49 pages • 1 hour read
Suzanne WeynThe Bar Code Tattoo
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn is a prolific young adult and middle-grade author of over 50 novels and short stories. She graduated from Nassau Community College and SUNY Binghamton and went on to Pace University to gain her Master’s in Teaching Adolescents. Weyn’s career has mainly focused on education and literature. Upon graduation, she initially worked at Starlog Press as an editor of teen magazines before transitioning to Scholastic Inc., where she took on roles as an editor, a project manager, and later, a represented author. Weyn has also taught expository writing, children’s writing, and business writing at New York University. Her favorite author, Margaret Atwood, has greatly influenced her as an author, as can be seen from Weyn’s many dystopian and science fiction novels.
The Bar Code Tattoo reflects many of Weyn’s professed values, including her passion for education both in the academic arena and in other aspects of life, such as politics and government. In past interviews, Weyn has admitted to being a skeptic of public relations stories about governments, big businesses, and other powerful groups. She believes it is up to the people to do their research and stay informed on current and upcoming issues. She also asserts the importance of gathering information organically through one’s community, rather than relying solely upon literature and television. These views are heavily demonstrated throughout The Bar Code Tattoo.
Genre Context: Dystopian Literature
The dystopian genre balances the fantastical with the real while delving into the relevant issues surrounding modern society. Among these concerns are capitalism, imperialism, wealth and power inequality, technological advancement, government restriction and control, loss of individuality or privacy, and social or environmental collapse. The conventions of dystopian literature are designed to critique existing social structures and injustices, allowing authors to raise awareness about important issues that warrant deeper analysis.
The Bar Code Tattoo exhibits many of the hallmarks of dystopian literature, for in addition to casting a critical eye on the burgeoning powers of the government and the many unknowns of new technologies designed to control social behavior and public opinion, Weyn incorporates various elements of science fiction and fantasy to create an element of mystique and a foreboding tone. A common fear often highlighted by dystopian literature involves the growing issue of totalitarianism and government control, and The Bar Code Tattoo explores the nuances of these issues in great depth. In such dystopian stories, the government wields extensive power and control and openly threatens people’s freedom and autonomy. The Bar Code Tattoo touches on these issues through its criticism of the corrupt president Loudon Waters, the invasion of privacy by the government-issued bar code tattoos, and the KnotU2 group’s mission to inform others of their eroding civil liberties.
Another well-known feature of the dystopian genre is technology’s negative impact on society, and such novels typically examine how future technology might be misused to control, manipulate, or exploit others. Specifically, because The Bar Code Tattoo features the use of near-future technology in the form of a publicly accessed tattoo that contains embedded genetic information, the novel delves into the ethical issues surrounding the development and potential misuse of AI and genetic engineering. Additionally, the novel explores the issue of social stratification and inequality by positioning Global-1 as a global superpower that controls the world’s food supply and therefore nearly everything else. It is founded by the small and privileged elite who have access to most of the world’s wealth and therefore wield complete control over world resources. In Kayla’s society, if any country manages to offend Global-1, the superpower can easily implement punitive measures by cutting off the country’s access to food, thereby regaining control.
