The Candy House

“The opposite: disembodied, he believed, Black people would be delivered from the hatred that hemmed and stymied them in the physical world. At last they could move and gather at will, without pressure from the likes of Lizzie’s parents: those faceless Texans who opposed Bix without knowing he existed.”

Bix is motivated in part by his identity as a Black man in America. His visions of social media and the potential for the internet to be an equalizing force are motivated by his experiences of being relegated to minority status. Bix doesn’t necessarily want to prove Lizzie’s parents wrong, though that helps make his success sweeter. Rather, Bix contextualizes his experiences as a Black man as experiences that other people can relate to, experiences that deserves equity through the internet. The physical world may always relegate people to caste systems based on skin color, but the online world creates a space that may be devoid of race.

“But Alfred was already savoring the two opposing forces at work in his fellow passengers: a collective wish to shrug off the unaccountable sound, and a contrary intimation of dread. Thus the Suspension Phase, when everyone floated together on a tide of mystery whose solution Alfred alone possessed.”

This quote reveals that Alfred’s social projects are manifestations of his desire to hold control over others. Because Alfred believes he is elevated above the socio-normative behaviors of other people, his social experiments are all about causing discomfort in other people. In this quote, Egan writes that Alfred “savors” the “two opposing forces at work,” highlighting his lack of empathy for human fear and comfort. The “Suspension Phase” brings Alfred great joy, but it is also petty. Mystery frightens people, but Alfred’s control over that mystery gives him power. Thus, Alfred exercises his own version of inauthenticity without being aware of it.