It is the year 2036: Chapter 31 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Rudy Francisco imagines the year 2036 in a brief, satirical poem. Celebrities like J-Lo, Morgan Freeman, and Lil Wayne are still present but visibly aged—Lil Wayne, now 53, still drinks lean and claims he invented hip hop. Beyoncé runs for president as the Democratic nominee with a campaign slogan drawn from one of her songs. Language evolves: “conversate” and “skurtskurt” become official words. Fast-food culture continues, with Popeyes bringing back its chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A opening on Sundays, McDonald’s fixing its ice cream machine, and Arby’s having vanished unnoticed a decade ago. Candy corn and Milky Ways are banned, but guns remain available at Walmart. A mass shooting occurred the previous week yet received no news coverage. Society still writes poems about racism. Most police have been replaced by drones, but unarmed Black people are still being killed—only now it is labeled a “mechanical error” rather than police brutality.

Key Events

• Celebrity aging and cultural references (J-Lo still looks amazing; Morgan Freeman unchanged; Lil Wayne at 53 still drinks lean).
• Beyoncé is the Democratic Presidential Nominee; her slogan is “To the left to the left.”
• Language changes: “conversate” and “skurtskurt” are accepted as words.
• Fast-food industry shifts: Popeyes chicken sandwich returns; Chick-fil-A opens Sundays; McDonald’s fixes its ice cream machine; Arby’s goes out of business unnoticed.
• Candy corn and Milky Ways are illegal, but guns remain purchasable at Walmart.
• A mass shooting occurs with no news coverage.
• The police force is largely replaced by drones.
• Unarmed Black people are still killed, now called “mechanical error.”

Character Development

The poem does not feature traditional characters with arcs, but it does reference public figures in a static, satirical way:

• J-Lo – Represents enduring celebrity glamour.
• Morgan Freeman – Embodies iconic, unchanging fame.
• Lil Wayne – Symbolizes a rapper who, in his 50s, still clings to youthful behaviors and makes outlandish claims.
• Beyoncé – Stands for a pop star elevated to political power, yet her campaign slogan is a joke from her own lyrics.
• Unarmed Black people – A collective figure representing ongoing victims of systemic violence, whose deaths are now masked by bureaucratic language.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Satire of Progress – The future is not utopian but absurd: some things improve (ice cream machines work) while deeper problems (racism, gun violence) persist or are rebranded.
• Racism as a Persistent Wound – Even in 2036, poems are written about racism, and unarmed Black people are killed by police drones. The change is only in the official excuse.
• Gun Culture vs. Absurd Bans – Candy corn and Milky Ways are illegal, but guns are still sold at Walmart. This highlights misplaced priorities in society.
• Media Desensitization – A mass shooting is not newsworthy, indicating a numbed public.
• Technological Replacement – Drones replace human police, but the lethal outcome for Black citizens remains the same, suggesting that technology does not automatically solve social injustice.
• Consumerism and Nostalgia – The fast-food details and the Four Loko lawsuit commercial satirize the American obsession with brand nostalgia and litigation.

Why This Chapter Matters

This poem encapsulates the book’s critique of performative change. Francisco shows that the future holds neither dystopia nor utopia but a surreal continuation of the present’s absurdities. The most damning line—“Unarmed black people are still being killed, but now it’s called a mechanical error”—exposes how language can sanitize injustice. The chapter matters because it forces readers to question what real progress looks like and to recognize that without structural change, even a futuristic society will recycle old harms under new labels.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What does the change in language (e.g., “conversate” becoming official, “mechanical error” for killings) suggest about society in 2036?
   Answer: The poem suggests that language is used to normalize or obscure reality. While trivial words enter the dictionary, the dangerous use of “mechanical error” to describe the deaths of unarmed Black people reveals how euphemisms can disguise continued injustice. Society prioritizes linguistic convenience over honest accountability.

2. Why does Francisco include the detail that “Arby’s went out of business 10 years ago, / and no one has noticed”?
   Answer: This highlights cultural indifference and the fleeting nature of consumer brands. The unnoticed disappearance of a chain symbolizes how society stops caring about things (or even people) once they are gone. It also underscores the absurdity of the future: some changes are major (guns still legal) while others (a fast-food chain vanishing) go completely ignored.

3. How does the replacement of police with drones change the issue of police violence against Black people?
   Answer: Technologically, the shift removes human officers, yet the outcome is the same—unarmed Black people are still killed. The new label “mechanical error” depersonalizes the violence, making it seem like a glitch rather than systemic racism. Francisco argues that without addressing root biases, simply swapping humans for machines does not solve the problem; it only changes the excuse.

Navigation