The Fifteen Year Layover

488 Words2 Pages
Nicole Blaine Eng 24 D07BH Spring 11 I Believe “The 15 Year Layover” is an allegory for how we communicate with each other through social networking and the negative effects it has caused within normal socializing. Technology was meant to keep us connected within each other’s social circles and surroundings. But, in reality, it has done the opposite by keeping us in our own electronic limbo, where we are “god” in cyberspace. Sir Alfred is not the only one who has lost his identity. People who lose themselves in the media or online networking, lose their realistic identity as-well. They need to wake up from their “cyber-limbo” and return to the reality of face-to-face communication. As a result of Sir Alfred not having an identity and being in his own limbo, he did not have a normal human relationship with anyone or an actual friend, similar to the so-called Facebook “friends”. These cyber-limbo people, who do not socialize with the world as much as before the networking era, are beginning to reel in their own space--a replica of Alfred’s illusion of existence. The author “sets the stage” in an airport full of motion and life, which makes Sir Alfred stand out even more. Passengers who are exhausted from their flights are wanting to find a place to relax after moving from one terminal to the other, while Sir Alfred has been “relaxing” for 15 years without accomplishing anything more than shaving, listening to the radio, sleeping and smoking. Sir Alfred was once educated, wealthy and vibrant, but after all the obstacles and hardships he had to face, he became dull and useless. Similar to the water fountain in paragraph three. Because the water fountain that was once new is an allegory for Alfred’s life. Alfred is a vagrant, while the author is socializing and moving about. He is aware of what is going on in his surroundings. Alfred does not have an
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