In this age of communication overload, where we can text, chat, FaceTime, WhatsApp, DM – you name it! – we’re ever grateful for that little device in our pockets. Melissa Mogollon in her debut novel, Oye, uses phone conversations as the delivery tool for her protagonist’s story. We asked her to share why she thinks the phone will always be essential to our lives. Here’s what she said. Read on and then take a peek at the Page and Pairing guide to the novel Oye.
Oye
by Melissa Mogollon
The invention of the telephone has fundamentally changed our world in wildly permanent, profound, and immeasurable ways. Everyone’s experience with the technology is extremely personal and specific to them; some people can’t live without their cellphones, while others refuse to even install a landline, hoping to stay unreachable in our hyper-connected digital world. Though, no matter your position, one thing remains clear: a significant number of our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are intentionally and unintentionally influenced by our ever-changing communication technology. This tension is certainly central to our lives, and the lives of the family in my debut novel, Oye, where the phone functions as a lifeline for protagonist Luciana as she experiences the highs and lows of taking care of her grandmother – a hilarious, iconic, yet unfortunately, ailing woman. Here are five reasons why the phone in Oye, much like in the rest of our world, remains vital.
1. First and foremost, we have the literal life-saving basics: emergency alerts. Since we live in an Apple- and Android-dominated technospace, most individuals in the United States are walking around with smartphones in their pockets. This means that nine out of ten times the masses are receiving their emergency weather or natural disaster alerts via their phones. Similarly, in the novel, Luciana is able to receive real-time updates on the route of impending Hurricane Irma, which, ultimately, changes the course of their evacuation and lives. Having personally been in this scenario before, when it comes to natural disaster and emergency preparedness, phones can and absolutely do save lives! Especially when you’re Google Translating evacuation plans for immediate and extended family members, as Luciana expertly (and desperately!) does.
2. This next one is universal: long-distance family and friends. Luciana spends the majority of the book trying to figuratively and literally “reach” her older sister, Mari, by phone, who is away at college. Mari is no longer living at home but grew up as Luciana’s interpreter, confidant, and protector. This year, things are a little different for the sisters as they’re attempting to navigate the imminent arrival of a second disaster – the mortality of their grandmother – while living across thousands of miles. Thanks to their phones, for better or for worse, Mari is able to remain accessible to Luciana while they live through the herculean task of trying to process serious life events and stay connected, despite having their own individual, blossoming lives.
3. Third on our list, and an extension to number two above, is: immigrant diasporas! It cannot be overstated enough how absolutely vital phones are to immigrant communities – especially Wi-Fi-based devices and apps, particularly WhatsApp. WhatsApp, a popular text and voice messaging platform, functions as the front page and commerce hub for international diaspora communities worldwide. National elections have the ability to be decided on there. Your arepa lady runs her business on there. Your doctor is sending you x-ray scans via images while your aunt spreads conspiracy theories and family dispatches using the infamous “unsend” option. It’s the Wild West of the digital world for immigrant populations in both Oye and real life. So much so, that sometimes our families even forget that cellphones can have any other normal use or messaging function. iMessage? Regular texts or calls? Your mother’s never heard of it. She’s video calling you on WhatsApp.
4. Next, we have the fan favorite: digital social communities. A.k.a. dating apps and social media. I love this reason because, in Oye, this specific phone use transcends age and time. Access to digital social spaces and communities, like social media, is an immense privilege that comes with having a working phone with either Wi-Fi or data. And both Luciana and her grandmother, Abue, find online spaces where they can connect with people they wouldn’t normally be able to in real life. Abue's eccentric style and direct attitude is appreciated by her adoring online lovers; and Luciana is able to see and consider other examples of love and relationships from other parts of the world. Unknowingly, they both seek romantic connections online for the same reason – they don’t fit the traditional dating narratives of the immediate world around them: Abue’s age is considered “too old” for romantic connection, and Luciana is a young queer girl growing up in a highly heteronormative culture.
5. And last, but definitely not least (at least for Abue), we have: vanity! How many times have you opened your phone camera app before walking into a social setting or work meeting to make sure you didn’t have food in your mouth or smeared makeup on your face? Too many to count, probably. We are absolutely beholden now to checking our appearance throughout the day because of how easy and normalized this behavior is with smartphones. And not to mention the notorious #selfie trend! Abue and Luciana are also not immune to this urge. They spend countless moments in the novel trying to understand how they are being perceived by others. Is their appearance authentic? Is it admirable? Unconventional? Does it tell the right story? Does it make them feel good when they’re moving through the world? And, to me, this kind of self-examination is one of the greatest joys of the book, which tries to answer the questions: Who am I here, in this world, and what do I want?