“The ongoing energy crisis. Catastrophic climate change. Widespread famine, poverty, and disease. Half a dozen wars.” 

The world of Ready Player One is bleak, but its crises are not so different from the ones we face today. By the end of the novel, Cline suggests that these contemporary issues require a collective action similar to the collective action taken by the gunters to defeat the Sixers. 

“If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about my lot in life, all I had to do was tap the Player One button, and my worries would instantly slip away as my mind focused itself on the relentless pixelated onslaught on the screen in front of me.” 

Wade describes how he escapes from his real-world concerns by using technology as an immersive distraction. While technology of this level mostly does not exist yet—augmented reality is not yet advanced or widespread—many people do distract themselves with social media and entertainment, showing how Cline’s description of a population seeking meaning through immersive environments is not fundamentally different from our own. 

“Maybe it isn’t a good idea to tell a newly arrived human being that he’s been born into a world of chaos, pain, and poverty just in time to watch everything fall to pieces.” 

As an 18-year-old and a self-professed nerd, Wade has a particular style of speech unique to his age and character. His dry description of life in 2045 at the beginning of the novel highlights his specific voice. Like many teenagers, he uses humor and deflection to minimize how difficult things are, but the truth is that he is sensitive and struggling to understand how to live a meaningful life in a world that feels broken.