>Don’t Trust Anyone Over 25

“We struck out, four good friends, on our way to decode a clue, win the game –and lose everything we cared about, forever” (30). So begins the journey of Marcus (a.k.a. w1n5t0n; a.k.a. M1k3y) Yallow, the techno-geeky narrator in Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother.  Marcus takes the reader on an adventure through San Francisco in this fast paced cyberpunk tale of dissidents, freedom, and the future of what we once knew as the beloved United States of America. I use the term “future” loosely here because Doctorow paints a vivid picture of a time and place that could be tomorrow. Put space exploration and warped visions of computer implants out of mind; in Little Brother the future is here. The future is now.

            From the very beginning, Marcus takes the reader into his world of gaming, coding, and surfing the net. But don’t worry, enough is explained so that a non-techie can follow his plot rather easily. However, the story isn’t about gaming; in this high-tech, post 9/11 world where “War on Terror” seems to be everywhere in the media, San Francisco is attacked making 9/11 look miniscule on the devastation scale. In the aftermath of the bombing, and the mass hysteria of the city, Marcus and his friends are kidnapped – but not by the enemy. “The man who came in was wearing a military uniform. A U.S. military uniform. […] I wasn’t a prisoner of some terrorists – I was a prisoner of the United States of America” (47). The scariest part of Doctorow’s vision is that it could happen tomorrow. Look back at what happened in the weeks following 9/11.

            Doctorow intelligently captures the myriad of attitudes held by present day Americans: the patriots, the terrified, the proud, and most importantly, the paranoid. In Little Brother in order to survive, one must be paranoid; in today’s society, the same is true – it is more important now than ever to be politically active, and part of that is constantly questioning the government’s actions. Upon his release from his captors, Marcus vows to “stick it to the man” because as he said, “I was tortured by my country, but I still love it here. I’m seventeen years old. I want to grow up in a free country. I want to live in a free country” (363). But the Department of Homeland Security is no longer on his side. But whose side are they on? That depends on how you view your our constitution. DHS takes over San Francisco with the guise of protection. They legally wiretap all phones, they track everyone’s movements, and apprehend anyone who seems a bit suspicious…of anything.

            Enter Marcus’ brilliant utilization of the Xnet – an underground, encrypted form of the net, where dissidents meet to plot how to regain their constitutional freedom. Problems arise when the government, police force and adults (over the age of 25) view the Xnet users as terrorists – junior members of al-Qaeda. Marcus, Julo, Ange, and the thousands of other teenage Xnet users rise against the most powerful government – their own – even though winning seems out of the question. But who will believe a bunch of teenagers running around reeking havoc on DHS, claiming to be “jamming up the system because [they] hate Homeland Security, and because [they] love [their] country” (139)? The fight isn’t necessarily about winning, though. It is about taking back what is rightfully theirs. It is about not sitting back and watching everything be taken away. Doctorow’s image of this future entails more than displaying a yellow ribbon on a car saying, “Support Our Troops.” Peaceful protests no longer achieve much. If a change needs to happen, someone needs to make it happen, and this is exactly what Marcus plans to do. Be careful though. Don’t trust the government, don’t trust each other.

> You sure they’re looking for us?

       > OMG we’re doomed

       > No it’s not that bad but we need to figure out who we can trust

       > How?

> That’s what I wanted to ask you… (148)

By juxtaposing the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights Movement with his version of the possible direction of the US brought on by the War on Terror, Doctorow astutely points out just how backwards we could slide. To do this, what better setting than San Francisco? Home of the outlandish, the lawless, but also the most progressive during both the mid 20^th century and Doctorow’s future. Age old problems still exist: homelessness, global warming, No Child Left Behind. Race is still an issue as Julo points out, “White people see cops on the street and feel safer. Brown people see cops on the street and wonder is they’re about to get searched” (160). We don’t have to think back to the Civil Rights movement to talk about these issues. Not only are they here now, they could possibly be prevalent in the future.

Doctorow makes the reader think. He pointedly asks of us one thing: How far would you go for your freedom? Like other cyberpunk authors he criticizes and warns about the direction in which we are headed. He uses history only to make his point stronger, and he is able to send a powerful message in a way that anyone, no matter what age or background can understand. So, next time you send an email, do some shopping via the net, even pick up the telephone for a covert conversation, think about our current governments attempts to make wiretapping legal. How far off is that? What about your TiVo? Someone is watching what you are watching. So what does freedom mean to you? For Marcus (w1n5t0n, M1k3y) Yallow he puts his life on the line for something that most people believe to be out of their control. Life and oppression or death and freedom – how do you choose? Oh yeah, and what happens to Marcus?