Page 7 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

The Oxford English Dictionary has several definitions of the word “null”. One definition
says it means “a meaningless letter or symbol used to fill a space, to separate pieces of
information, or to impede decipherment”. Another adds onto the idea of filling space and
separating information, says it is also “a character which produces no effect or action”. A third
definition explores the existential side of the word, saying it is “a state of emptiness,
featurelessness, lack of sensation, or non-existence; a void, a blank”. The common characteristic
is emptiness and meaninglessness. It is a buffer between two receivers, prohibiting any exchange
of knowledge or feeling. Null does not mean boredom; it means emptiness. When Titus uses the
word “null,” he unintentionally admits that he is empty.

Titus is a teenage boy living in a technologically oversaturated world. He has an implant,
called the “feed,” that gives him constant access to the internet. The feed promotes anything
Titus might like so that he will consume media and purchase products he might want. The feed
can entertain him with television shows. It also allows him to silently chat with friends and
others who have the feed. In spite of these things, Titus feels bored. The feed does not fill him.
Instead of saying he is bored, Titus uses the word “null” to describe how he feels. After visiting
the moon, Titus explains what led them to make such a trip: “Everything at home was boring.
Link Arwaker was like, ‘I’m so null,’ and Marty was all, ‘I’m null too, unit,’ but I mean we were
all pretty null, because for the last like hour we’d been playing with three uninsulated wires that
were coming out of the wall” (3). In the context of this paragraph, Titus mistakes his emptiness
for boredom and calls it all “null”.

Anderson’s entire story revolves around Titus’ boredom. At the beginning of the story,
Titus mentions his trip to the moon. His friends decided to go because they were shocking
themselves with unwrapped electrical wires (3). However, his lethargy overshadows this

6