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• 1 2019-11-15T08:40:19-08:00 READY PLAYER ONE - CHAPTER 8 13 Jessica Creech, Courtney Earl, and Kayti Grable plain 2019-11-25T07:21:12-08:00

  Ready Player One revolves around a virtual world created by James Halliday called the OASIS. When Halliday died he shared a contest he created called The Hunt.  The winner of the contest would inherit not only the fortune of James Halliday, but also full control of the virtual world of the OASIS.  Wade Watts, the novel’s protagonist, became a gunter, and searched constantly for this Easter egg.  At this time in 2045, the world has become overpopulated and consumed with unemployment.  The OASIS serves as an escape for most people from their miserable and dark life.  Wade lives in the “stacks” in Oklahoma; piles of trailer homes stacked on on top of the other.  The stacks are a poor and dangerous community in Oklahoma where gunfire was frequent.  Wade’s goal, along with every other gunter, is to be able to find Halliday’s Easter egg first.
  
  Wade’s avatar Parzival obtains the first key before anyone else which was located on Ludus, the planet where Wade goes to school.  Throughout the novel, the scoreboard continues to change based on who completed challenges first. Artemis, Aech, and Daito are all participants who are on Parzival’s heels attempting to obtain the Easter egg.  These characters are gunters like Parzival, but there are also Sixers, who are members of the IOI (Innovative Online Industries).  The last thing the gunters want is for the Sixers to be in control of the OASIS.  The Sixers’ goal would be to place a monthly fee to gain access to OASIS.  Poverty was a huge issue in society, and placing a monthly fee would push more and more people out of the virtual reality.  At the end of the novel, the IOI would do anything in their power to ensure they would win the contest, including blowing up Wade’s trailer in an attempt to kill him.  With the help of Halliday’s friend Sorrento, the gunters, lead by Wade, were able to win the contest and the control of the OASIS.  
  
  Chapter 8 in the novel depicts how Wade is able to obtain the Copper Key.  Wade’s first step is to make his way through the Tomb of Terrors.  He was able to make his way through the tomb because of his knowledge of the original D&D module.  He knew where all the traps were located from the map he created from this module, and was able to obtain magic items along the way.  Wade approached Acererak seated on a throne just as he had appeared on the original Tomb or Terrors cover.  Wade was told by Acererak that in order to obtain the Copper Key, he had to defeat  Acererak in a game of Joust.  If Wade won the game, he would obtain the Copper Key.  If he lost the game, Wade would die.  After Wade lost the first of three games, he made the move to switch sides which helped him defeat Acererak in the next two games.  After the game was over, a teleportation effect and a blink of a light revealed to Wade that Acererak had vanished.  Wade had obtained the Copper Key!  
  
  This chapter really depicts Wade as the hero of this video game called The Hunt.  This challenge that includes Wade’s trip through the Tomb of Terrors is similar to the hero’s journey in video game culture.  The connection to Wade as a character becomes enhanced in this chapter as the reader goes along this journey with him.  The emotional attachment is more prevalent during this time because Wade is fully submerged into the challenge.  For all the reader knows, he is first, and may have the best opportunity to save the OASIS and to obtain a better life for himself.  A hero is “composed with a treacherous path to undertake” and the character has usually “endured a painful ordeal, usually in childhood” (Bean 2018).  In Wade’s case, he is an orphan who lives with his aunt and who is without a bed.  Wade makes his own way, paying for his food, and finding shelter when it is warm enough to get away from his family.  He is the ideal character for the reader to root for and one the reader resonates with throughout the novel. 
  
  
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  "We have neither given or received, nor have we tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid."
  Jessica Creech, Courtney Earl, Kayti Grable