“The Push Against the Pull” centers around the temptations of corrupting society only to escape into virtual reality known as the OASIS. The OASIS is the promised land full of individualism and freedom, although it is truly just another version of the dystopian reality everyone fled. The creator of the OASIS, Halliday, is pleading to today’s society, to act on preserving our society by growing with change, giving all proper opportunities, and refusing to monopolize our daily lives.
The premise of “Diversity is Not Inclusion: An Analysis of Ready Player One and the Current State of Discrimination in the Online Gaming World” is to explore the similarities in rhetoric used by the gunters of Earnest Cline’s Ready Player One and the gamers of today’s online world. These themes include sexist remarks and belittling of the LGBTQ+ community, whether these attacks are intentional or not. While there have been strides towards a more diversified gaming world, it has not become any more inclusive or welcoming to women or the LGBTQ+ community. I sat down with an actual “gaymer” and had a discussion on his experiences in the online world to point me in a direction, then was lost in the relentless bashing of the LGBTQ+ community one can find in the gaming world. With gaming rhetoric in the real world including hate-speech against gays and women, Cline manages to mirror the outright division between straight male gamers and everyone else. Read this essay to find out possible reasons as to why these separations exist.
“Avatar, the Last Player” looks into Ernst Cline’s novel Ready Player One and analyzes why certain characters in the novel chose to make their avatars in the OASIS the way they did. The essay looks at all the outside contributing factors when it came to making a character for certain characters and does a slight compare and contrast of certain characters’ making their avatars. Furthermore, the essay looks at how the avatars that have been created by these characters have had the ability to ultimately impact the creator.
“Wade’s World: Wade, Aech, and Friendship in Ready Player One” explores the world in which Wade and Aech live, which mirrors contemporary fears regarding our own future, as well as the OASIS, the online world they spend most of their time in. It discusses whether or not the internet can be beneficial to people who are shy or experience social anxiety, and it looks at the connection between a person’s sense of self and their avatar choice. The essay takes a long look at Wade and Aech’s friendship, their own avatar choice, and how relationships formed online are ultimately treated by the novel.
“The OASIS of Oppression: Gaming Culture and Femininity in Ready Player One” argues that, in a virtual world, gamers and participants can do things they have never imagined doing or be individuals they have never imagined being. However, because video game society is a direct reflection of the society in which we live, oppressive ideologies and beliefs still exist and are enacted in various ways. To meet the demands and needs of gamer society, individual players may need to alter the way in which they behave, speak, and appear in the virtual world. In the novel Ready Player One, for instance, characters fall victim to the oppressive ideologies of gaming culture because of their sex, despite the utopian promises of the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation).
“An Analysis of Wade: The Ambitions of Achieving Success Bring Individual Breakdown” mainly focuses on exploring the psychological aspects of the protagonist, Wade. It is an analysis that suggests Wade’s transformation throughout his search for Halliday’s Egg. The essay suggests that Wade’s early trauma and difficulties which he encounters, endows him with the motivation to win the prize. However, he loses his identity when placing others above himself.
“The Bittersweet Escape” defines different types of core issues and defense mechanisms, different types of escapism, and nostalgia. Through these definitions, the essay analyzes Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One and the overall message the author could be sending.