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Do you think today's society reflects Fleisher's depiction of the world's opinion towards the elderly? What is similar, and what is different? Would this book have had the same overall theme if he had replaced the "elderly" with another demographic/minority group? I look forward to hearing your opinions on this!

I honestly believe that the views about the elderly are accurate, which is unfortunate. The major difference with those elderly and ours is that most of them seem to be able to live independently instead of what we have been doing is putting our elders into nursing homes or forcing them to stay with family once something bad happens to them. You could substitute children and the effect would have been worse. Kids are generally very tech savvy but when it comes to common sense there's a wide range to look at.

Our elders has taught us many thing from how to take care of our selves to all about Life... They have been our greatest role models and passed down knowledge that cant be taught in a classroom. We should honor our elders and show them the same curtesy that they have shown us...

I thought about this quite frequently. I felt some things felt a bit stuffy to me and I realized that may be because this book would speak better to someone older. I talked to my husband about the chapter where the Pitbull attacks Vince and his sweet little Corgi, and he (my husband) pointed out that the older generation have a lot of bias against Pitbulls. That is just one example of many that I noticed.

I cannot say for sure if this reflects true society, as I am not elderly. Yet, the way the book is written, with the background understanding of the author and his likely friends and conversations, it is highly believable that all of this could come about. I do feel that the theme, or tone in perceptions, would have been different given any change in race or age. However, I think the choices made my test participants would have been similar, as we are all human and act on free-will and often impulse.

Great question to ask!

Whatever colour or creed, race or religion, we all get old. Someday we will have to face youngsters terrorising us, or pushing us over, laughing at us when we're slow or can't find the buttons on our, no doubt, antiquated phone. It's a common denominator. The old should be respected for their knowledge and life experience, but these days that doesn't count for much. Increasingly the older folk are pushed out of businesses to make room for the bright youngsters who can handle all the technology.

I feel like change has happened so quickly in the past decades, with the advent of personal computing and cell phones, that it's easy for our society to leave the elderly in the dust. Choosing the elderly as the minority group of focus in this novel was a good move, in my opinion. It avoids dating the book, and since societal change will likely continue at its current breakneck pace, this ensures it will stay relevant for some time.

Age impacts politics, economics and technology etc...Different age group carries different perspectives, outlooks and social responsibilities...Older age are liable to have more influence on type of politics in society given that they are all above the age of majority and they are also given more legal privileges whilst younger age groups have adapt more to technology and are more likely to induce change. I agree with Fleisher where the world seems to be leaving the elderly behind.

I am not sure . Since I am not an elderly person , I am not able to comment much on the treatment of the elderly. However I do perceive a certain falling standards in the treatment of the elderly when compared to previous generations.

Its an interesting point to discuss: substituting the elderly with a minority group. However that would have shifted the focus of the book from the guns to issues of marginalization .

Great question! I feel a little out of the loop in terms of how the elderly are currently treated but from what I have seen at nursing homes, etc. leads me to believe the book is not that far off base. Are people literally pushing the elderly down and calling them old to their faces like in the book? I've never seen that and I'd like to believe that doesn't happen. But, even if not treated with aggression, I believe the elderly are treated with neglect and often overlooked in general today.

Life itself is in stages. The older you become, the less relevant youbtwnd to be, or that's how the world has placed it. I think the author has only shown was is the prevalent in the current society we live in.

Life itself is in stages. The older you become, the less relevant youbtwnd to be, or that's how the world has placed it. I think the author has only shown was is the prevalent in the current society we live in.

We need to respect the gray hairs. Our elders are our greatest assets with repertoire of knowledge. The current society shows less regard to the elderly which is wrong.

Before reading this book, I was not in tune with our society's views of the elderly. However, after dwelling my mind on the depiction in Final Notice, I started to catch myself with feelings of impatience when an elderly person was crossing the street and slowing down my plan and progress. I think the author has done his job to make us think about these issues. It is sad and true that so many of our elderly are placed in nursing homes rather than being cared for by their families. I desire to slow down and give respect and appreciation for the older generation who have so much wisdom and experience to offer.

ostercl wrote: ↑09 Mar 2018, 15:53 Do you think today's society reflects Fleisher's depiction of the world's opinion towards the elderly? What is similar, and what is different? Would this book have had the same overall theme if he had replaced the "elderly" with another demographic/minority group? I look forward to hearing your opinions on this!

Unfortunately, I think that a lot of our society shares the opinion that is depicted, mainly that the "elderly" could be considered throwaways. It is too bad that so many people have little to no respect for their elders in this society and would prefer to place them in a home instead of trying to provide home care for them where a better quality of life would be sustained. If the demographic had been changed, I think that the theme of the book would have changed to an extent, but some elements would have stayed the same.