Anxiety About the Future

Anxiety about the future is the defining force that shapes Michael’s thoughts and choices. His fixation on the fear that computers will fail when the year 2000 begins serves as a concrete expression of his broader wish to control an uncertain world. As a twelve-year-old, Michael lacks real power over the adult forces that shape his life, but he channels this helplessness into obsessive preparation. His stockpile of canned food and supplies represents an attempt to make the unpredictable feel manageable, even though both he and the reader know that a child cannot realistically protect himself from a global event. Through Michael’s anxiety, the novel explores how fear of the unknown can distort ordinary caution into a form of self-imposed imprisonment.

Michael’s Y2K obsession begins as a way to soothe himself. Collecting food and other goods gives him a sense...