Ready Player One

Ready Player One

by

Ernest Cline

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The OASIS Symbol Icon

The Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation, nicknamed the OASIS, is a massive multiplayer online game in which the characters in the novel spend most of their time. The OASIS was developed by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow and released by their company GSS in 2012. As time passes, the OASIS becomes more complex, realistic, and immersive, such that it gets harder and harder to distinguish it from reality. People work, shop, go to school, and fall in love in the OASIS, and in this sense it is less a game or simulation and more a second home for people. This is particularly significant given that, between 2012 and 2045, the real world has become an increasingly desolate, impoverished place. The name “OASIS” plays on the simulation’s status as a utopia in which people can forget the burdens of reality. Indeed, it is this aspect of the OASIS that makes Wade’s mission to find the Easter egg so important. Wade does not compete in Halliday’s hunt only for personal glory and gain, but rather to save the OASIS from falling into the hands of IOI and being transformed into a “fascist corporate theme park.”

At the same time, although the novel presents a largely positive view of the OASIS and the opportunities it affords to the characters, it also highlights the dangers and downsides of the simulation. Ogden Morrow is one of the characters most prominently associated with criticism of the OASIS. Although he remains involved in the simulation, hosting his 73rd birthday party at an OASIS dance club, he left his role at GSS in 2022 on the basis that the OASIS had “become a self-imposed prison for humanity.” Wade echoes this sentiment when he likens the state-of-the-art OASIS immersion rig he constructs for himself to a prison. At the end of the novel, even Halliday posthumously warns Wade about the dangers of spending so much time in a simulation that he neglects the real world. Halliday suggests that while the OASIS is an amazing and even utopian place, it cannot offer what reality affords: true happiness.

The OASIS Quotes in Ready Player One

The Ready Player One quotes below all refer to the symbol of The OASIS. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
).
Level One: 0001 Quotes

Luckily, I had access to the OASIS, which was like having an escape hatch into a better reality. The OASIS kept me sane. It was my playground and my preschool, a magical place where anything was possible.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
Level One: 0002 Quotes

My virtual surroundings looked almost (but not quite) real. Everything inside the OASIS was beautifully rendered in three dimensions. Unless you pulled focus and stopped to examine your surroundings more closely, it was easy to forget that everything you were seeing was computer-generated. And that was with my crappy school-issued OASIS console. I'd heard that if you accessed the simulation with a new state-of-the-art immersion rig, it was almost impossible to tell the OASIS from reality.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:

The moment IOI took it over, the OASIS would cease to be the open-source virtual utopia I'd grown up in. It would become a corporate-run dystopia, an overpriced theme park for wealthy elitists.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS, Innovative Online Industries (IOI)
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Level One: 0005 Quotes

The more I'd learned about Halliday's life, the more I'd grown to idolize him. He was a god among geeks, a nerd über-deity on the level of Gygax, Garriott, and Gates. He'd left home after high school with nothing but his wits and his imagination, and he'd used them to attain worldwide fame and amass a vast fortune. He'd created an entirely new reality that now provided an escape for most of humanity. And to top it all off, he'd turned his last will and testament into the greatest videogame contest of all time.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), James Halliday / Anorak
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
Level One: 0010 Quotes

I quickly lost track of time. I forgot that my avatar was sitting in Halliday's bedroom and that, in reality, I was sitting in my hideout, huddled near the electric heater, tapping at the empty air in front of me, entering commands on an imaginary keyboard. All of the intervening layers slipped away, and I lost myself in the game within the game.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), James Halliday / Anorak
Related Symbols: The OASIS, Middletown, Ohio
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Level One: 0012 Quotes

Morrow stayed on at GSS for five more years. Then, in the summer of 2022, he announced he was leaving the company. At the time, he claimed it was for "personal reasons." But years later, Morrow wrote in his autobiography that he'd left GSS because "we were no longer in the videogame business," and because he felt that the OASIS had evolved into something horrible. "It had become a self-imposed prison for humanity," he wrote. "A pleasant place for the world to hide from its problems while human civilization slowly collapses, primarily due to neglect."

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Ogden Morrow aka Og
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Two: 0017 Quotes

Parzival: I've had a crush on you since before we even met. From reading your blog and watching your POV. I've been cyber-stalking you for years.

Art3mis: But you still don't really know anything about me. Or my real personality.

Parzival: This is the OASIS. We exist as nothing but raw personality in here.

Art3mis: I beg to differ. Everything about our online personas is filtered through our avatars, which allows us to control how we look and sound to others. The OASIS lets you be whoever you want to be. That’s why everyone is addicted to it.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Art3mis (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 170-171
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Two: 0018 Quotes

"You don't live in the real world, Z. From what you've told me, I don't think you ever have. You're like me. You live inside this illusion." She motioned to our virtual surroundings. "You can’t possibly know what real love is."

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Art3mis (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 186
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Two: 0019 Quotes

Standing there, under the bleak fluorescents of my tiny one-room apartment, there was no escaping the truth. In real life, I was nothing but an antisocial hermit. A recluse. A pale-skinned pop culture-obsessed geek. An agoraphobic shut-in, with no real friends, family, or genuine human contact. I was just another sad, lost, lonely soul, wasting his life on a glorified videogame.

But not in the OASIS. In there, I was the great Parzival. World-famous gunter and international celebrity. People asked for my autograph. I had a fan club. Several, actually. I was recognized everywhere I went (but only when I wanted to be). I was paid to endorse products. People admired and looked up to me. I got invited to the most exclusive parties. I went to all the hippest clubs and never had to wait in line. I was a pop-culture icon, a VR rock star. And, in gunter circles, I was a legend. Nay, a god.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:

I cleared my throat and recited my pass phrase. Each word appeared on my display as I said it. "No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful."

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Two: 0020 Quotes

When you owned your own world, you could build whatever you wanted there. And no one could visit it unless I granted them access, something I never gave to anyone. My stronghold was my home inside the OASIS. My avatar's sanctuary. It was the one place in the entire simulation where I was truly safe.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 200
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Three: 0033 Quotes

In Marie’s opinion, the OASIS was the best thing that had ever happened to both women and people of color. From the very start, Marie had used a white male avatar to conduct all of her online business, because of the marked difference it made in how she was treated and the opportunities she was given.

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Marie Harris
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 320
Explanation and Analysis:
Level Three: 0038 Quotes

"Listen," he said, adopting a confidential tone. "I need to tell you one last thing before I go. Something I didn't figure out for myself until it was already

too late." He led me over to the window and motioned out at the landscape stretching out beyond it." I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid, for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real. Do you understand?"

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), James Halliday / Anorak (speaker)
Related Symbols: The OASIS
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis:
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The OASIS Symbol Timeline in Ready Player One

The timeline below shows where the symbol The OASIS appears in Ready Player One. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
0000
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...James Halliday has died. Halliday was the designer of a massive multiplayer videogame called the OASIS and was one of the richest people on Earth. Even in the midst of “catastrophic... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...and discusses the first “Easter egg” ever hidden in a videogame. Halliday morphs into his OASIS avatar, Anorak, and announces that he has hidden an Easter egg inside the OASIS. Whoever... (full context)
Level One: 0001
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...refugees. His father was killed while robbing a grocery store; his mother, Loretta, had two OASIS jobs, as a telemarketer and online escort. When he was a child, the OASIS was... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
On the other hand, the infinite possibilities afforded by the OASIS helped keep Wade “sane.” Loretta died after shooting up a bad batch of drugs when... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...declines. She is very religious and spends most of her time inside mega-churches in the OASIS. Wade keeps going down to his “hideout,” which is an old abandoned van whose seats... (full context)
Level One: 0002
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...a flashlight, a sword, a small shield, and leather armor. Wade is poor inside the OASIS. The currency used there, OASIS credits, is one of the most stable in the world.... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...he fires back an insult before muting them. Wade loves the fact that at his OASIS school, he can mute people who annoy him. There is no fighting in the school... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...real-world school, which he hated. He was thrilled by the opportunity to transfer to an OASIS public school on Ludus, the planet where all OASIS schools are located. OASIS schools do... (full context)
Level One: 0003
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Chatrooms are “stand-alone simulations” that can be accessed from the OASIS but aren’t technically part of it. Aech has programmed the Basement to resemble a rec... (full context)
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
...lot of quests and as a result has a 14th-level avatar, he is clueless about OASIS trivia and Halliday’s obsessions. I-r0k quizzes Aech and Wade, attempting to catch them out, but... (full context)
Level One: 0004
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Wade likes his World History teacher. All his teachers are good, in part because the OASIS school software means they do not have to worry about discipline and can focus on... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...students do. Many even have their own spacecraft and give rides to their friends. The OASIS began with only a few hundred planets, populated with “computer-controlled humans, animals, monsters, aliens, and... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...avatar’s power level is by earning experience points (XPs) through fighting or completing quests. Many OASIS users do not care about their avatar’s power level or the competitive aspects of the... (full context)
Level One: 0005
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Wade’s favorite class is a senior elective called Advanced OASIS Studies. The class is a breeze considering that Wade spends all his spare time researching... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...debuting what would become GSS’ only product: the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation, aka the OASIS. The OASIS was not the first massive multiplayer online game, but it was far bigger... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Part of what made the OASIS so the unique were the trademark OASIS visor and haptic gloves, which provided total sensual... (full context)
Level One: 0006
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
...of a labyrinth filled with “undead monsters.” He identifies the parallels between D&D and the OASIS, and soon realizes that Halliday is the OASIS equivalent of a D&D dungeon master. Wade... (full context)
Level One: 0007
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
...the only planet that houses schools and universities. However, it is the home of the OASIS public school system, which Halliday founded and personally funded. (full context)
Level One: 0008
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
...much deeper chamber. Wade knows that if they fight, he will be killed instantly. The OASIS does not allow users to save their place and log out, so his only choice... (full context)
Level One: 0011
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...the film, which was one of Halliday’s absolute favorites. He tries to pull up his OASIS map, but gets nothing, which means he is in a stand-alone simulation separate from the... (full context)
Level One: 0014
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...have never been able to get past the planet’s defense systems. Wade asks if the OASIS version of IOI’s headquarters is a replica of the real headquarters in Columbus, and Sorrento... (full context)
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...have of IOI. He argues that, contrary to popular belief, IOI wants to “make the OASIS a better place.” Wade agrees, but asks for $50 million if he finds the egg... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...Wade and his family will die. Sorrento explains that he learned this information through Wade’s OASIS school record. Wade considers for a moment, reflecting that IOI has no reason to keep... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...lived in Aunt Alice’s trailer are now dead. He considers calling the police within the OASIS, but realizes that no one would believe him. He decides to “lay low” until his... (full context)
Level One: 0015
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...the Tomb (while allowing Sixers access). Daito laments that there are “no laws” in the OASIS, and Shoto exclaims that “the Sixers have no honor.”  (full context)
Level One: 0016
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...quickly fills up with Sixer employee numbers, the first of which belongs to Sorrento. The OASIS Public School board decides to evacuate Ludus due to the disruption caused by the Sixers... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...bus has armor plating and bulletproof glass, and almost every passenger on it wears an OASIS visor. It takes several days to reach Columbus, and Wade spends the entire time logged... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Wade buys a new identity on the OASIS black market using his newfound fame as leverage. He assumes the identity of Bryce Lynch,... (full context)
Level Two: 0017
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...with Art3mis is risky, but Wade proceeds anyway. When Wade and Art3mis travel around the OASIS together, they do so in disguise. The only occasion when they don’t do this is... (full context)
Level Two: 0019
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...doesn’t use the kitchen, ordering takeout or microwaving frozen meals instead. He has constructed an OASIS “immersion rig” out of the latest pieces of technology to make his time spent in... (full context)
Level Two: 0020
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...the private asteroid he’s bought—the “cheapest planetoid” available. Falco is the only place in the OASIS where Wade feels safe. Now that he is 18, he can vote in the OASIS... (full context)
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Wade’s expenses are high, and he supports himself through a part-time job doing OASIS technical support. He was able to secure the job through having Bryce Lynch’s credentials and... (full context)
Level Two: 0021
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
...there in droves—inadvertently revealing the location of the Jade Key to everyone else in the OASIS. Newspaper headlines announce that Parzival has been “dethroned” and that Art3mis is now the top... (full context)
Level Two: 0022
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Archaide is home to the OASIS’ largest classic videogame museum, and the planet itself resembles an old videogame—its scenery never changes... (full context)
Level Two: 0023
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
...one of several planets that serve as a “shrine” to the earliest days of the OASIS. Wade explains that text adventure games create a virtual game environment through text; players use... (full context)
Level Two: 0024
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...he will do if the Sixers win the hunt. He will give away all his OASIS possessions to someone in his fan club and leave his apartment for the first time... (full context)
Level Two: 0025
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...He and Wade sit together, and Shoto explains that the Sixers killed Daito—not in the OASIS, but in real life. They broke into Daito’s apartment and threw him off his balcony,... (full context)
Level Two: 0026
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...machine is housed in in the Tyrell Building, replicas of which are all over the OASIS. (full context)
Level Three: 0028
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...get through, and quickly swallows two anti-anxiety pills he’s saved for the occasion. Inside the OASIS he closes his windows, checks the Scoreboard—which remains the same, with Art3mis in first place... (full context)
Level Three: 0029
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...lining the streets than when Wade first arrived. He watches some of them using the OASIS from GSS’s free access stations. The van pulls up to 101 IOI Plaza in downtown... (full context)
Level Three: 0030
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...IOI’s Technical Support call center. He is not permitted to access any part of the OASIS except his work account on the IOI intranet. He addresses the needs of customers, and... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
Seven months ago, Wade bought a set of IOI intranet passwords on the OASIS black market from a former IOI contract programmer. He hadn’t done anything with them until... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...face. Wade thinks that she looks even more beautiful in real life than in the OASIS. To his horror, he realizes that IOI have had her house under surveillance for months.   (full context)
Level Three: 0031
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...rented a mailbox at an outlet four blocks away from IOI Plaza and had an OASIS rig shipped to it. He logs into the OASIS for the first time in eight... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...a clothing store called Thr3ads. Wade purchases clothing that are wired for connection to the OASIS, along with outerwear, as he is freezing. Afterward, he purchases a flak jacket, a gun,... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...Sorrento, although he blacks out his own name. He then drafts an email to every OASIS user, but doesn’t send it yet. Finally, he logs into the Basement, where Aech, Art3mis,... (full context)
Level Three: 0032
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...send later that night. The email warns that if the gunters don’t join forces, “the OASIS will fall under IOI’s imperialist rule.” Art3mis is uncertain that the gunters will show up,... (full context)
Level Three: 0033
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...Aech laugh too. When she speaks, her voice is higher than it is in the OASIS. Aech asks if Wade is shocked that she is actually a “fat black chick.” Wade... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...who worked in an online data-processing center. Marie used a white male avatar in the OASIS because it made other people treat her better. Aech did the same, and Marie helped... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...full tour of the mansion later, but for now he sets them up in state-of-the-art OASIS immersion bays. Wade and Aech wish each other good luck before disappearing into the bays.... (full context)
Level Three: 0034
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
...into the starship Marveller, and he sets off for the Chthonia. It looks like every OASIS user is headed to Castle Anorak at the same time, and Wade wonders how many... (full context)
Level Three: 0036
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...that the quarter gave him an extra life, the first time this has happened in OASIS history. Suddenly, Wade hears Aech’s voice, along with that of Morrow, Shoto, and Art3mis. They... (full context)
Level Three: 0037
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
...get through the Third Gate and are now playing Tempest too. She reveals that every OASIS user is able to see them as well as Wade himself, something she previously didn’t... (full context)
Level Three: 0038
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...that his avatar is immortal and all-powerful, and that he is in charge of the OASIS. He asks that Wade use his “powers only for good.” Castle Anorak also belongs to... (full context)
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
Nerds, Underdogs, and Obsession Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Inequality, Elitism, and Corporate Power Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...the remaining Sixers’ vidfeeds disappeared. Wade realizes he can now instantly teleport anywhere in the OASIS for free, and transports himself to the entrance to Castle Anorak. The remaining Sixers are... (full context)
Level Three: 0039
Reality vs. Illusion Theme Icon
The Individual vs. the Collective Theme Icon
Utopia vs. Dystopia Theme Icon
...for the first time he can remember, Wade does not want to be inside the OASIS(full context)