Tag Archives: Hausman

Riding the Trail of Tears – Hausman

During the reading of the Riding the Trail of Tears, I found the concept of having a loop very interesting. The loop itself can be seen as a continuous cycle that is re-lived and recycled within the system. The misfits said, “Every time the loop starts over, so do we…With each new loop, we all begin again.” The loop can be interpreted as something that is life-giving (giving life to those who existed within the Trail of Tears), but at the same time, it can also be seen as a never-ending cycle/loop violence and history which is altered or influenced by capitalism (Ride is made for the sake of ‘entertainment’). When the misfits describe how the ‘suits’ come to kill them again and again, it shows the violence that exists within the system, while also making us as the audience express sympathy or feel pity for these indigenous data/programs that reside within the grey area of the system. The loop is constantly brought back to the audience which makes it an important symbol (from the front cover to Tallulah’s dreams to the VR system itself) After reading this novel, I feel that the existence of VR technology can definitely simplify our methods of education in areas such as history, but at the same time, if it is focused on entertaining the audience, it takes the core aspect of learning away and replaces the facts and purpose with entertainment of the audience (ultimately undermining the purpose of having VR for education).