Starters

The notion that no matter how much someone has, they are never satisfied fuels much of the conflict in this novel. Even though Enders have jobs and stability, they aren’t happy being old, so they rent the bodies of the young. Sometimes, they hurt the bodies during the risky activities they do, and sometimes they tire of the bodies and want to try something new. Eventually, when they find bodies that they really like, the renters aren’t satisfied with just borrowing another living person’s body for a few days or weeks; they want to own it. Prime Destinations anticipates this desire and capitalizes on it, pitching permanency in their ad by stating, “‘You can enjoy the best years of life as this new body ages beautifully through its twenties and thirties and beyond,” the Old Man said. ‘At Prime Destinations, our visions for you are endless’” (208).

Because the Old Man knows his subscribers will never stop wanting more, he offers to feed that endless hunger, also evidenced by the fact that Prime has started investigating using preteens' bodies for rentals and tried to push their agenda nationally through the White House rather than continuing to operate quietly in the shadows in California.