In the
novel, Little Brother, Marcus Yallow goes through five days of being detained
by the department of home land security. After being researched and losing all
his privacy he is finally released being told he would be watched. After being
released, the department continues to go through all his media, watch him on
cameras, and listen to his conversations. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel
like to not know how or when, but to know your being monitored for a crime you didn’t
commit. Even though Marcus is innocent imagine if some random government person
listened to all your conversations carefully, went through all your computer
activity, watched you when you didn’t know! While reading Little Brother I thought
Marcus could probably relate to the main character of Orange is the new Black.
My sister and I have this new obsession with
the show, Orange is the New Black. Orange is the new black is a show about an
all-girls jail. The main character, Piper, is sent to the prison for a crime
she committed 10 years ago. She used to be in love with a drug smuggler and at
a time when her girlfriend needed help, piper helped her to smuggle drug money
over the border. Now she has to serve for a crime she did long ago under the pressure
of someone she loved. At this point Piper has a fiancé, a business, and a whole
new life.
I thought
that Marcus and Piper can relate because they both feel punished unfairly for
no good reason. Now, both Marcus and Piper can barely communicate with the
world their apart of because their conversations are all listened to, they can’t
use the internet, they have no privacy, everything they have is constantly
evaded.
Even though
Marcus was released, he probably feels like he’s in jail. Even though he can go
anywhere, the department of home land security can take him back at any time.
Marcus must feel like Piper, in a prison.
Orange is
the new Black, Episode 1 and description:
Pictures:
I think you have made a meaningful connection here, Jenny. There are definitely similarities between Marcus and Piper's experiences. This type of connection is a text-to-text connection rather than a text-to-world connection, because you are comparing your novel to another fictional text. Streaming a TV show isn't going to work on our computers, I'm afraid, so you may not be able to have anyone make connections with your link.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Jenny! For my lit. group, I read It's Kind of a Funny Story. Just like in your novel, my protagonist is too feeling confined and restricted. Craig ( the protagonist) has severe depression where he feels like he's limited by his condition; for part of the book he barely ate, slept or functioned like a normal person. The whole novel is about him overcoming these feelings, and from what I can tell of your book, Marcus is trying to overcome the government corruption.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog,
Sarah
Good connection!! Not only are the two situations alike, but you clearly communicated how the emotions of the two protagonists must be similar as well. However, the feeling of intrusion and little privacy is felt elsewhere as well. Much like how Marcus "know(s) your (he is) being monitored for a crime you (he) didn’t commit", Hazel of the novel The Fault in Our Stars as well as other children suffering from cancer is over monitored as well. Her physical health isn't as good as most people, so she needs to be looked after constantly: "'We'll be right outside the door,' (said her parents) me thinking, I don't doubt it" (Green 262). She didn't do anything to deserve this lack of privacy, but her situation requires it. In this book and both cases you described, the protagonists can never be alone, and there is nothing they can do about it.
ReplyDeleteGood connection! It sounds like an interesting book :) I read the book The Fault In Our Stars and I can relate because Hazel was forced to go to a support group because her parents thought she was depressed. The character was forced to go somewhere also so Hazel and the character in your novel were probably feeling the same way while they were stuck in the prison/group.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Little Brother can relate to the Fault in our Stars. There are differences such as, instead of the department of homeland security, Hazel (protagonist) is in a hospital. However, Hazel is constantly being monitored by her doctors or parents. She obviously has more privacy than Marcus, but the general idea of being watched is true in both novels
ReplyDelete