Topic > What is the theme of Player One by Douglas Coupland...

The name "Player One" has a meaning, as it is the name in which "one" has complete control of the world and time. Player One is an avatar that Rachel uses to be human. In the novel, Rachel is Player One, making her the one in complete and total control of what is happening. Player One is the narrator who illustrates the characters' future, feelings, and the impact each scenario has on them. Player One, as the narrator, provides a foreshadowing vision of what the role of a higher power will be like in reality. The characters are trapped in their bodies for around seventy years, unable to break free and wander around, like Player One. Due to a lesion in the right side of the brain, Rachel is unable to understand humor, irony, passion and God. All of these theses are given a neurological meaning, since they are all identified by the brain. These characteristics lead and prevent her from having a personal identity, considered “normal”. The injury prevents Rachel from being able to distinguish between all of these, making her "non-human". She has no identity, nothing that makes her an individual is able to be differentiated by her brain, classifying her as a robot. Human beings love being able to classify and define what is represented in front of them. Anything that is not understood by the brain is considered abnormal and inhuman. Rachel therefore uses Player One to be able to feel and express all these characteristics. For Rachel, Player One is a medium she can use to express herself and feel normal. Rachel has no real personal identity until she is tied to Player One. This is ironic, considering that Rachel relies on technology to feel “human,” but ultimately achieves her life's purpose through human interaction. Rachel means