Little Brother Part Deux

This Doctorow novel brings up several frightening things. One being the ability of the government to have constant surveillance upon the people. This might seem like something that is in the very far future, but it's not. It's capable of happening time now. With the Patriot Act and increases in technology the government's ability to monitor us is at an all time high. This novel should awake the public to this possibility, but it won't. The public is completely oblivious to the goings on of the government and their ability to watch and track every move. A day where we live in a USA like Marcus lived in is not far off. We need to fight back just like the characters did in this book. They fought for what's right and what is good. If we're not careful, what happened in this novel will happen to us. This type of government is very scary, but at the same time it is real. Also, it is scary to think that there are already types of government out there that are like this. Governments exist that will capture and torture their citizens without being provoked. This makes me sad for the rest of the world.

Little Brother...

This book by Cory Doctorow is a book that encompasses many emotions. It captures the love, fear, and courage just to name a few. It is a tale of four best friends who skip school one day to play the newest level in an online video game. Whilst skipping school, a tragic terrorist event occurs, and the four friends are arrested without reason. After three harrowing days, answering questions that they don't have the answers for, three of the four are released (Marcus, Jolu, and Vanessa). Darryl, however, remains in custody. For a while, Marcus remains mum on why he was arrested, and doesn't tell anybody. But, as time wanes, Marcus decides he has to fight back. Jolu and Vanessa desert Marcus for fear of retribution from the DHS, and his dad starts fighting with Marcus incessantly. But, Marcus stands strong in his attempt to get Darryl rescued. Using his top notch computer skills, Darryl sets up a network to communicate with other anti-DHS teens, and they begin amassing information about DHS. Using the network, they are able to foil DHS's plans and wreak all sorts of havoc upon them. Finally, Marcus gives all his information to a friend who is a reporter. This leads to Marcus getting captured, imprisoned, and subsequently waterboarded as a result of the information. However, the governor of California decrees that Marcus be rescued. Marcus is rescued, along with Darryl, and the two are reunited as best friends again. Marcus' girlfriend is also released from her imprisonment, and life goes back to normal for everyone involved.