as stated by Ethan on page 434, “Is that Yarrow with a capital or lowercase Y?” to which John Doe replies ,”Actually, it's capitalized. Long Story.”) or that females have the right to express their power (Ethan's mom states on page 434, “I just think it is really important at this point to explore my she-power.”) but these messages are merely on the surface, they have no depth, and frankly, they seem more like radical ideas created within a cult. The real feminist messages lie a bit deeper, underneath the surface.
Throughout the book women play a strong role in the story, they are treated and react as expected in today's modern society. They aren't oppressed, shunned, or controlled. There is no real fight to equalize men and women. This is evident throughout the story in characters such as Bree, who is described as outgoing and provocative, often tempting and controlling other men through her looks. She exhibits this in one section of the story with her french boyfriend, on page 214 she discusses how after she gave her french boyfriend some expensive wine, he immediately started treating her as a “classy layyyyyydy” where just earlier their relationship was failing. She also makes a point immediately after on the price of the wine, stating, “I looked online, and it turns out the wine was worth seven hundred bucks. Shriek!” She seemed more interested in the price and profit she could make from the wine rather than properly maintaining a relationship.
Another example of feminist power illustrated in the novel was Ethan's mother. She came across sweet and innocent to everybody on the outside, but led her own life of secrets. When people became too interested in her, she would react and “deal with them.” She did this through her own means and through Kam Fong (Although she admittedly didn't exactly show any “feminist power” when going through Kam Fong, since he did all the heavy lifting). On page 20 she mentions she killed a biker when he tried to extort her for pricing on her marijuana crop, and she barely reacts to it, simply stating she wanted to eat her sandwich and bury the body. Another incident was when she went to make a money collection for selling her “crop.” In this case, on page 128, it states, “She pulled a gun from her purse, and one shot later Gumdrop met his maker,” Gumdrop being a rabid dog who bit her shin. She then proceeds to storm the house, armed with her gun, when the client refuses to make their payment.
The third and final example of the balance between male and female characters is illustrated through the character Kaitlin. She is even featured in the final third of the book, where various passages are written in her voice from her perspective. These passages covered various interviews and assignments she had to complete during her schooling at the Kwantlen College Learning Annex. She is also seen to have equal balance in her relationship with Ethan, as evident on page 217 when Ethan states, “I was feeling pretty pleased with myself about this little observation until I misplaced the copper Haida bracelet Kaitlin had given me for my birthday. Boy, did fireworks fly. Guess who was sleeping on the floor until he remembered leaving it in the basement on top of the box the new furnace filter came in.” This statement, although a little extreme, shows that there isn't really any dominant side to the relationship most of the time.
In conclusion, Douglas Coupland does a good job of matching and balancing male and female characters in JPod, with neither party rising above or surpassing the other.
Blog Post #4
Which Theory Provides the Most Insight Into JPod?
After reading all three thirds of Douglas Coupland's Jpod, and considering differing perspectives by applying the literary theories of reader response, archetypal, and feminist, I have come to the conclusion that the archetypal literary theory is the one that provided the most insight into the book.
The archetypal literary theory opened my eyes the the real backstories behind the characters. By studying what made them the same, they became unique. The archetypal literary theory made me think more deeply about what I was reading because it forced me to apply previously existing media works to my text, and to relate ideas and characters.
The characters in this book are very much alike many other characters featured in other stories. In many literary works, there is usually a can-do character that can get whatever needs to be done, done, and puts on a facade of cheerfulness and pep. However, it is usually revealed later that these people aren't really the pep-fuelled people they appear to be. They usually suffer from some sort of deranged upbringing or backstory, or are mentally impaired, or have some other secret detriment they hide from society. An example of this type of character would be Kam Fong. He is similar in the sense that he has a can-do attitude and tries to make people's lives better, but he has no sense of humour and has rather dark methods of “helping” people. He uses slaves and people smuggles to generate wealth and take case of nuissances. In this regard, Kam is alike to many other story characters, but has his own unique backstory and faults on top. If we look closely, we can see that Kam may not be as can-do as he seems. Perhaps his abundant wealth and slaves make it easy for him to do what he pleases. This is even evident on page 361 when Ethan states, “Dad placed seventh out of sixty in Canteen (an endless night for all of us). He lost points for not having a light enough touch. Kam came in second. I fully expect the first-place winner to vanish some night while walking the dog.” This shows that Kam really has a darker, selfish side that he hides from everyone else(although, not too well).
The plot follows a typical path as well. Ethan is content with his simple dull life and is comfortable where he is, when suddenly he is flung into family persuits and trips around the world to save drugged-up slaves and smuggled people. This typical “ascension story” where the character becomes something better than he was draws our attention to how Ethan really did change over that time. Ethan rejects change in the beginning, complaining about family perils and furniture changes, he wants things to stay the way they were. After suffering through family perils such as his mother murdering a biker and his dad having an affair, he begins to slowly accept change. He allows Kam Fong to move in with him. Kam changes everything from the furniture to what Ethan eats and drinks. After rescuing Steve from China Ethan opens up more to Steve. Ethan still exhibits some of his old traits too such as his instinct to hide his mother from people or protecting her from bad influences. This is evident when she arrives at Ethan's meeting on page 74 and he states “How did she get through security? Why wasn't she accompanied by a guard?” and when she arrives at Ethan's office party and he states, “I should have removed Mom from the party at that moment, but alas, it was too late. Mom was infatuated.” in response to his mother becoming swayed by John Does mother, a potentially poor influence. This shows Ethan still retains some of his personal traits throughout the story even after everything that changed him.
In conclusion, the archetypal literary theory forces us to take a second pass at what is presented to us. By forcing us to make connections to other works and spot recurring patterns within the text and other media sources, we inadvertently end up analyzing the text at a deeper level. This is why the archetypal literary theory is the best selection when searching for the most meaningful insight into Jpod.
After reading all three thirds of Douglas Coupland's Jpod, and considering differing perspectives by applying the literary theories of reader response, archetypal, and feminist, I have come to the conclusion that the archetypal literary theory is the one that provided the most insight into the book.
The archetypal literary theory opened my eyes the the real backstories behind the characters. By studying what made them the same, they became unique. The archetypal literary theory made me think more deeply about what I was reading because it forced me to apply previously existing media works to my text, and to relate ideas and characters.
The characters in this book are very much alike many other characters featured in other stories. In many literary works, there is usually a can-do character that can get whatever needs to be done, done, and puts on a facade of cheerfulness and pep. However, it is usually revealed later that these people aren't really the pep-fuelled people they appear to be. They usually suffer from some sort of deranged upbringing or backstory, or are mentally impaired, or have some other secret detriment they hide from society. An example of this type of character would be Kam Fong. He is similar in the sense that he has a can-do attitude and tries to make people's lives better, but he has no sense of humour and has rather dark methods of “helping” people. He uses slaves and people smuggles to generate wealth and take case of nuissances. In this regard, Kam is alike to many other story characters, but has his own unique backstory and faults on top. If we look closely, we can see that Kam may not be as can-do as he seems. Perhaps his abundant wealth and slaves make it easy for him to do what he pleases. This is even evident on page 361 when Ethan states, “Dad placed seventh out of sixty in Canteen (an endless night for all of us). He lost points for not having a light enough touch. Kam came in second. I fully expect the first-place winner to vanish some night while walking the dog.” This shows that Kam really has a darker, selfish side that he hides from everyone else(although, not too well).
The plot follows a typical path as well. Ethan is content with his simple dull life and is comfortable where he is, when suddenly he is flung into family persuits and trips around the world to save drugged-up slaves and smuggled people. This typical “ascension story” where the character becomes something better than he was draws our attention to how Ethan really did change over that time. Ethan rejects change in the beginning, complaining about family perils and furniture changes, he wants things to stay the way they were. After suffering through family perils such as his mother murdering a biker and his dad having an affair, he begins to slowly accept change. He allows Kam Fong to move in with him. Kam changes everything from the furniture to what Ethan eats and drinks. After rescuing Steve from China Ethan opens up more to Steve. Ethan still exhibits some of his old traits too such as his instinct to hide his mother from people or protecting her from bad influences. This is evident when she arrives at Ethan's meeting on page 74 and he states “How did she get through security? Why wasn't she accompanied by a guard?” and when she arrives at Ethan's office party and he states, “I should have removed Mom from the party at that moment, but alas, it was too late. Mom was infatuated.” in response to his mother becoming swayed by John Does mother, a potentially poor influence. This shows Ethan still retains some of his personal traits throughout the story even after everything that changed him.
In conclusion, the archetypal literary theory forces us to take a second pass at what is presented to us. By forcing us to make connections to other works and spot recurring patterns within the text and other media sources, we inadvertently end up analyzing the text at a deeper level. This is why the archetypal literary theory is the best selection when searching for the most meaningful insight into Jpod.