Microserfs

In Microserfs Douglas Coupland attempts to analyze the lives of large number whose cast is closely associated with most advanced machines that have yet been made computers. The ennoble of the sweet Microserfs introduces the two primary(prenominal) ideas of the novel it is a play on the dominant force deep down the computer industry (Microsoft) and the word serfs, which refers to the semi-slave groups who existed within feudal societies in medieval times. Coupland suggests that the people who work for companies c be Microsoft argon essenti every(prenominal)y a king of voluntary serf.The characters within this novel hope to be machine- standardized for a number of reasons. First, that seems to be the characteristic which has enabled Bill render (the founder and CEO of Microsoft) to rise to the top of the industry. While they apparently loathe their jobs at Microsoft, leading to their leaving them and attempting to set up their own company, they withal greatly admire the mac hine-like quality that Gates brings to his work. Secondly, a machine is wholly involved with what it is doing it has no distractions that will take it away from the task at hand. Third, there is the beautiful logic of parcel code which contrasts with the often chaotic nature of their personal and professional lives.In Microserfs the great spur for body process is the search to be One-Point-Oh, that is to be the first to do the first transformation of something(Coupland, 1995). Computer software is normally identified fit to which version of the computer program it is, so to be wiz-point-oh (1.0) is to be the best. There is a machine like logic to this idea which is of course not really based upon verity normally the first version of any program is crude and unavailing compared to later versions which are more sophisticated and have been adapted according to the real- introduction experience of the software being used.In party ways the main characters of the novel such as Daniel, Susan and Todd are removed from the real world to the extent that they need to employ some iodin from that world to be their reality-check, that person being Daniels mother. The characters are obviously satirical in nature, and are taken to such an extreme that they almost seem like people who inhabit a video game.Take for example Michael, who is a vivid exclusively awkward programmer who leaves Microsoft to start his own company, and decides to adopt a Flatlander diet (Coupland, 1995). This involves only eating two-dimensional sustenance (Coupland, 1995) which means food that can be slid under his door, He has a screen plant of Kraft Singles (Coupland, 1995), an ironic comment upon his peculiar diet.Michael is just one example of the tendency to take matters to an extreme among the characters. Todd is not just a body-builder, but an obsessive body-builder. Bug is not only experienced, older and a little more cynical than his younger fellow workers, he calls himself the foundings Bitterest Man (Coupland, 1995). All of these characterizations make the people who inhabit the novel seem essentially machine-like they are one/two dimensional, relentless in their pursuit of an end and often limited in outlook. A software program is designed to do one thing extremely well, but nothing else. In the same way the characters attempt to do one thing, or be one thing, extremely well.The constant conflict amid the need for a pure existence as a designer, body-builder, bitterest man etc. comes up against the cancel human tendency to diversify and to be multi-faceted. While Microserfs was written before the massive explosion in net income usage, the manner in which people are now essentially locked to their computers- eternally checking e-mail even in the most remote locations is a natural development of the kind of process that Coupland sees in this novel. The ongoing discussion surrounded by machine and human being, something which is reflected within Cou plands novels, continues unabated.In conclusion, the characters of Microserfs seek to be machine like because they see this as a route to success. Their king, Bill Gates, who they leave, is nevertheless an icon to be aimed at. He seems more like a machine than a human being according to Coupland, and has all the strengths and weaknesses that are associated with this identity. The characters of this novel, wonderfully funny, but often very sad at the same time, reflect this search to be the perfect human machine. The detail is that they seem to lose their humanity along the way.Works CitedCoupland, Doug