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//1984// and //Little Brother// Comparison Essay “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it” (Think). As Thomas Jefferson said, he wants more liberty and he would rather be exposed to the problems with too much than having less. People tend to sacrifice liberties for false security, which is not worth it considering they did not deserve those liberties in the first place. //1984// by George Orwell is a novel about Winston, a citizen, in a city with a very strict and controlling government. [|Telescreens] constantly monitor the citizens while they continually live with the threat, [|“Big Brother is Watching You”] and even thinking anything bad is a “thought-crime” which is severely punished. Big Brother turns any disobedient citizen into a “un-person,” that lives the rest of life with no purpose while the main character Winston erases all memory of them. Winston revolts, becomes an “un-person” because of his decision to go against the government, and by the end of the book, Winston loves Big Brother. //Little Brother// by Cory Doctorow is a response to //1984,// set in the present day in the city of San Francisco. Marcus, the main character, is a hacker that leaves school one day to meet up with his friends and play a game. The group is in the wrong spot at the wrong time when terrorists blow up the [|Bay Bridge] and the kids are taken into custody as possible suspects. Darryl is still missing, but the rest of the group is released with the threat that the Department of Homeland Security will be watching their every move. Marcus decides it is up to him to take down the Department of Homeland Security to help Darryl. A reporter works with Marcus and his friends to publish the story of the Department of Homeland Security and the wrong things they are doing. The kids take them down and find Darryl but he will forever be affected by mental and physical media type="youtube" key="TbDgTXxoQvA" height="344" width="425" he was put through. Although //1984// by George Orwell and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow are not sequels or even written by the same author, the ideas expressed throughout each are very similar such as the fact that the governments have too much control, there is no balance between security and rights, and there is an invasion of privacy. // 1984 // and //Little Brother//, and the information the class learned from the guest speakers about common ideas portrayed, proved extremely valuable. A reoccurring problem throughout happens when the government is given too much power and they abuse it by becoming too controlling. In //1984,// the government controls rations, jobs, personal life, and thoughts. In //Little Brother,// the government is not as much of a problem as the Department of Homeland Security which takes innocent people captive as possible terrorists against the government. "But I had to get a better look at these jerks who'd kidnapped us. If they were terrorists, I wanted to know" (Doctorow 43). Marcus was kidnapped and he was not aware it was by other Americans. In both books the reader observes the main character’s struggles with fighting the government, watching one character fail and the other prevail. Mr. Meyer explained, “Americans prefer security over rights” (Meyer).This statement is true considering the risk citizens take to ensure their safety. Giving up rights for safety is not worth it though, due to the fact that it is false security and the rights citizens risked are not given back. In //1984,// the citizens are constantly watched and recorded by a telescreen that does not have the ability to turn off. Some of the citizens never experienced life without the telescreens but the rest knew a different life, and those citizens are not doing anything to stop this right from being violated. In //Little Brother,// the people are tracked by their [|FasTrak cards]which show where they are going and the police crack down and bust anyone with an irregular pattern. The X-netters swapped everyone’s cards making it so all of the citizens had irregular patterns, and when the citizens were pulled over and questioned they did not care because they thought they were being kept safe. The citizens gave up their rights of innocence for nothing because the police were not keeping them safe from the actual terrorists. After the citizens gave up their rights, their privacy was constantly invaded. In 1984, Winston was barely able to keep a diary because of the telescreens and the lack of privacy that society had. "...the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever" (Orwell 19). Even thinking which is a private thing, can be used against a citizen if it is against the government. In Little Brother, Marcus’ [|laptop] is bugged and his fear of being monitored on the internet causes him to start his own server on the X-net. Forcing a citizen to start their own server because of fear, will cause that anger of their invasion of privacy to build up leading to a revolt against the government.

The information students have learned about these two novels still presents some questions and ideas the students did not learn. Through //1984// the picture of a completely controlling government is expressed but there is no reverse side. What does a government with little control look like? When a government abuses their power because they have too much, it shows a society could thrive if the government had less power and there was less control. In //1984//, the government is strict and there is no tolerance for individuality as Winston struggles to [|revolt] and take down the government. By looking from a citizen's perspective, a realization occurs that citizen does not mind some government control but they want to have the ability to turn it off sometime. The Brotherhood could balance out Big Brother and strive for citizens’ approval because of the balance of power. In //Little Brother//, Marcus is against the increasing amount of control by the Department of Homeland Security. The government is not the problem here though because of the fact that Department of Homeland Security is very strict and controlling of citizens in the area. "I realized that some of these people had been locked up since the bridge blew, taken for dead by their families, [|without trial], subjected to interrogation, isolation, torture- I wanted to just break the chains myself and set everyone free" (Doctorow 353). The government needs to control the Department of Homeland Security a little more in order for the citizens to not feel the need to revolt. When the government or Department of Homeland Security is not urging the citizens to revolt, the citizens are instead giving up rights for security. How does giving up each of those privacy rights compare? In //1984//, the telescreens do not turn off and are located in the middle of the room, resulting in no privacy. The citizens have never experienced life without the telescreens monitoring their every move therefore they do not know any different. The inner party has the ability to shut off the screens but the rest of the citizens have not lived without them off, and even if they were shut off, the citizens would carry on like they are still being monitored.

Using what the reader learned and did not learn brings up the point of where the ideas go from there. If the government has too much control then the citizens will revolt. To eliminate revolts there needs to be a balance of power with the strict government. The strict and power abusing government could model America’s democratic government with [|checks and balances] between the different branches. Observations made about governments that do not trade security for rights and work alongside of citizens are more popular. Many securities are provided whether it is a false security or not without having to sacrifice rights. A citizen who wants a [|bodyguard] would have to sacrifice their right of privacy if they wanted to bodyguard to follow them everywhere to ensure their safety. Another security such as protecting kids in school is not sacrificing a right because the children can still learn and have fun while being safe. A government that works to keep citizen’s rights and at the same time give them security is moving in the right direction. With the way airports have scanners that take a picture of people’s nude bodies show that privacy is constantly being invaded. This issue is on the fast track and probably will not get better based on the way it is now. Every new piece of technology helps the person using it to invade a citizen’s privacy without them even knowing it. Anyone [|unaware] of the airport scanners would walk through security while the employee looks at a [|picture] of the citizen’s somewhat cloudy, nude body. Clearly technology proves to be a great thing but when a citizen’s privacy is invaded in a situation they might not even know about, it becomes a problem. // 1984 // and //Little Brother// are novels with ideas expressed about excessive government control, a lack of balance between security and rights, and an invasion of privacy. Citizens in a society with a strict government need the opportunity to have more control and say in how the government’s power will be used. Some securities are privileges that small rights could be given up for, but the others should be to help against the invasion of privacy. Governments that gave more power to people for securities against the invasion of privacy would be the most popular.

Work Cited

//Thinkexist.com. 18 Feb. 2010. []. //

Mr. Meyer. Class Lecture. 14 Jan. 2010.

Orwell, George. //1984.// New York: Signet Classic, 1977.

Doctorow, Cory. //Little Brother//. New York: Tom Doherty, 2008.