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The story Jon by George Saunders revolves around the main character’s experience in a dystopian world as it is written in first person limited. The main character’s name is Randy, however he insists that people call him Jon, because that was the name that his mother gave him before she supposedly died. Jon lives in a government facility with other children his same age isolated from the world. However this facility is seen as the perfect place to be by Jon, because the outside world is filled with poverty and the country had gone through a nuclear war . After learning that one of his friends managed to sneak in the girls side of the facility and had sexual intercourse with one of the girls, yet he was not punished by his Coordinators even though it was against the rules. Jon was inspired to do the same, so one night he sneaks into the girls side of the facility and does it to the girl he loves called Carolyn. They fall in love and get married and Carolyn is pregnant.They are excited that one day, they are going to have a child, but soon after this his friends child had died.
This causes them to question whether they should be in this facility fearing that the same thing might happen to their child. However, moving out of facility presents challenges and a change of lifestyle that Jon is not yet ready to face. Carolyn however, insists that they should no matter what leave the facility. So Jon is faced with the dilemma of choosing whether he should stay, leaving her behind in the scary world all alone or if he should go with her. Jons dilemma has major significance. In a way Saunders writes this as an allegory, comparing our world to the dystopia in the story, criticizing our society. More specifically, what led Jon to abandon her in the first place is similar to what many people in our society put materialistic things over the people they love. One of the main reasons Jon wants to stay, is because the facility provides them Brand-name clothing as well as other commercialized items. This may seem weird especially because if Jon were to move out of the facility, he would have to face poverty, hunger, danger, risk of significantly reduced postoperative (59), a hole in his neck and much more. Yet he is more concerned about losing the materialistic items that is given to him by the facility. He also believes that this will be his best argument to convince Carolyn to stay in the facility. As the story progresses, Carolyn makes the decision that she will leave the facility to find a better place for her soon born child. Pressured by Jons Coordinators as well as the fear of whats outside, Jon leaves Carolyn to be alone. During his time in the facility without her, Jon is concerned as to if she is ok but at the same time Jon is happy in the facility. Enjoying the items that they provide him. Further proving Saunders point that people sometimes put their materialistic wants over the people that matter most to them.
As the story progresses, Jon reflects on whether he made the right choice of leaving Carolyn on her own. He starts regretting his decision more and more, eventually he does what he knows is right and he goes up to his Coordinators and requests to leave the facility. Although he is allowed to do this, his Coordinators admittedly are not happy with Jons new opinion. They try everything in their power to stop Jon and convince him to stay. His Coordinators first insist that this decision should require more thought. They also admit that Jon is of great importance to them. This still does not change Jons belief that he should be together with his wife. So his Coordinators remind him of his only memory of his mother, this surprises Jon as he had no idea that his Coordinators even knew about his one memory of his mother. Previously when Jon had visited this memory, it made him feel closer to the facility and made him feel better about his decision to stay. However his Coordinators reveal to Jon that this memory of his mother was just a fabrication by the facility. So they show him footage of his real mom, showing him his mother struggling with poverty and how Jon lived as a baby. Ironically this only brings Jon closer to the conclusion that he should leave the facility. Jon was presented with life changing information that would convince the average person to discontinue the desire to stay as well as scare-tactics used by the Coordinators to stop him from leaving. Yet Jon is persistent and he claims that he is ready to leave right away and reunite with his wife. Jons new decision can be seen as another representation of our society by Saunders. Jon had every reason to stay, but his love towards Carolyn is what drove him to leave the facility. Saunders is showing that people who really love each other are ready to sacrifice everything they have to be together. Explaining a better side of human tendencies in our society.
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