Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is both imaginative and thought provoking. I think the thing that makes it most interesting and important is the catch 22 that is incorporated into it. It seems the more that Marcus fights for civil liberties, the more he is viewed as a terrorist. This is very frustrating. It seems like the citizens are acting as show dogs who will roll over and jump whenever the government tells them to. However, one must think that if it is for your own safety, why not do what the government tells you to do? Marcus’s dilemma however is that people are not thinking for themselves and do not know when they are being taken advantage of.
This slightly reminds me me of the US Patriot Act. The government wants the authority to listen and look into citizens personal lives and also they want to be able to hold someone who is suspicious of being a terrorist. Personally, I think this is great. As they say, better be safe then sorry! However, I do understand why people would cause a riot because the court system in the United States is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I will admit, if I were to be held for suspicion of being a terrorist, I would be a little ticked off but, I would understand that it was just the government trying look out for my fellow countrymen.
The scene that best exemplifies the catch 22 is when Marcus is being targeted more and more by the government when all he wants is to revive the liberties that people once had . After all, the preamble to the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
