The Resisters
The novel The Resisters written by Gish Jen is a dystopian US in which AI is in control and dictates how our lives should be lived. The AI that is in control has created such a surplus of stuff that the lower class citizens' job is to only consume what the upper class makes. The novel's protagonist Gwen is a gifted pitcher and is recruited to play in the Olympics against ChinRussia, AutoAmerica’s enemy. Thanks to her chance to play in the Olympics she is then offered the chance to become a member of the elite class.
Reason:
The novel begins with Grant Cannon-Chastanet looking back on his daughter’s childhood in AutoAmerica. Born into a society starkly divided between an elite “Netted” class and a hyper-consuming “Surplus” underclass, Gwen is a Surplus kid whose greatest gift is throwing. Years of competitive automation and corporate-government control led to increased restrictions on AutoAmericans, and sports like baseball had been disbanded for decades. Fearing the government’s watchful eye through the Internet-like “spy network” known as Aunt Nettie, Grant and his wife Eleanor nonetheless encouraged Gwen to pitch in their backyard, recruiting a neighborhood girl named Ondi to play catcher.
Work Cited:
Jen, G. (2021). The resisters: A novel. Vintage contemporaries, Vintage Books.