Akxa Alex

Stephen Topf
English 114 A
March 17, 2014
Postmortal Related to Modern Day Society
The book, The Postmortal by Drew Magary, has many controversial issues that make us
think about the topics in details and make judgments. The author talks about a cure for aging
that makes people in this world think that it is a cure for death instead. He does this to use the
cure to cover up for what is actually occurring in the modern world now. For example the book
talks about issues with marriages and divorce, social issues like trying to look young, and the
government; this all ties into the idea of chaos that happens in this planet currently and all these
problems are hidden by the cure. Making the cure a symbolism for all the problems. We would
like to think that the cure will resolve all the problems but it just makes it worse. Even though
there is overpopulation and resources running short for survival that plays a part in the whole
chaos as well.
They talk about marriage and divorce being a chaotic issue which is critiqued in a
section of the book. We start to see less marriages and more divorces because nobody in the
book likes the idea of living with someone forever. The book statesIn response to the issue of
marriage and divorce, the concept of a cycle marriage comes about in which , The couple
agrees to be together for forty years, with the marriage automatically dissolving at the
end(Magary 80). This shows what is a cycle marriage, which is supposed to be the solution to
making a false vow of till death do us apart. So the books stance on this issue is showing that it
is acceptable to make exceptions to the cure; as long as we have fun and enjoy life then love
shouldnt matter or last.
I think the book is right in stating this because with the cure there is no need for love . We need
love and care mostly because we think about the future and desire someone to be there with us
when we are old. This factor is eliminated with the cure because no one ages. This issue of
marriage and divorce rates are starting to show in the current statuses. The New York Times
talks about a psychological study that was done to show the decline in marriages, which said,
Americans now look to marriage increasingly for self-discovery, self-esteem and personal
growth( Finkel 1). If that is the only reason we get married now, then it shows we have secretly
got the cure already because it proves to have the same mentality as an effect to the cure: we
only care about ourselves and no one else. I viewed this as a chaotic issue because it decreased
jobs, changed the ideas of commitment, and it also creates bigger issues on the kids that are in
the middle of these actions. For example, David, the son of John Farrell was not able to get the
fatherly advices or figure in his early life which makes him grow up faster to be a man when he
is still a child. If it affects others then it is not seen as a right act to do.
Another issue is the idea of youthfulness that creates chaos. The whole book depicts a society
that wants to look young forever. This is important because nobody wants to have wrinkles or
get weak. The idea is to stay young, healthy, and strong as long as possible. This is seen in
society today, because we are able to see most of the actors/actresses and singers value their
appearance more than anything else. For example we are starting to sell products like
Meaningful Beauty by Cindy Crawford and Proactive. Cindy Crawford seems to have defied
the aging process for nearly 20 yearsat 45, her skin still looks astonishingly youthful and
radiant, this was seen on the official cite for the product, which proves that if we can have
scientific discoveries that last 20 years then forever is not too far away (www.meaningfulbeauty
.com). When the advertisements portray the product as a great discovery, then we have a
tendency to try it out for ourselves; it almost becomes an addiction at the end.
These items show that we are not satisfied by the way we look so we will be convinced easily
and are willing to pay any amount to get the right results. I think that is the reason that most
people in the postmortal world got the cure. They were not looking at the long term effects or
what the cure actually does, but instead focused on getting what they wanted fast with enough
money to achieve it as well. The books stance on this issue of youthfulness shows that it is a
positive idea because eventually most people get the cure and it is legal later on.
I think that it is a bad idea for people to jump into getting the cure; the doctor even says, They
want to live forever, but they dont think about what theyre going to have to live with(Magary
8). Even looking young forever has flaws of its own. Some of the flaws and problems would
include: people wanting their babies to be young forever making it impossible for the baby to
have a life, people not maturing with the actual age and the cure age, and also people killing each
other to get this youthfulness look. These all create a chaotic outcome. But in our life now the
products for youth have not showed a greater side effect yet; I believe it is a warning for us to
stay away from it if it occurs in the future. This is bound to happen with all the experiments and
technological advances occurring at a fast rate.
The government is one of the major issues that is seen throughout the book that is viewed as
chaotic. The Chinese government has over taken its people by branding their actual birth date in
order to avoid the use of the cure; they are able to see who got the cure and who did not get the
cure. This is their way to stand out from the other countries so they will not be followers but
leaders instead. And a way to stop from having too many people in their country; before it gets
too late to control the population. Their tactic for dominance over other countries is mainly
focused on the need to maintain supplies. To do so, there must be an avoidance of
overpopulation which is something that the U.S. government has lost control of. Today, we hear
about the strict laws set upon the citizens of China by the one-child only regulation. They are
trying to stop overpopulation already. The reason for this is, after World War II, the
communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring
China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of
millions of people (www.cia.gov). War, like with any country, has impacted China. With the
impact, China had experienced significant success in increasing the use of birth control and
reducing fertility rates to keep the population in check (Banister 1). Most couples did not like
this at first because they wanted to create a family, and to have somebody take over their name
after the parents passed away. But as usual, they become used to the idea over time.
It is quite hard to understand whether it would be better for the U.S to have a government that
has control of the cure like China or whether to continue on with such chaos caused by over
population. Compared to China, the United States continues to be depicted as a very nonchalant
and helpless government. On the other hand, Russia has taken the initiative to give the cure to
the soldiers allowing them an advantage. This way Russia can create a powerful army and still
maintain control over its citizen. The cure continues to be symbolized as humanities selfish
needs and desires. With the cure China has more reason to return to isolationism from the
rest of the world(Magary 272). Russians now have more reason to maintain such dictation over
its people through the use of an army. As for the United States, it is given more of that
unnecessary freedom to be reckless and chaotic. As we gain a better understanding of the
actions each country has taken, we realize there is no humane manner in which to approach the
effects the cure has had on the world. The mere idea of such a cure cannot be permitted, for the
consequences are worldwide.
The book has made it clear that the government is seen as corrupt and difficult to manage. I
agree upon this matter that the book takes a stance in, because even through past history we can
see that the government has a difficult time with the people even when it is run by the people too.
Being human and having different views makes it chaotic to come up with something that is
agreeable for most people. We tend to look at only our ways, and that is the biggest issue in
creating chaos.
We have seen that most of the factors in this book cover the main theme of chaos, which is all
around us in society today too. They are modern topics that we talk about like marriage/divorce,
youthfulness, and the government. These topics can be very argumentative and put us in a
position that is difficult to agree upon. So the author of The Postmortal did an extraordinary job
in writing this book to make us more educated and aware of the issues in an interesting way. We
were able to see that the topics were also being critiqued in a certain way in society. The
connections of the topics to society all share the common factor of being chaotic to the world
now and to the postmortal world.