Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Little Brother, the Internet, and the Wild West

As our world (ie society, economies, etc) grow increasingly connected, everything seems to be shrinking. That is to say, there seems to be fewer blank spots on the map these days. Areas of mystery and adventure where societal norms are less applicable and order is a foreign concept (okay, this is a bit dramatic but I think it conveys my point). There have been comparisons of the Internet to the Wild West as a generally lawless area of anonymity. I read Little Brother partly as a fight to keep this concept of freedom alive. Not a legal or constitutional conception of the word (though that was certainly also theme) but a broader social concept of anonymity. Trying to leave some empty spaces on the map.

This concept of empty spaces also seems to appear in fantasy quite often: areas filled with barbarians etc. I viewed this commonality as a link between this form of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I think this link is merely coincidental but still compelling and interesting, possibly demonstrating a human desire for freedom.

I was interested in seeing if anyone else had this type of interpretation of the book?

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