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A Future Wrapped in 1980s Culture

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By Janet Maslin

• Aug. 14, 2011

Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” is a book filled with references to video games, virtual reality, ’80s pop-culture trivia, geek heroes like E. Gary Gygax, and funny-sounding cult items like Frobozz and Raaka-Tu. Yet it works for people who like books without pictures too.

Mr. Cline is photographed on the jacket standing in front of an open-flapped DeLorean, like the one in “Back to the Future.” He looks a bit like the filmmaker Kevin Smith, one of the few people on the planet who may be capable of catching all of Mr. Cline’s geekoid references. (Mr. Cline himself wrote the screenplay for the 2009 film “Fanboys,” about unusually fanatical “Star Wars” devotees.) Another is the science-fiction writer John Scalzi, who has aptly referred to “Ready Player One” as a “nerdgasm.” There can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture.

With its Pac-Man-style cover graphics and vintage Atari mind-set “Ready Player One” certainly looks like a genre item. But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative. He sets it in 2044, when there aren’t many original Duran Duran fans still afoot, and most students of 1980s trivia are zealous kids. They are interested in that time period because a billionaire inventor, James Halliday, died and left behind a mischievous legacy. Whoever first cracks Halliday’s series of ’80s-related riddles, clues and puzzles that are included in a film called “Anorak’s Invitation” will inherit his fortune.

Halliday was “the video-game designer responsible for creating the Oasis, a massively multiplayer online game that had gradually evolved into the globally networked virtual reality most of humanity now used on a daily basis,” Mr. Cline writes. Part of what has made Oasis so attractive is that real life on an impoverished, resource-depleted Earth has grown increasingly grim. So the characters in “Ready Player One” spend their time as avatars bewitched by online role playing. They live as shut-ins and don’t know one another in the flesh. Art3mis, the hot-looking blogger and warrior who becomes the novel’s heroine, may actually be an overweight middle-aged guy named Chuck.

The book’s narrator is a school kid named Wade Watts, whose parents at least had the foresight to give him the alliterative name of a superhero. But Wade’s real circumstances are not exciting. He lives in a tall block of stacked mobile homes and escapes to an abandoned van to adopt his online persona. He goes to school because he has to; his video console and virtual-reality visor will be taken away if he flunks out. But his school avatar is often seen slumped at its desk, sleeping. That’s because Wade is busy being an alter ego called Parzival. Like Art3mis he spells his name funny because the other spellings are already taken.

Wade is obsessed with “Anorak’s Invitation,” not least because there’s something fishy about it: the extras seen with Halliday have been digitally borrowed from old John Hughes films . There’s no knowing what actually happened to Halliday. But Halliday’s knowledge of 1980s trivia was so thorough that Wade is determined to match it. (As a full-time gamer he is competitive by nature. And what else has he got to do?) So he knows everything about every episode of “Family Ties” and every coin-operated arcade game. “Ready Player One” takes its title, sentimentally, from the phrase that signaled the start of games from that era.

In “Anorak’s Invitation” Halliday mentions one of his sentimental favorites, the Atari game Adventure, and the Easter egg that its creator, Warren Robinett, incorporated into it. And now it’s time to start looking things up, if you are hooked by Mr. Cline’s premise but unfamiliar with his huge frame of reference. An Easter egg is a secret sign or clue or whatnot that may be embedded in a game, and Halliday has deliberately created an occasion for egg hunting. A great many egg hunters, known as “gunters” for short, do nothing but try to find Halliday’s eggs. Reader, ask yourself: Would you be interested in Wade’s story if you weren’t sure he was smarter than all the other guys?

Because Wade needs at least a few friends, he bonds with Art3mis and three other avatars. They become known as the High Five when they start racking up high numbers on the cosmic scoreboard. Mr. Cline describes their progress with a winking appreciation of the culture clash that ensues when Wade, a humble schoolboy, reaches the Tomb of Horrors to lock antlers with Acererack the Demi-Lich from Dungeons & Dragons. But “Ready Player One” crosses a line here, when its virtual-reality fetish leads it into Dungeons & Dragons for real.

The book gets off to a witty start, with Wade and his cronies slinging insults about one another’s knowledge of fantasy films and using ’80s-vintage movie quips like “Don’t call me Shirley.” ( From “Airplane!” of course.) And if they are capable of arguing endlessly about “Star Wars” trivia, they’re also living in a 27-sector virtual-reality world arranged like a Rubik’s Cube and where the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” realms are right next door to each other. (See “nerdgasm,” above.) So the breadth and cleverness of Mr. Cline’s imagination gets this daydream pretty far. But there comes a point when it’s clear that Wade lacks at least one dimension, and that gaming has overwhelmed everything else about this book.

Still it will be interesting to see how “Ready Player One” becomes (as is planned) a movie based on a book about songs, TV shows, games and movies. And when lines like “Continue your quest by taking the test” are said out loud.

READY PLAYER ONE

By Ernest Cline

374 pages. Crown Publishers. $24.

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Ready Player One Book Review

The novel Ready Player One is set in the future in the year 2044 and is a science fiction novel. In the book, the world is experiencing global warming, overpopulation, and many other types of social and economic problems. To escape these problems a man by the name of James Halliday creates a free virtual world called the Oasis. A person can enter the Oasis by putting on a headset and after it is on, that person is transported from the real world into a complete and different virtual reality. In this virtual reality a person can be and do just about anything.

A person can be taller or cooler; they can climb Mt Everest or fight dinosaurs. AfterJames Halliday dies without any friends or family, he annouces to the whole world that he has hidden an Easter egg (which is a prize) in the Oasis. The first person who solves the various riddles and finds 3 hidden keys will win the game and be able to claim the Easter egg which is Halliday’s entire fortune and control of the OASIS. Ready Player One is a book that would appeal to many different groups of people. The book itself is a video game, full of with quests, avatars, heroes, bad guys, and tons of references to pop cuture of the 80’s.

Most kids these days have grown up playing video games. Reading Ready Player One where the main characters plug into an online world that has adventure, action and where they can be anyone they want would be very, very appealing to young adults. The main characters in the book have to use their knowledge about the the 80’s music, movies and literature to solve riddles. They also use their gaming skills to fight bad guys and the billion dollar prize provides incentive for everybody to win. For younger people who may not be as familiar with the 80’s pop culture, it is still easy to follow the plot and enjoy the book.

Another group of people that the book might appeal to are young adult females. One of the main characters in the story is a very fierce, independent young woman who competes wiht the boys to find the hidden Easter egg. In addition to This strong independent female character in the book is a major competor in the competition would also appeal to girls who would read the book.

Finally, another group of people that Ready Player One would appeal to is anyone who grew up in the 1980’s. Eighties references are jam packed throughout the whole book. In order to solve the riddles and find the hidden keys, the main characters in the book need to have an in-depth knowledge of the 1980s pop culture. There are references to 80’s music, movies, popular actors, actresses and musicians and one-liners throughout the book. For anyone who is an 80’s trivia nerd, the book would be very entertaining to read and re-read. For younger people who migh not be as familiar toe the 80’s pop culture, it is still easy to follow the plot and enjoy the book.

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Ready Player One

Ernest cline, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ernest Cline's Ready Player One . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Ready Player One: Introduction

Ready player one: plot summary, ready player one: detailed summary & analysis, ready player one: themes, ready player one: quotes, ready player one: characters, ready player one: symbols, ready player one: theme wheel, brief biography of ernest cline.

Historical Context of Ready Player One

Other books related to ready player one.

• Full Title: Ready Player One
• When Written: 2000-10
• Where Written: Austin, Texas
• When Published: 2011
• Literary Period: 21st Century American Science Fiction
• Genre: LitRPG Science Fiction
• Setting: Outskirts of Oklahoma City; Columbus, Ohio; the OASIS, in the year 2045
• Climax: When Wade successfully obtains Hallidays’ Easter egg
• Antagonist: The Sixers/Nolan Sorrento
• Point of View: First person, from the perspective of Wade Watts

Extra Credit for Ready Player One

Art imitating life. Like Wade in the novel, Ernest Cline drives a vintage 1980s DeLorean sports car in real life.

A puzzle inside a puzzle. After the publication of Ready Player One , Cline announced that the novel contained its own Easter egg, and whoever could complete a series of trials similar to those in the book would win their own DeLorean. The winner was announced in 2012.

“Ready Player One” Novel by Ernest Cline Essay

The novel “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline opens with a lengthy explanation of the story of James Halliday and the elaborate puzzle that he has set up. However, the actual opening scene is in chapter 1, which introduces the main character, his situation, and his relationship to the plot. The protagonist, Wade, lives in a trailer park that is tightly packed with people and sees gun violence regularly (Cline 13). The situation is indicative of the overall condition of a significant part of humanity, and the boy’s foremost desire is to escape the situation. The massively popular virtual reality game, OASIS, is the primary means for him to do so, but his extended family tries to drag him back to reality.

The introduction’s climax is the scene where the abusive aunt finds Wade with a laptop and decides to take it away to pay rent. The event shows that the protagonist does not have any people who he can rely on in the real world. The boy proceeds to go to his secret hideout and do what makes him feel safe. His favorite activity is playing OASIS, which he uses for a variety of purposes, including education and socialization. As can be seen throughout the chapter, many other people use the game as a form of escape as well. The display sets up one of the primary conflicts of the story, which is that of people choosing to ignore reality in favor of virtual pleasures.

Innovative Online Industries, the main antagonistic force of the novel, is an archetypal corporation, exploitative and dehumanized despite consisting entirely of people. In Chapter 14 of the book, its representative, Nolan Sorrento, contacts the protagonist, Wade, and offers him a job with the so-called Sixers. It is quickly revealed that the corporation would go to great lengths to obtain his knowledge, easily choosing to fire a powerful executive like Sorrento. Nevertheless, Wade refuses, and IOI threatens to detonate his home, proceeding to do so when he declines their offer again. The chapter serves to illustrate IOI’s willingness to resort to any manner of measures to achieve its goals, disregarding livelihood and life itself.

The chapter opens with a demonstration of corporate power, as IOI shows off its array of weaponry and other online valuables. The financial resources of a large corporation make individual resistance incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible. Wade notes that “the larger clans had been openly plotting to nuke the Sixer Operations Base for several years now, but they’d never managed to get past the defense grid or reach the planet’s surface” (Cline 134). Even if people devote a lot of time to become more powerful in the game and group together, they are unable to match IOI’s capacity to deploy personnel and money in the pursuit of its goals.

With the narrative that resistance is meaninglessly established, the corporation attempts to enlist Wade’s assistance. Sorrento describes its vision of the changes it intends to make to OASIS in an attempt to convince him that it is not as evil as the rumors would suggest. His idea is that IOI would “start charging everyone a monthly user fee. And increase the sim’s advertising revenue” in return for “avatar content filters. [And] Stricter construction guidelines” (Cline 137). In essence, IOI would increase monetization while reducing users’ freedom. The restrictions would serve the promotion of a safe and advertiser-friendly image for the sake of further revenue. Ultimately, IOI is not concerned about anything but money, earning its poor reputation.

During the discussions, Wade begins to make demands that he considers unreasonable with the purpose of irritating and intimidating Sorrento. He is aware that the interaction is not personal and that Nolan is expressing the will of the company’s executives. The acquisition of OASIS would be a massive gain for the corporation, especially considering it that would not cost anything above what it had already invested. Therefore, it is not surprising that IOI agrees to give Wade a massive bonus and an extremely well-paying position. However, the executives also do not require a discussion to decide to fire Sorrento in exchange for the limited information possessed by the protagonist. They have no regard for the people working for IOI and consider them disposable, a common criticism against real corporations.

The corporation’s power and complexity lend its managers the conviction that it can engage in illegal activities and emerge unpunished. When Wade refuses IOI’s offer, Sorrento reveals that he knows the protagonist’s real name as well as other sensitive information. The information was obtained through bribery of the virtual school’s administrators, showing the company’s willingness to exploit the system. However, IOI is prepared to go further and kill people for the sake of its ambitions.

Sorrento asks, “do you think anyone will care about an explosion in some ghetto-trash rat warren?” (Cline 140). The threat is later executed when Wade decides to call IOI’s bluff, and everyone in the trailer where Wade lives and close to it dies in the event. The crime is not punished until the end of the book, where the protagonist exposes it to the public.

Wade’s refusal to accept the company’s terms ultimately does not stem from idealistic conceptions despite their importance to the global conflict of the book. As he states, “I could not come up with a single good reason why they would let me live, […] The only move that made sense was to kill me” (Cline 142). IOI, like many modern corporations, cannot be trusted to do anything that does not directly contribute to its immediate goals. It will use whatever tools are at its disposal to create maximum profits, be it people kept in conditions of near-slavery or outright torture and murder. The parallel here is that a real corporation may resort to such measures, as well, if it is safe for it to do so.

Ready, Player One? It offers a critique of the concept of corporations, and Chapter 14 contains some of the book’s most detailed insights into Cline’s opinion on the danger of letting them have too much power. Corporations tend to view profit as their sole goal, unlike privately-owned companies such as Gregarious Simulation Systems, which are driven by the owner’s vision. They disregard the people who work for them as disposable cogs in the machine, diminishing or suppressing individuality. Lastly, they are ruthless and will employ whatever underhanded and illegal methods they can use safely, and so they cannot be trusted. Cline’s message is that corporations are evil entities that are only capable of ruining existing works.

Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Crown Publishing, 2011.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Ready Player One — The Need To Disconnect From Reality In Ready Player One By Ernest Cline

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

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Evolution and Teamwork (Ready Player One by Ernest Clin Book Review)

What if there was a way to live a totally new life? Wade Watts, the main character of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, can do just that with the OASIS, a virtual reality system with infinite possibilities. Unfortunately, it is easy for people to get addicted to the software, and Wade is no exception. Author Ernest Cline expresses the theme of teamwork vs isolation in Ready Player One through Wade Watts character development from a self-minded addict to a selfless “sober” man.

The theme of Ready Player One is Teamwork versus Isolation. Cline elaborates that a balance is needed between the two. The first and second acts of the book heavily favor isolation. Wade finds the first key in Halliday’s contest without any outside help. Around the middle of the book, Aech, Wade’s best friend, offers partnership between himself and the other members of the “high five”, the nickname for the five people who found the first key fastest. The others quickly shut down the idea (Cline 244-245). When Wade and Samantha start to build a good relationship, Samantha decides to abruptly end things because she believes that it was a preventing her from winning the contest. Despite showing downsides of teamwork, Cline shows that it is still necessary to have individual success. He implies Wade would not have won Halliday’s hunt without his friends helping him during the final task. Winning the contest was a great individual success for Wade and his friends, one that would not have been possible without their willingness to help each other out. This theme is further pushed forward through Wade’s character development.

Wade Watts begins Ready One as a single-minded addict with little social life, and ends it as a selfless, “sober” man. His “addiction” is the OASIS, a virtual reality video game that has taken over the world. He uses it to distract himself from his struggles in the real world, “We’d been born into an ugly world, and the OASIS had been our happy refuge,” (Cline 52). Wade’s addiction gets worse before it gets better. After he is dumped by his girlfriend he falls into a deep depression, claiming to hardly be able to get out of bed in the morning (Cline 295). His depression makes him give into his addiction, and he spends every waking moment in his virtual world. He spends so much time there that he begins to consider it his real life (Cline 304). He would have been unable to snap out of his addiction without the help of his friends. With their help, he meets James Halliday, creator of the contest that drives the plot of the book, who fully locks the addiction away by telling him, “… as painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness…Don’t make the same mistake I did, don’t live in here forever.” (Cline 567). With the help of his friends, Wade breaks free of his attachment to the OASIS.

Wade develops into a more charitable and collaborative person as well. His main goal is to win James Halliday’s immense fortune by finding three keys hidden in the OASIS. Selfishly, he rejects any help from others in his quest to find the keys. He and his friend even cuss out clans, groups of people that work together to win Halliday’s fortune. (Cline 60). His selfish nature is only amplified when he finally obtains the first key. He is thrust onto an international spotlight within hours. With this fame came countless sponsorships willing to pay him to endorse their products. He accepts every one of these offers. Wade’s ego grows more and more, and his celebrity-like lifestyle pushes his closest friends away. He would have continued down this egotistical path if it were not for the antagonists. The antagonist of Ready Player One is IOI, a corrupt organization that is hungry for power. He finds files on their computers revealing they are planning to kill his friends. This discovery launches Wade’s turning point into a better person. He is only looking at these files so he can use the information to win money for himself, but as soon as he sees this, he risks his plan’s success to warn his friends. After winning Halliday’s fortune, he splits it between himself and the High Five, solidifying his new generous personality. Wade turning into a selfless and more collaborative person helps develop the book’s theme of teamwork vs isolation.

Wade Watts character drives the theme of teamwork versus isolation in Ready Player One. Author Ernest Cline uses Wade’s struggles with addiction to show that you can not overcome everything by yourself. He explains that working individually is better than teamwork in the right situation. Teamwork helps achieve individual success.

Works Cited Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Crown, 2011.

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Bob on Books

Thoughts on books, reading, and life

Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One , Ernest Cline. New York: Broadway Press, 2012.

Summary: A virtual world quest created as the last act of a gaming programmer in which a real prize of $240 billion is at stake pits Wade Watts and a rag tag group of “gunters” against a ruthless corporation .

I might be one of the last people to come to this ten year old story since made into a motion picture. I have to admit, dystopian novels with a gaming theme are not my thing. If it weren’t for the fact that the author was born in Ohio, I may not have given it a second thought. But as a lifelong Buckeye, Ohio authors, whether they still live here or not, are my thing. So here goes.

It’s 2044. Climate change and the attendant breakdown of civil society has rendered much of the planet, and much of the United States a dangerous wasteland. Wade Watts lives in a ghetto in Oklahoma, consisting of trailers “stacked” on scaffolding. While he lives with his aunt, he spends most of his time in a secret hideaway in which he has connected his computer rig and “haptic” gear, in a virtual world called OASIS, created by perhaps the greatest of all game programmers, James Halliday. He attends virtual school here, and when not in school pursues a quest that not everyone thinks is real. He is a “gunter,” a serious gamer looking for the “egg” Halliday left behind as his last bequest five years ago. The prize? $240 billion in real world currency. The quest involves obtaining finding three keys, entering three gates, and successfully competing three contests. No one has even found the first key.

Wade, whose avatar is Parzifal, has spent the past five years immersing himself in everything he can learn about Halliday, all the games he created and played, the movies he loved, the places he lived, the music he listened to, to try to even find a clue to where the first key is located. The ‘Bible’ of the gunters is The Almanac. Wade discovers the first clue by noticing 112 notched letters that give him the information he needs to find the first key. And that leads to him being the first to complete the first challenge, beating a formidable foe, at an ancient arcade game. But he wasn’t the first to find the key. Another avatar, a female, Art3mis, was there first, but Wade won first. And in the informal code of gamers, he gives her a clue that helps her win and be the second to have collected the first key and pass through the first gate.

He’s not the only one in the small group of rivals. There is his best online friend “Aech” (pronounced “H”), and later Daito and Shoto, who become the fourth and fifth to pass the first gate after Parzifal, Art3mis, and Aech. Each is working on their own to win. Yet each will come to depend more and more on the others. And Wade as Parzifal and Art3mis (“Samantha” in the real world) develop an interest in each other–at least as they get to know one another through their avatars.

Parzifal becomes instantly famous in the gunter world. The treasures he wins afford him the chance to “level” up and acquire even more. The endorsements he acquires gives him real world funds. He will need them. The gunters aren’t the only ones after the Egg. So is a group called Innovative Online Industries who not only want to win the Egg, but gain control of the OASIS. They are known as the “sixers” for the six digit employee numbers that identify them. The chief of these is Nolan Sorrento, who tries to lure Parzifal to work with them. When lures fail, he resorts to threats to blow up Wade’s stack and kill him. Wade considers it a bluff, and were it not for his hideaway, he would have been. The stack where his aunt lives is bombed. It’s not a game anymore, and more people will die before it is over.

Wade uses his endorsement money to move from Oklahoma to Columbus, Ohio to be near where the main OASIS servers are and creates a state of the art setup to pursue the quest. The remainder of the book describes the pursuit of the second and third keys and gates, the tension between rivalry and friendship with his small circle of “gunters” who have to outwit the massive resources of the sixers.

The book is full of gamers lore, from Dungeons and Dragons and some of the earliest computer games to the highest tech in a virtual reality world. A non-gamer like me could have done with a bit less. But the plot is twisty enough to keep it interesting, with moments where it looks like all was lost, and then other surprises we would not have anticipated, and of course, the resourcefulness of Parzifal and the other gunters.

The backdrop to this plot is interesting as well. The immersive experience of this virtual world becomes the place where everyone spends time, because of OASIS, which facilitates education and commerce as well as massive multi-player online role playing games. It is a world with its own politics as well as actors who want to dominate the environment for their own profit. It sounds eerily like what Facebook’s re-branding as Meta would like to do.

As Cline’s plot unfolds, his characters begin to face the question of whether there might be more to the relationships they have and maybe the life they live in the “real” world, as dystopian as it is, than they have considered so far. Yet the irony is that all of these are formed online in a far more attractive world. Real neighboring in the stacks, except for passing conversations, is dead. If the eco-disasters and breakdowns in public order that some foresee come to pass, the book raises the interesting question of whether the resilience will be left to resist and try to restore or preserve the best of our culture or whether most will opt for escape to some virtual “oasis.”

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Ready Player One

71 pages • 2 hours read

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Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

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Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Wade’s ultimate prize is complete control over the existence of the OASIS.

• Who would suffer more if Wade shut down the OASIS, the general public users or the corporate stakeholders? ( topic sentence )
• Describe 2-3 consequences of a shutdown for your chosen entity.
• Conclude your essay with an explanation of the impact of these consequences.

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2. Despite having all the same resources about Halliday and an army of Sixers at his disposal, Sorrento was still unable to beat Parzival.

• What is it about Wade/Parzival that allows him to triumph? ( topic sentence )
• List 2-3 characteristics that give him an edge in the Hunt.
• Conclude your essay with an explanation of how these characteristics led Wade to victory.

3. Being gunters often dictates how the characters interact with one another.

• Which of the characters will experience the most change in their relationship now that the Contest is over? ( topic sentence )

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Ready Player One

By ernest cline, ready player one literary elements.

Contemporary Science Fiction

Setting and Context

Earth, 2045. However, mostly set within the OASIS, a fully immersive virtual reality video game.

Narrator and Point of View

First-person narration from Wade Watts, who uses Parzival as his avatar name within the OASIS. He is 18 years old and still in high school. When not at school, he is a gunter (someone who searches for James Halliday's Easter egg).

Tone and Mood

Nostalgic and Ominous

Protagonist and Antagonist

Wade Watts, Nolan Sorrento (Head of the IOI)

Major Conflict

The search for the Easter egg, hidden inside the OASIS. Finding this will grant the user Halliday's legacy: billions of dollars and control of the OASIS. Wade and his friends, Art3mis and Aech, are in a race against the evil IOI, who want to capitalize on those using the OASIS currently for free.

The final battle. Sorrento and the Sixers have erected a force field above Castle Anorak, where the final gate is hidden. Wade, Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto invite the Gunter Clans to come to fight the Sixers with them. Using the robots they acquired in the Second Gate, the four turn in to giant robots and battle it out. After defeating Sorrento, everyone but Shoto enters the third gate. Wade must then battle through a game of 'Tempest' before the other Sixers beat him to the Egg.

Foreshadowing

The challenge in the first gate foreshadows the challenges that Wade is about to face. In it, he is the character David Lightman in a 1983 film called Wargames. In the film, David accidentally hacks into military nuclear codes and sets off WWIII, thinking he is playing a video game. Just like David, Wade struggles to see the difference between reality and the OASIS. In a further parallel to the film, his first actions in gaining the key set off a string of events that leads to war within the virtual reality.

Understatement

Cline especially understates any emotion throughout the novel. When the IOI attempt to assassinate Wade by dropping a bomb on his stack, he comments that he is "freaked out." He only stops for a few moments to consider the people that were victims, and doesn't blame himself for their deaths. When Art3mis rejects him, Wade has an extremely adolescent reaction. He carries on, as usual, desperately hoping that he will spot Art3mis. To try and solve his issues, he buys a state-of-the-art sex doll, rather than mourning his loss.

With so many eighties references, it is undeniable that this fast-paced novel centered on adventure alludes to famous quests such as Indiana Jones. It follows a classic structure. The poor and honest protagonist must race against an evil organization to find the treasure before the world ends. This allusion only serves to increase the book's homage to what Cline portrays as the golden era, the 1980s.

A paradox emerges in that to give yourself a virtual life, you must be complicit in your death in reality. The stronger your avatar becomes, the weaker your body. Reality is sacrificed for the virtual world.

Parallelism

Throughout the novel, there are many parallels between the late James Halliday and the protagonist, Wade Watts. Halliday falls in love with Kira, who ends up marrying his business partner, Ogden Morrow. He stops talking to Ogden as it is too painful. Similarly, Wade breaks contact with his best friend, Aech, due to his affection for Art3mis. A further parallel is their origins. James and Ogden first wrote the program for the OASIS in their dorm rooms and went on to become legends and billionaires, granting themselves immortality in the OASIS. Wade follows the same path, starting from nothing to becoming famous and rich upon winning the Egg.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Personification.

Ready Player One Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Ready Player One is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What slight edge does Wade have on the other gunters? How did he use it to his advantage?

Wade has a sense of how Halliday's mind was working when he created this game and he might have a slight edge in the fact that he knows Halliday as well as he does through his extensive research and his own fascination with everything 80s.

as parzival moves through the tomb of horrors what item does he obtain ? How can these benefit him

Parzival found the Copper Key. He believes that the riddle from the key is guiding him to Middletown, a replica of Halliday's hometown of Middletown, OH, Wade heads there in search of the gate.

Why do you suppose Wade ignored Aech’s messages?

From the text:

Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto had all tried to contact me since receiving my e-mail, but I hadn’t answered any of their phone calls, e-mails, or chat requests. I saw no reason to tell them what I intended to do. They couldn’t do anything...

Study Guide for Ready Player One

Ready Player One study guide contains a biography of Ernest Cline, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Ready Player One
• Ready Player One Summary
• Character List

Essays for Ready Player One

Ready Player One essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

• Devastation with Detachment: The Instability of Video Game Immersion in 'Ready Player One'

Lesson Plan for Ready Player One

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Ready Player One
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Ready Player One Bibliography

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Ready Player One - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Ready Player One is a novel by Ernest Cline, exploring themes of virtual reality, nostalgia, and the impact of technology on human interactions. Essays could analyze its narrative, explore its themes, or compare it to other works in speculative fiction. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Ready Player One you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Ready Player One Book Review

The novel Ready Player One is a science fiction book, and it takes place in the future in the year 2044. In the book, the world is dealing with global warming, overpopulation, and many other types of social and economic problems. To help people escape these problems, a man by the name of James Halliday creates a virtual world called the Oasis. Every person can enter the Oasis. All they have to do is pay a one time fee of […]

Ready Player One: Oasis

If you think of video games as a solo thing, you couldn't be more wrong. As the pastime has grown and evolved, it's becoming more and more about teamwork, from 4-player teamwork in New Super Mario Bros to call of duty with 6 man teams you have to work with in order to complete an objective. And these teamwork games often form relationships and trust between players. Ready player one has the same principals. At the beginning of the book […]

Ready Player One: a Science-fiction Novel by Ernest Cline

The book Ready Player One is a science-fiction novel written by Ernest Cline. It was released in 2011 and became a New York Times bestseller. This post-apocalyptic like novel takes place in 2044, after the world has been struggling through economically hard times due to environmentally degradation. The only escape in this brutal world is a virtual reality video game called OASIS that lead character Wade Watts to use advance technology to fully engage himself within the game. The creator […]

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Ready Player One: Video Games

Video games have had a very important and everlasting impact on society. Whether it was through a small moment or the definition of a childhood, they have played a role in many lives. The art of video games would proceed to push the limits of the limited technology available in their period. Computing power has evolved drastically over the past few decades, allowing for creative minds to further push the limits. Video games are often portrayed and seen as unimportant […]

Virtual Odyssey: Characters of “Ready Player One”

In the expansive digital expanse of Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One," the characters burst forth like constellations in a neon-lit sky, each with their own constellation of quirks, dreams, and fears. Within this kaleidoscope of avatars and personalities, the narrative weaves a tapestry of adventure, nostalgia, and redemption. At the epicenter of this virtual odyssey stands Wade Watts, known to the OASIS as Parzival. A scrappy underdog with a heart of gold and a mind brimming with '80s trivia, Wade […]

Virtual Realities: Analyzing the Socio-Economic Impact of Oasis in “Ready Player One”

In the sprawling expanse of Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One," the Oasis isn't just a virtual playground; it's a dynamic ecosystem that intricately weaves into the fabric of society, influencing socio-economic dynamics in unexpected ways. Delving into the depths of this digital universe unveils a tapestry of complexities, where virtual realities intersect with real-world challenges, offering both opportunities and pitfalls for its inhabitants. At its core, the Oasis represents more than just an escape from reality; it's a testament to […]

The Quest for Identity: Character Development in “Ready Player One”

In the vibrant tapestry of Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One," the quest for identity unfolds amidst a digital odyssey brimming with nostalgia, adventure, and the enigmatic allure of virtual reality. Within a dystopian future where reality has crumbled into desolation, characters navigate through the labyrinth of the OASIS, a sprawling digital universe, seeking not just victory in a game but the discovery of their true selves. Central to the narrative is Wade Watts' journey, a young protagonist whose identity is […]

The Cultural Mosaic of Ready Player One: Decoding Easter Eggs

"Ready Player One" stands as a monumental tribute to pop culture, intricately weaving a vast array of Easter eggs and references through its narrative fabric. This novel, a futuristic odyssey set in a dystopian world, finds its heartbeat within the nostalgic homage to the 1980s, celebrating the era's video games, music, movies, and much more. Beyond mere nostalgia, these references serve as pivotal elements that deepen the story's themes and character developments, offering a rich tapestry of cultural history that […]

The Impact of Virtual Reality in “Ready Player One”

In "Ready Player One," Ernest Cline presents a vision of the future where virtual reality (VR) technology transcends its current limitations to become a cornerstone of daily life. Through the novel, readers are introduced to the OASIS, a sprawling, immersive virtual universe that offers an escape from the grim realities of a dystopian world. This virtual realm is not just a playground for the imagination but a critical component of society's functioning, serving as a platform for education, employment, and […]

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Do you know the name of the high school the characters attended in John Hughes ’ movies? Did you play “Pitfall!” on the Atari 2600 when you were a kid? And are you aware of what lurks behind the door of Room 237?

You may be able to answer “yes” to all three of these questions (as I was), and yet still not be able to register much more than a chuckle of recognition in response to the vast majority of voluminous pop-culture references scattered throughout “Ready Player One.” The action is breathless and non-stop, both in the virtual reality and the reality reality, but wallowing in ‘80s nostalgia is only so much fun for so long—even if you’re a child of the era (as I am)—and it only really works when it serves to further the narrative. So much of what constitutes the humor in Steven Spielberg ’s adaptation of Ernest Cline ’s best-selling novel is along the lines of: “Here’s a thing you know from your youth.” And: “Here’s another thing.” And: “Here’s an obscure thing that only an elite few of you will get, which will make you feel super-smart.”

Chucky from the “Child’s Play” movies shares the screen with The Iron Giant and the DeLorean from “ Back to the Future .” A thrilling auto race through the virtual streets of New York finds the characters daring to outrun the T. Rex from “ Jurassic Park ” as well as King Kong. There’s no way to catch it all in one sitting. This is a movie that has a literal Easter egg—and it is indeed a “movie,” not a film, as Spielberg himself pointed out earlier this month during its South by Southwest premiere .

Spielberg would seem to be the ideal director for such a thorough (and overlong) trip down memory lane. This is, after all, the decade he helped define, asserting himself as one of our greatest and most influential filmmakers. “Ready Player One” may have sprung from someone else’s brain originally, but it’s a Spielbergian hero’s journey at its core, complete with lens flares early and often. The young man at its center is an obsessed gamer named Wade Watts who goes by the moniker Parzival in the massive virtual reality everyone inhabits in the movie’s dystopian future. But he’s very much a figure in the same driven, single-minded vein as Henry Thomas in “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial,” Harrison Ford in the “Indiana Jones” films, Tom Cruise in “ Minority Report ” or Tom Hanks in “ Catch Me If You Can .” The actor who plays Wade Watts, Tye Sheridan (“ Mud ,” “ X-Men: Apocalypse ”), even resembles a “Close Encounters”-era Richard Dreyfuss .

“Ready Player One” is at once familiar in its fabric and forward-thinking in its technology, with a combination of gritty live action and glossy CGI. It’s an ambitious mix that can be thrilling while it lasts, and yet it fails to linger for long afterward, leaving you wondering what its point is beyond validating the insularity of ravenous fandom.

The movie’s copious needle drops drag us deeper into the decade, from Van Halen’s “Jump” and Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” to George Michael’s “Faith” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” At times, the selections can be painfully on the nose; the use of New Order’s “Blue  Monday ” to set the tone as we enter a large, laser-filled dance club is absolutely perfect, however.

Somewhere in the middle of all this retro mayhem (which Cline himself co-scripted with Zak Penn ) is an actual story—which itself is a throwback to something that’s never specifically named. This is essentially “ Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ,” complete with a scrappy, crafty underdog attempting to solve a series of challenges posed by a whimsical, mystical genius in hopes of winning a grand prize at the end.

The year is 2045 and the place is Columbus, Ohio. Wade lives, as so many others do, in “The Stacks,” a densely populated cluster of cruddy trailers piled high atop each other and tied together by scaffolding. To escape their dreary lives, Wade and his neighbors strap on their headgear and enter the Oasis, a sprawling virtual reality where everyone spends the bulk of their time. Yes, they’re doing VR in their RVs.

You can be whoever you want to be, go wherever you want to go, do whatever you want to do. You can be a fearsome warrior or a sexy anime vixen. You can gamble in a casino the size of a planet or climb Mount Everest with Batman. Or you can just hang out with your friends—people you’ve never actually met, but you feel like you intimately know—as Wade does when he’s in the Oasis as the chicly rebellious, “Final Fantasy”-styled Parzival. His best buddy is a hulking orc with a heart of gold named Aech ( Lena Waithe ), and he’s smitten with a motorcycle-riding, punk rock badass named Art3mis ( Olivia Cooke ).

“Ready Player One” would have been a far more compelling film with either of these characters at its center, but we’re stuck with Parzival as our bland yet brave conduit. Waithe has a swagger that’s hugely compelling; Cooke doesn’t get nearly as much of a character to work with here as she did in the gripping dark comedy “ Thoroughbreds ,” but at least Art3mis is Parzival’s equal in terms of her smarts and abilities, and she and isn’t simply relegated to being “the girl.”  

They (and everyone else) are searching for the three hidden keys left behind by the late creator of the Oasis: the socially awkward, Steve Jobs-esque James Halliday ( Mark Rylance , a much-needed source of quiet and humanity in this noisy, overwhelming world). These are literally the keys to the kingdom. Whoever finds them becomes the heir to his empire and the ruler of the Oasis. No one has ever gotten close—not even Parzival, despite his encyclopedic knowledge of the minutiae of Halliday’s life and inspiration. Meanwhile, the greedy corporate villain Nolan Sorrento ( Ben Mendelsohn , chilling as always) has built a massive army of mercenaries to scour the Oasis for the keys so that he can exploit this realm for commercial gain. Which is totally evil, according to this behemoth studio blockbuster.

So much of “Ready Player One” consists of following these characters around as they jump from one challenge to the next, solving one problem before moving on to the next problem, with clues from the movies, music and video games Halliday loved. But this instinct leads to the film’s strongest sequence of all, which finds the characters’ avatars landing right smack in the middle of “ The Shining .” I wouldn’t dream of giving away which elements of Stanley Kubrick ’s film they explore—or which rooms of The Overlook Hotel. But I will say it is the cleverest use of CGI within a live-action setting, and it upends our expectations of a pop-culture phenomenon rather than simply regurgitating something we know and love back to us. It comments on why “The Shining” matters while also giving us the opportunity to see it unexpectedly from a fresh perspective.

More of that kind of multi-layered approach could have elevated “Ready Player One” from a rollicking, name-dropping romp to a substantive tale with something to say about the influences that shape us during our youth and stick with us well into adulthood. Oh, and the answer to that John Hughes question? It’s Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Ready Player One (2018)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action violence, bloody images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language.

140 minutes

Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts / Parzival

Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook / Art3mis

Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento

Simon Pegg as Ogden Morrow

Mark Rylance as James Donovan Halliday / Anorak

Hannah John-Kamen as F'Nale Zandor

T.J. Miller as i-R0k

Win Morisaki as Toshiro Yoshiaki / Daito

Philip Zhao as Akihide Karatsu / Shoto

Susan Lynch as Alice

Ralph Ineson as Rick

Kae Alexander as Reb

Lena Waithe as Aech

• Steven Spielberg

Writer (based on the novel by)

• Ernest Cline

Cinematographer

• Janusz Kaminski
• Sarah Broshar
• Michael Kahn
• Alan Silvestri

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