Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Technology and the tech world play a significant role in Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Manjula, Bernadette’s “virtual assistant,” and Elgin’s special project, Samantha 2, which is also the subject of his famous TED Talk, are the chief examples. Both promise easy solutions to life’s challenges but turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth. “Manjula” is actually the creation of Russian crime syndicate, a means to capture consumers’ information. Samantha 2, a wearable computer chip the user can control with his or her thoughts, may be more benign but proves too expensive and impractical, despite the excitement Elgin’s TED Talk creates in the tech world. In the world of the novel, visions of a technological Utopia are suspect, and the shortcuts promised by technology end up creating their own problems.

Elgin Branch is an employee of Microsoft, as is Soo-Lin. The company and its mystique are depicted as a pervasive force in Seattle life. Bee Branch grows up thinking of the campus as a second home. Bernadette thinks of the company as “Big Brother” (26). The company provides its employees with free transportation and free vending machines, among many other perks, and asks unquestioning devotion in return (rumor has it that anyone seen with an iPhone will be fired on the spot).