Moxyland
Moxyland is a cyberpunk dystopian novel written by South African author, Lauren Beukes. The book was published in 2008. Moxyland is narrated by four different characters, and each chapter focuses on one of the narrators and her or his own experience living in near futuristic Cape Town, South Africa and under an oppressive and pervasive government and media. Overall, Moxyland was well received. It was nominated for Sunday Times Fiction Prize. Characters Lauren Beukes dives into the lives of four main characters to exemplify the wide spectrum of social hierarchies that reside in Moxyland. Through these four characters, Beukes illustrates a society where technology rules with an iron fist and in doing so shows the limitations of freedom. Beukes uses first person to highlight central themes throughout the novel. Kendra Kendra, an art school dropout reinvented as shiny brand ambassador, known as a sponsor baby. Ghost girl (7)” is an artistic photographer with hopes of exposing her work. Kendra voluntarily becomes sponsored by a corporation. She is injected with experimental nanobots that enhance her physical and mental abilities. They are even supposed to stop any illnesses so that she will never be sick again. A side effect of the nanotechnology is that it makes Kendra addicted to a high-tech soft drink called Ghost. A glowing green tattoo in the shape of the corporation's logo appeared after injection that showed she was branded. Beukes uses Kendra's story to reveal the overwhelming power that technology has over Moxyland inhabitants because essentially Kendra becomes a walking advertisement. Lerato Lerato is a young female corporation worker who seems to have figured out the way in Moxyland. Lerato, unlike the rest of the main characters, lives comfortably in the cushions of corporate Moxyland. Lerato's autonomic success in Moxyland can be described as a rags-to-riches story. She became an orphan after her parents died of AIDs. She attended a corporation school for AIDs orphans and then was hired to work at a corporation. Her skills allow her to climb the professional ladder, and she uses her computer skills and inside job to aid Tendeka's cause. Tendeka Tendeka is a passionate, idealistic revolutionary figure in Moxyland. He is against corporations and corruption. He and Ash, his lover, create and conduct projects to help provide food and shelter to street children in Cape Town. Tendeka even goes as far as pretending to be married to a young pregnant girl in order to make a statement. His drive to promote change shows that not all people (mostly outsiders) are happy with the system. Tendeka refuses to accept the superior power of technology in this society. However, he sometimes contradicts himself because he fears being disconnected from society, even though he believes the way society is structured is unjust. Tendeka, along with the help of skyward*, participates in underground revolutionary events attempting to end technological totalitarianism in Moxyland. Toby Toby plays a role in all the other characters’ lives, whether positively or negatively, due to his narcissistic tendencies. This makes