Bounty

I thoroughly enjoyed reading George Saunders visual novella, Bounty. This novella touched upon many themes such as discrimination, familial ties, and slavery. It also reminded me of the other works we have read in class and led me to draw a parallel to Connie's tail and Eliza's tail ( from the Blackhole comics).
In this novella I found it very powerful how Chris decides to give up everything in order to find his sister Connie. He gives up his job(which is very rare for a flawed to have), security, and his home so that he can make sure his sister is safe. Along the path to his sister he faces many obstacles, gets tortured and even loses his virginity(which can be associated with him losing his innocence). However what I found most powerful was that even after he finds his sister at the end, he doesn't continue on with the job that Corbett provides, but goes out to change the world. He does this because he when he see's his sister's baby he says out loud " I've never loved anyone so much in my life.....I beg them to repeal the Slave Edict and grant her full citizenship. I ask them to consider their own children and honor that part of the eternal that resides within them." This shows us how he doesn't want Connie's child to go through the same hardships that he went through and believes in his fathers words that "that in time you meek shall inherit the earth." However instead of staying passive he decided to go out and join a rebel group to help other flawed's and change this oppressive system.

Bounty

I found this passage intriguing because of the fact that I found it funny how hypocritical the protagonist was in this scene. Essentially he throws rocks at his friend who is making a mistake with his lines (also just to annoy him), however, in the end he ends up forgetting his own lines and misses his piece all together. I also thought it was interesting how this passage introduces the relationship between Cole and his sister. For me, it almost seemed that Cole was jealous of how his sister was getting involved with other guys, a feeling that is definitely common for boys who have sisters. On a general note, I really enjoyed reading Bounty as I thought it introduced certain questions and problems that people face today such as discrimination and other major social issues. I think it is important to embrace your natural qualities, even if they are put down and deemed wrong by the rest of society. Saunders definitely touched upon this theme in Bounty and that is one of the main reasons found his writing so gripping and compelling. 

Bounty

"'These feet identify you forever and always as Flawed,' he says. 'Even if you could somehow rid yourself of your Flawed bracelet, your deformed feet would scream out form every treetop the pertinent information on your unfortunate condition, by virtue of which, in the western portion of our nation, a man like yourself may literally be purchased and enslaved...'" (37)

This passage stuck out to me because it referenced the notion of strictly class-based social patterns.  The way in which Mr. Oberlin talk to the narrator are degrading and demeaning.  The narrator's inability to extricate himself from the position he is in, described as flawed, eliminates hope for him ever becoming "normal."  Because of his feet, a birth defect/deformity that he has absolutely no control over, he is forced to be treated terribly by those around him, and never advance in society or prosper in anyway. It is inhumane the way in which Mr. Oberlin is telling Cole that he "may literally be purchased and enslaved."  The lack of respect that Cole receives in this passage due to his feet is upsetting.  Society's tendency to ostracize and condemn those who are different is far too frequent and un-challenged, as portrayed in "Bounty."

Bounty

I found this novella fascinating and entertaining. From the first page, the tone was set and I was very intrigued and excited to read on. Saunders has a real gift for writing and he kept me engaged for all 25 pages.

One of the aspects I found most interesting was that Saunders chose not to portray all normals and all flaweds in the exact same way. Rather than portraying all normals as horrible people, they were portrayed more as slaves the system in their own regard. While the flaweds were truly the enslaved population, the normals that showed sympathy were not really able to express that. Of course there were many who were cruel and condescending towards the flaweds, but not all were the same. This added a level of truthfulness to this dystopian novella. 

I found this to be one of the most interesting readings we have done so far.