The definition of a dystopia is "An imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dystopia) While reading the book, there are not catastrophic and dramatic events that lead us to believe that where Lenny and Eunice are living is a terrible and scary place. Instead, Shteyngart uses small, but detailed events to let the reader know that this society where the main characters live is a place of oppression where its citizens have little to no privacy and are constantly living in terror of the government.
"EUNI-TARD ABROAD: What thing in DC? The march against the ARA?
SALLYSTAR: Yes. But don't call it that. Some of the profs at school say we shouldn't mention it on GlobalTeens because they monitor everything." Pg. 73
Most of us are so used to being able to say whatever we want, where ever we want, and when we want because our government has given us the right to free speech. Here Shteyngart gives the reader a sense of the creepy big brother watching over the two girls conversation. Without explicating saying it, Shteyngart is telling us that in this new world our government has begun to take away our freedom of speech and scare its citizens from being able to freely talk. We are unaware of the consequences if “Sallystar” and “Euni-tard” are to get caught talking about the march, but the way “Sallystar” reacts to her sister commenting on the march makes us think that she could get into a lot of trouble for merely expressing her right to free speech.
“I’m learning to worship my new apparati’s screen, the colorful pulsating mosaic of it, the fact that it knows every last stinking detail about the world, whereas my books only know the minds of their authors.” Pg. 78
The apparati that everyone is required to wear gives every little detail about a person and we have seen previous examples of what data it holds on each person. But here Shtenygart seems to contrast the old and new world. The old world was one where the “books only know the minds of their authors,” compared with the apparati that seem to know everyone’s business. Lenny seems to be upset and wishes that the world were how it used to be when not everyone knew everyone's business. We see that this place has transformed into a dystopia, where no one has any privacy because the government has enforced the continual wearing of the apparati.
“Men in civilian clothes zapped our bodies and our apparati with what looked like a small tubular attachment of an old-school Electroloux vacuum cleaner and asked us both to deny and to imply consent to what they were doing to us. The passengers seemed to take the whole thing in stride, the Staten Island cool kids especially silent and deferential shaking a little in their vintage hoodies. I overheard several young men of color whispering to one another “deee-ny and im-ply,” but the older women quickly shushed them with bites of “Restoration ‘thority!” and “Punch you in the mouth, boy.” Maybe it was Howard Shu’s doing, but somehow I got through the checkpoint without being stopped.” Pg. 82
There have been multiple examples of the fear and terror that the new government has put on its citizens and more specifically Lenny. This passage is another example of this fear. It helps to give us perspective on the totalitarian rule over the citizens and how the military have taken over. This new dystopian world has given no rights at all to its citizens and they must always comply with whatever the government wants. We see the fear that the older ladies have and the fear that Lenny has in the government.
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