Little Brother Character Analysis

Marcus is only seventeen when he gets accused of being a terrorist, and when

his best friend, Darryl almost dies in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security. In Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Marcus is a seventeen year old boy who gets captured by the Department of Homeland Security. He is not only one that gets taken, his three other friends, Darryl, Jolu, and Van also got taken to get questioned. While they were with the DHS, they were kept in a cell like prisoners. They also didn’t know why they were being arrested, which goes against the Constitution. Amendment five protects you from being held for committing a crime unless you have been charged correctly by the police. After a week all four friends had cooperated with Carrie,

or “severe haircut lady” as Marcus called her, they were promised to be let out. Marcus, Van and Jolu were let out, but Darryl was not let out . Cory Doctorow reveals that there needs to be a right balance between security and privacy is demonstrated through metaphors, imagery and point of view.
The theme in little brother is indicated in three ways, the first one is metaphors.

In Little Brother, Marcus has the right to speak his mind but he has to be prepared for the consequences. He might want to debate the constitution when people's lives are at stake but people will not listen or care. Before getting in trouble Marcus was courageous and spoke up about the amount of security there is in San Francisco. And how there is police at every corner of every street. Marcus says that by having numerous cameras in their school it is not helping stop trouble, it is just going against his rights. Other students go against and say that the number of security cameras make them feel safe. Marcus decided to speak up some more which got his teacher angry, leading to him getting in trouble. Marcus father says “We’re in a lifeboat now, and once you’re in the lifeboat, no one wants to hear about how mean the captain is being.” (p. 217). The metaphors supports the theme because Marcus is talking about how being monitored violates his privacy. The lasts chapter in Little Brother make the readers question Marcus loyalty to his friends. Marcus is planning to run away to escape the Department of Homeland Security. His acquaintance Masha convinces him to run away to Los Angeles to avoid being captured. While Marcus is running away he realizes that running away is a cowardly thing of him to do. After getting out of the truck that is supposed to take him to Los Angeles he meets some new people and they offer him a place to stay. Marcus soon realizes that the DHS is coming after him and he has to leave. Marcus gets caught once again. The highway patrol and Barbara rescue him and Darryl. Marcus is told he has to go to court. At the court the judge asks him why he chose to return and Marcus replies with, “I decided that I couldn't run. That I had to face justice- that my freedom wasn't worth anything if I was a wanted man, or if the city was still under the DHS. If my

friends were locked up. That freedom for me wasn’t as important as a free country.”[p. 354] Metaphors demonstrate Cory Doctorow’s theme of having equal balance.
The second way, Cory Doctorow theme is demonstrated in Little Brother is through the use of imagery. Before Marcus and his friends got caught there was an attack in San Francisco. People were running around trying to find shelter and help their friend and families. There was smoke everywhere and the ground was shaking. Marcus describes the attack and everyone fleeing as “We popped free like champagne corks an eternity later, blinking in the gray smoky light. The air raid sirens were still blaring, and the sound of emergency vehicle sirens as they tore down Market Street was even louder. There was almost no one on the streets anymore just the people trying hopelessly to get under ground. A lot of them were crying. I spotted a bunch of empty benches usually staked out by skanky winos and pointed toward them...” (p.37)
In the last chapters of Little Brother Cory Doctorow reveals the Climax, where Marcus is almost executed by the Department of Homeland Security. A man working for the DHS tells Marcus how he will be executed, “You get strapped down like this, and we pour water over your head, up your nose and down your mouth. You can't suppress the gag reflex. They call it simulated execution, and from what I can tell from this side of the room, that's a fair assessment. You won't be able to fight the feeling that you're dying.” (p.344). Cory Doctorow reveals another reason why the theme of Little Brother is finding equal balance.
Furthermore, the theme of having equal balance is demonstrated through point-of-view. Marcus knew he wasn't going to die but he didn't know how to tell his body
that. He had water in his lungs and his body was telling him he was going to die.
“I couldn't help it. I gasped and aspirated the water I to my lungs, coughed and took
more water in. I knew they wouldn't kill me, but I couldn't convince my body of that. In every fiber of my being, I knew I was going to die.” (p.345) Without having the right balance of security and privacy, Marcus did not have any privacy which lead him to being taken and tortured by the DHS. Marcus is mad at how his mind can't control his body. He can't convince his body he's not going to die. It's like his mind and his
body are two separate people. He says, “The coughs were so deep they hurt, hurt my ribs and my hips as I twisted against them. I hated how my body
was betraying me, how my mind couldn't control my body, burn there was nothing for it. “ (p.345) The theme is demonstrated through point of view.
In Little Brother the theme of having equal balance between security and privacy is showed through Imagery, point of view and metaphors. The government has been trying to find an equal balance between security and privacy ever since Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency collects phone data to track down terrorists. They also looks at people's private internet history to stop terrorists. But are they really stopping terrorist or just looking at innocent people's private data and going against the fourth amendment. In Little Brother the DHS wasn't only going against the fourth and fifth amendment but they took Marcus’ basic rights away by torturing him. If the government doesn't find the right balance between security and privacy, innocent lives will be targeted, tortured and accused.