Throughout both of these books, I found myself just totally unable to relate to Marcus. I just felt like every decision he made, I would have made the opposite. If I was accused of being a terrorist, I would have kept my head down and tried to stay out of trouble. But no, Marcus had to organize people and try to take down the Department of Homeland Security.
At the same time, though, I sort of find Marcus's character necessary. Realistically if the DHS came into a major city and started imposing all these ridiculous regulations on people, someone would do something about it. I think it's maybe just that it's hard for me to picture myself caring so passionately for a social cause that I would risk everything I had to start a revolution and become its martyr. I guess that's why Marcus comes off so extreme to me. I know these types of people exist, I'm just not one of them.
So are you able to relate to Marcus? Do you think that he takes the logical route in his situation? What would you have done differently?
I personally can't relate to Marcus also. Just as an example, when they took him into questioning in the first book, I would have quickly handed over my belongings. Knowing that he wasn't a terrorist, I can't seem to understand why Marcus would want to call more suspicion to himself by refusing to let him see what was inside his phone. I just feel like if this actually happened in our lifestyle, our activists would try to be much more under the radar and manipulative.
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ReplyDeleteI thought that Marcus was a more relatable in the second novel towards the beginning. He was cautious, prudent, and more sensitive to his own actions. However, by the end of the novel he slipped back into being a more spontaneous, impulsive character which to me made him less relatable.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could be like Marcus. Thomas Jefferson said the citizens should overthrow the government every 20 to keep modern ideas in law, while our government has been standing for over 200 years. However, I do not necessarily believe he always takes the logical route. The government is a huge force to go up against and would require a lot of money and people. Their is not much to do until the actions of the government start directly affecting the people enough to decide to make a change. Somethings got to be wrong with a government that is trillions of dollars in debt.
ReplyDeleteI had no problems with Marcus as a protagonist, perhaps because I did not try to put myself in his shoes too often. He was the protagonist needed by the story. It was a story about his actions, not mine. As far as liking or disliking him on a personal level, I was rather neutral toward him as I am toward most people. People have good and bad qualities, do not always behave consistently, and often 'regress' in times of stress etc.
ReplyDeleteThe element I did relate to though were his moments of second guessing his actions or words, especially in Little Brother when he thought of the perfect comebacks ... after he had left the interrogation room. I often find myself thinking through a recent conversation and discovering that I could have said something much more powerful, funny, etc.
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