Twist

Twist is a novel about connection, and it develops that theme by focusing on the protagonist’s loneliness and disconnection, the result of society’s dependence on technology. His sense of disconnection is placed in the larger context of the connectivity of an entire region. Through glimpses of the shifts in everyday life, juxtaposed with the large-scale operation of the repair, the novel emphasizes both the fragility and necessity of internet connectivity, highlighting how tenuous human connection is when it is dependent on technology. 

When the underwater cable first breaks, disconnecting much of western South Africa from the internet, the protagonist notices how deeply everyone around him is affected. The internet’s connectivity is such a central aspect of all parts of life that its absence can only foreshadow disaster: “A rumor was rippling among them that something had happened. A World Trade moment. A hack. An electrical storm. Another catastrophe. They kept checking their phones as if things were about to change at any instant. The anxiety got under my skin too” (52). Anthony feels the worry and anxiety around him and absorbs it. The rumors that swirl about the causes, including a possible terrorist attack or some kind of natural disaster, signal how dependent everyone is on their phones and the internet. Without it, they do not know how to fill their time, and the loss of it feels apocalyptic. The removal of such a key aspect of everyday life is put into a larger perspective as the Georges Lecointe embarks on a dangerous and monumental feat of repair. 

When Anthony reaches Accra, he once again sees a city experiencing the repercussions of disconnection firsthand. Whereas other cities around the world have backup cables that can be rerouted to keep the city up and running while repairs to damaged cables are made, Accra only has one: “The city had been in slowdown since the snap. Our broken cable was the only feeder. They had relied on satellite all that time. The hospitals had little or no internet. The government. The TV stations. It was almost as if you could feel the brokenness” (145). Anthony highlights how the lack of internet and the slow trickle of satellite connections bring the city to a screeching halt, with essential institutions and services curtailed in their effectiveness. In South Africa, Anthony primarily witnessed the individual reactions of people losing their connection, but in Accra, the disconnection is on a much grander scale. The dire situation that results demonstrates the fragility of a society that depends on the internet for connectivity. With its portrayals of the effects of the outage on two different communities, the novel highlights the ubiquity of society’s dependence on the internet for connectivity, as well as exploring the consequences of people completely depending on the internet to connect them.