This paper analyses the essay by Steven Levy (2007). The author talks about a single character that is unable to access Facebook on a particular date and finds out that she is addicted. Her age being advanced, that is 40 years, forms the topic of the essay “Facebook grows up”. This is discussed in the paper where the author uses this element of analysis to give the essay a name that comprehensively describes the text at a glance. The author of the paper hence uses this essay to discuss various elements of analysis that have been used by the author to ensure that the message is figuratively conveyed.
Access Facebook
The author applies the use of allegory in which Karasic, a woman aged 40 with one child is unable to access Facebook on a particular day. The author observes that if it were a college student it would be understandable, but at her age she should have another sphere of interests. However, the woman was not aware she was addicted to Facebook. The essay here attempts to explain how many Facebook users are unaware of the fact that they are addicted. The allegory in this essay, therefore, comes in two contexts. That is, the mature age of Facebook users and the addiction.
Most people, just like the author, assume that all social networking platforms target the audience of college students. But to his surprise, a lot of grown-up people, such as Karasic, also use the sites. The author states that Karasic was able to find professionals like her on the site including her cousin of a similar age. The author therefore uses Karasic to describe how widespread the use of Facebook amongst the professionals and a mature generation in general is.
Karasic is addicted to Facebook but she is unaware of this. A single day without being able to access the site made her feel bored and depressed. Just like in drug use and drug addiction, one could say she was facing the withdrawal symptoms. This case reflects the larger picture of the state most users of the social networking sites are. Many people view it as a normal routine but do not observe that it has become an integral part of their livelihood. The author hence aims to stress on the fact of rampant addiction, people are unaware of.
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The author uses Karasic as the main and only character. The use of character in literature takes a multiple dimension and in this essay I was able to observe the various activities and functions of a character in a text. For instance, in the essay, Karasic is viewed as a protagonist. The whole essay revolves around her life and the way she is affected by various factors. The author just observes her life and narrates it and the whole information is conveyed with ease and comprehensively. The author uses indirect characterization in the essay.
Dynamic Character
The heroine of the story is a static character since her inability to access Facebook affects her a lot. She is not a dynamic character since she does not change no matter how important the change might be. Hence the author has explored all the facets of a character and the elements of analysis are clear and conclusive.
The author chooses the words carefully in order for the essay to be simple and easy to understand. For instance when the author quotes Karasic saying that she tried to log in more than five times, as a literature analyst, you are able to understand how determined she was. Before the author confirms that she is addicted, one is able to understand how much she is into Facebook. The choice of words, evidently, helps the author to clearly convey the message.
The essay has some figurative language where the author uses simile. When Karasic is compared to a college student, the author aims at emphasizing the situation. This leads the reader to the conclusions that either Karasic has not changed since the time of her college days or it is just that Facebook has matured to attract a certain age of people too.
The tone of the essay is, however, ambiguous; the reader can feel worry and hope simultaneously. For a moment the author exudes hope concerning how Facebook is growing to capture more people of various age groups. This appears to be positive since the tone is that of appreciation and content. But later a shift in the tone occurs and the reader can feel worry when the author implies that most users are addicted to using the site but they are unaware of this problem. The author in the essay paints a picture on how the use of the site has become a part of people’s life and problems with the access to it can cause a halt to an individual’s social life.
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The author uses imagery in describing the founders of Facebook when he talks about the addiction bringing busting wealth to them. This aims at informing the reader about the profit the addiction to this site is going to bring the founders. When the author refers to the founders as geeky, the reader is left imagining how creative, savvy and full of bright ideas the executives are. The message hence is conveyed easily but comprehensively.
In conclusion, it should be said that the author uses multiple literary elements which becomes obvious right from the first glance at the title, where he personifies Facebook by saying it has grown up. All this is aimed at showing different societal perspectives and effects of the rising use of social network. The author hence manages to involve the reader and comprehensively convey his feelings using the above mentioned literary elements.