Ready Player One Character Analysis

Ernest Cline uses the literary element of characterization in order to develop his advanced and complex characters in his novel, Ready Player One. The story is centered around Wade Watts, an adolescent in the year 2044, and his passion for playing the virtual reality video game known as the OASIS. This complex gaming system allows players to escape their dull, mundane lives and start a brand new one filled with both excitement and adventure. And that is exactly why Wade Watts plays it.
After the death of both his parents, Wade spends all of his time alone, hiding his socially awkward, overweight self from the rest of society. With the exception of Mrs. Gilmore, his next-door-neighbor whom which is in her mid-seventies, Wade has a struggle making friends and meeting new people. This loneliness corresponds with Wade’s difficult life at home. The only reason why Wade is still living in his Aunt’s cramped RV along with 15 other people is to receive food vouchers. In the text Cline writes, “I selected an episode of Family Ties, an ‘80’s sitcom about a middle class family living in central Ohio[...]I’d become addicted to the show immediately, and had now watched all 180 episodes, multiple times. I never seemed to get tired of them. Sitting alone in the dark,

watching the show on my laptop, I always found myself imagining that I lived in that warm, well-lit house, and that those smiling, understanding people were my family. That there was nothing so wrong with the world that we couldn’t sort it out by the end of a single half-hour episode” (Cline 14-15). It is discovered, by the reader, that Wade is a dreamer. His challenging life at home leads Wade to wishing for a life like those in a television series. With nowhere to turn, Wade picked up his very own OASIS gaming system. Wade practically devoted his life playing it, so much so that he even set out to discover one of the Easter eggs hidden within the game by the creator himself.
In addition, the OASIS not only distracts Wade from his not-so-perfect life, but also gives him the confidence that he never had. In the text Cline writes, “I’d attend school in the real world up until the sixth grade. It hadn’t been a very pleasant experience. I was a painfully shy, awkward kid, with low self-esteem, and almost no social skills[...]Online I didn’t have a problem talking to people or making friends. But in the real world, interacting with people[...]made me a nervous wreck. I never knew how to act or what to say, and when I did work up the courage to speak, I always seemed to say the wrong thing” (Cline 29-30). Wade is able to find his true self when inside the OASIS. He is able to talk to his classmates, make friends, and even stand up for himself. Wade is, in fact, a gawk, but can diminish these feelings of awkwardness through the OASIS.
Finally, Wade is given a higher level of self-esteem through this virtual reality.

In the novel Cline writes, “Best of all, in the OASIS, no one could tell that I was fat, had acne, or that I wore the same shabby clothes every week. Bullies couldn’t pelt me with spitballs, give me atomic wedgies, or pummel me by the bike rack after school. No one could even touch me. In here, I was safe” (Cline). The OASIS is able to cover up Wade’s deepest insecurities. It is revealed through his thoughts that with this virtual reality, Wade is able to transform into a whole new person with a more positive outlook on life in general. This new Wade can finally love himself, stand up for himself, and feel safe in his own

environment.
Moreover, the OASIS has changed Wade Watts for the better. These changes transformed him into a hopeful, social, and more confident person. One day Wade will use these traits to discover the unforgettable OASIS Easter egg. This is how Ernest Cline uses characterization in the novel, Ready Player One, in order to create his advanced and complex characters.