Ballard depicts a dystopian society where the population exponentially increases each year resulting in an overcrowded city with meager living conditions. I felt claustrophobic reading the the beginning of the story as Ward described the standard living space of a single which was only over 4 meters while a double was 6 meters and the crowds of people on the streets that could even caused “locks” that entrapped everyone for a period of 2 days in one place. The society was unsupervised and disorganized as they did nothing to regulate the increasing population. I would like to compare it to the world depicted in Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

Here the world is considered Utopian where everything is regulated so that no conflict will occur nor will any of the residents feel unsatisfied with their lives. Everyone gets their food each day for each meal, they are studied closely that they may get the most fitting job when they are of age, and they are assigned to families and partners whom they will compliment and get along well with. Surely this society where everyone is satisfied with their lives as everything is meticulously calculated is much better than the chaotic conditions described in “Billenium”. Until you learn how they adopt “Sameness” and the lengths they have gone to keep it that way.

In return for creating a society where no conflict will occur as it did in the past, they lost their emotions and  their ability to create their own opinion that reflected their individuality and values. Two societies, one where the population increase cannot be controlled and everyone struggles to have a living space and their own privacy, and another where every factor is regulated including the population, food resources, and assigned family units to create “equality” that renders no real emotion in people. They are different worlds yet both are examples of a dystopian society.

I also related to O’Hara’s “Having a Coke with You” to being able to truly experience the city and its many attractions thanks to the people whom you are with. My first thought came to Florine Stettheimer’s poems  where expresses her love for many things including details that come from the city, particularly New York City as she mentions things she loved from certain things in NYC in the first poem, “My Attitude is One of Love.” Then in her next poem, “Then Back to New York,” where she describes the changes people have done to the city and its traditional or former practices yet she finds them interesting and what gives life and spark to NY at the time which she chooses to paint. And she has painted many scenes from her life in the city show from parties, outings, places, and the people she interacted with which are always depicted in her vibrant and lively paintings. If it weren’t for people, Stettheimer may not have experienced such an captivating side of NY.