Ready Player One and the Dual Nature of Time

            Recently, I have begun to deeply understand both the distracting and pressurizing natures of time. Time can add to the daily stresses that each of us encounter. It creates a sense of urgency as the completion of a task comes closer to its necessity. In turn, however, time can also alleviate these feelings. Entrenching ourselves in particular activities can distract the stresses that we face in our daily lives. Such activities create the sense that time is flying by. We fail to feel the stress of time in these instances, as the moments appear to pass without much thought. The dichotomy in these natures is apparent throughout our daily lives, but also in Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

            Cline’s novel allows for a further realization of these natures of time. First, the premise of the entire book is that people log onto OASIS in order to escape the troubles of their daily lives. With the stresses of unemployment and overpopulation being magnified as time grows on, the characters in the novel find an escape in OASIS. Further, once in OASIS, the protagonist faces the test of time in his quest to find the hidden Easter egg. Time becomes of the essence as other groups begin to unlock gates alongside Wade and his crew. The race to find this Easter egg places a heightened emphasis on the pressure that time can create. However, the fact that they have been distracted from the realities of their worlds also draws attention to the alleviating nature of time.