“Pure Language” and the Dirtying of Technology in Egan's Novel Anonymous College

In the digital era, children are exposed to digital devices and the internet practically at birth through iPods, iPads, and iMacs--an element of modern childhood completely foreign to the parents raising these children. In the chapter “Pure Language” from A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan’s character Alex, a new father, believes he has a responsibility to protect his child from digital devices, implying that children are put in danger when exposed to the internet and social media. However, Alex’s choice of career and interactions with others reveal that adults are equally at risk while using social media and digital communication, if not more so, than the children they are theoretically trying to protect, causing us to question whether children are the ones endangered by these forms of technology in the first place.

Egan uses the medium of fictional storytelling to create a relatable parental character, connecting to and sympathizing with parents responsible for modernized, tech-savvy children in order to bolster her argument that digital communication and social media are not just dangers for children, but for all generations. Egan uses the inner monologue of Alex in order to show the fear parents feel for their...