The Need to Disconnect from Reality in Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One (2011) is a fictional and scientific novel by Ernest Cline. The story is set in the year 2045 where the story’s main character Wade Watts is on a quest to find an ‘Easter egg’ in a virtual reality game where, if successful, would win him a fortune courtesy of the game creator. Wade and most of the characters we meet in the story are addicted to the OASIS, hardly ever leaving to service their real lives. After an introduction to the OASIS and the egg hunt, the story begins to get intense as the race between the gunters and the IOI corporation intensifies. Wade finds the gate and the key and on his quest makes both friends and enemies before they all eventually realise that the game was actually a matter of life and death. Eventually, the competitors are on their way to the final gate where the final battle occurs between Wade and the IOI leader. Wade succeeds and beats the IOI leader, which is a victory for the small person but a huge lesson on the differences between what is real and what is not and why both are vital for human survival. This essay dissects Wade’s purpose for disconnecting from reality including why he is constantly trying to escape, what he gets from plugging into the OASIS and why even most of the other characters in the novel partake in the fantasy world and whether in the end, it is all worth it.

The first reason why the characters we meet are so obsessed with OASIS, rather than their own real lives, is the situation of the world in 2045: reality is a nightmare. The author describes the situation ranging from a global energy crisis, famine and poverty. Life is difficult for a large percentage of the population and even more sadly, no hope is left. This is the condition we meet Wade under, both his parents are dead, he lives with his mean Aunt Alice and they are very poor, living in a trailer. It is for this reason that Wade opts to stay plugged into the OASIS but the irony is that even as we meet his character in the simulation, he is still poor and powerless. The difference is that in the game, there are opportunities unlike in reality, in the OASIS even the poor and the weak can become something. Basically, there is hope. Wade finds solace in this world and so does most of the people in the world when we meet them.

To show the intensity of the need to avoid reality, the author introduces Mrs.Gilmore who takes to religion for the same escape and thrill as Wade and other characters do with the OASIS. It helps them avoid the horrors of their day-to-day existence. When Wade describes Mrs.Gilmore, he is critical saying that religion is an illusion which is very ironic considering that he himself spends a lot of time in another form of illusion. To most of the characters, the reality is the waste of time and is barely worth any effort unless utterly unavoidable.

To a greater extent, it is possible that the characters disconnect from reality and into the OASIS because of how real it is. In the OASIS, Wade goes to school, he has friends like Aech and even falls in love with Art3MIS. Additionally, events from the OASIS spills out to the real world and the characters have to deal with the impacts. For instance, the IOI hunts down Mrs.Gilmore and Aunt Alice and murders them with Wade narrowly escaping death as a result of challenging them to the prize inside the OASIS. While the hunt for the Easter egg happens inside the OASIS, its reward is in reality which comprises an inheritance of unimaginable quantity. It is these events that begs the question on which of the two worlds is more real than other. Both worlds impact each other in their different ways, to some extent, even in basic things such as behaviour and personality. Success inside the OASIS boosts self-esteem, confidence and hope such as in the case of the main character. The author makes the story in such a way that the biggest question is not why the characters disconnect from reality but which of the two worlds is more real.

At the end of the book when Wade finds the Easter egg and wins Halliday’s competition, Halliday himself appears and explains his regret that by creating the OASIS, he was shying away from the world. He, like many of the other characters, confesses that he was never comfortable or happy in the real world and it was the reason he thought of an illusion world to run away to whenever the pressures of real-life amounted. However, he advises Wade that despite how reality feels, he should have forced himself to stay there because it was the only place to achieve true happiness. In the end, the OASIS creator clarifies that while many feel the need to disconnect from reality, it does not solve anything and neither does it offer any happiness. From then on Wade tries to live in the real world starting by confessing his love for Art3mis who turns out to have a real name – Samantha. The novel ends there and we are left to conclude whether indeed there was hope and happiness in reality or whether the illusion offered more satisfaction.

Having examined these events and reasons, it is easy to conclude that the reason that most characters plug into the OASIS is that there is nothing much in the real world. The OASIS offers hope, chance and opportunity. The OASIS also seems and even feels real therefore making most characters forget about the fine line in between. Another reason which was not mentioned but is implied is the state of technology in 2045. It takes the world of gaming and virtual reality to a whole other level. Currently, in today’s world in malls and other fun places, children, as well as kids, get the thrill of the virtual reality world. An improvement of the same to what it becomes in Ready Player One would shift the masses into engaging because it is fun. For Wade, the illusion makes him a fortune and introduces him to the love of his life which are opportunities the real world would never have offered. Many critics view the book's main themes as staying true to oneself, somehow suggesting that reality is more real than anything else. But, from the observations made in this essay, maybe what is real is where the characters are able to be true to themselves and engage in their life with more confidence, esteem and hope. It is not so much as ‘hiding in the OASIS’ but rather, living in the OASIS.