ch. 1

I didn't understand the use of the epigraph in the first chapter. The mood organ seems completely unreal to me. Almost everything that we use today to alter our mood is either expensive or unhealthy. To have something like that almost seems unhuman. Rick is a very strange character. He seems really down on everything because his job sucks and the world he lives in sucks...and he doesnt even have a real sheep. Iran seems pretty miserable as well but also seems a little more down to earth. Together, they make for a pretty unappealing relationship. Their setting is probable one of the reasons they seem so unhappy. It sounds like their living in sort of a post-apocalyptic city. Since the last world war, everyone walks around wearing lead codpieces to protect themselves from radiation. Also becuse of the war, animals are dying off and considered very valuable. Mercerism is another reason they are such a delicacy. It seems like a religion based around Mercer with a philosiphy people apply to their life, much like Buddhism.