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"When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown." -Stephen Jay Gould, American Paleontologist. Shown by this quote is the ability for a community to be ignorant of justice and also to be oblivious to the power of judgment, and therefore they are ignorant of the options they have. The people are able to choose to be intimidated by the powers of political advancements, or they can have their own awareness that is above society’s influence. If they simply follow their hopes that what is being done by government is right, then the seed of government advancement will be sown. The novel //1984// by George Orwell tells the story of a rebellious man named Winston who lives in a world of government manipulation in which society’s freedoms are strictly held by the powerful hand of the government. The novel //Little// //Brother// by Cory Doctorow is the story of another rebellion named Marcus Yallow, a seventeen year old boy captured by the Department of Homeland Security, living in a world where the DHS controls almost every aspect of the community's lives, including liberties and privacy. Both novels //Little Brother// and //1984// symbolize government manipulation of society through blind trust, the element of fear, and censorship, because if society remains ignorant, the government is granted the opportunity to take advantage of the public without the people's consent.

The government manipulates society through blind trust when the community has unapprised faith that all actions the government takes are reality. //1984// has many predictions regarding government manipulations and control. Winston explains how the ability of The Party to influence society is very intimidating. “If the party could thrust its hand its hand into the past and say this or that even if it never happened-- that, surely, was more terrifying than the mere torture of death" (Orwell 34). Orwell explains that there is only one thing more terrifying than death; blind trust. The fact that the party can manipulate society into believing anything and that the community would immediately believe them without a second thought is more terrifying than dying. In //1984//, Orwell illustrates the fact that society can be easily manipulated. In //Little Brother//, Doctorow illustrates a similar idea--that government can easily persuade people to think political choices are always just. In //Little Brother//, the government sets out a huge escapade of security after a terrorist attack and makes the people of the country believe that the world they now lived in was the way the world should be. Marcus’ father talks about his trust in his government. "They'll catch every alimony cheat, every dope dealer, every dirt bag and every terrorist. You just wait. This could be the best thing that ever happened to this country" (Doctorow 137). This quote from //Little Brother// explains how the people are persuaded by government decisions. Marcus' father, who said the quote, had completely turned against his better judgment and creates a whole new mindset from one government decision. The people don't question the outcome; they accept it as truth. //Little Brother// is a more modern day story that can relate to modern day polices and government. Blind trust is just as apparent in our world today. The United States government has enough power to keep high stand positions they currently obtain, as well as enough power to silence those who oppose them. In a recent situation, the government is granted a certain rightwithout any regards of the people. "Last week, congress handed the president the legal power to order the arrest of anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, hold them indefinitely without charges and deny US courts and the public any explanation of why they're being held." (Media barometer.com). This quote clearly expressed the amount of freedom the government has in quieting the opposing opinions of citizens against the work of the government. Modern Day society has limited access to what the government has access to and to what they are hiding from citizens. In conclusion, //Little Brother// and //1984// are not far in their predictions what from what the world may turn out to be, whether it be in a few years or a few decades. Government manipulation is a strong source in government control and proceeds to less power in the people, ironically the definition of democracy in the United States.

The government manipulates society through fear by allowing society to be tolerant with government decisions, then when contradicted, using fear to set the manipulation cycle back in place. Fear, in Winston’s society, is fear of The Party, the political power that runs his world. In Winston's world, the people never know when they are being watched. Winston explains how the fear of his government ran his everyday life. "There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." (Orwell 3). Orwell explains that at any moment of any day one could be fearful that someone was watching them. The scariest part is that no one is truly safe; everyone is being watched for even the slightest of mistakes. //1984// uses more of a sense of hidden fear to portray government manipulation; however, //Little Brother// uses a more direct approach in showing the fear of the citizens. In //Little Brother//, Marcus is questioned by the Department of Homeland Security, and in order to gain information they scare him into answering the questions. ““You are being detained as a potential enemy combatant by the government of the United States. If I were you, I’d be thinking very hard about how to convince us that you are not an enemy combatant. Very hard. Because there are dark holes that enemy combatants disappear into, very dark deep holes, holes where you can just vanish. Forever” (Doctorow 49). This quote clearly explains the direct manipulation of government in Marcus’ life: fear. In this example, the government scares the people into giving them information. //Little Brother// and //1984// both use scare tactics to manipulate people. Modern day does the same as well. At a United States airport, a guard used a simple scare tactic in order to ensure that the situation that aroused did not happen again. “A United Airlines flight...was delayed because a small boy said something inappropriate, according to a government official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. 'He didn't want to fly,' the official said." I hope that small boys do not hear about this. Mad at Mommy? You can turn her airplane around! Listen to the people interviewed at airports. "It's worth it," they say, patiently standing in line. Is it worth it to, say, raise taxes to pay for better veterans benefits? Maybe it's easier to be afraid. Maybe it's easier to blame the shadowy forces of international terrorism for everything that's scary or evil or mean. Maybe it's easier than saying that poverty has killed more people than the terrorists have; that preventable diseases have killed more children than the terrorists have; that the rights we don't fight for are the rights we lose” (www.sfgate.com). This quote illustrates how government can frighten people. It is just as apparent in modern day society as it is in //1984// and //Little Brother//. All novels portray the government as a power that the people should be frightened about. All in all, Little Brother, 1984, and the world today clearly show how the government worries people and publics into believing what they want them to believe.

The government uses censorship to manipulate the pubic by not allowing the public to know fully what is going on. In //1984//, Winston’s society had been completely brainwashed into believing government are the ones who should be worshipped. Winston explains how his ex-wife views the government. “She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none, that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her.” (Orwell **66) ****. ** In Winston’s society, every person was brainwashed into accepting the government and even being openly willing to serve them. No one has a mind for themselves in this world. //1984// and //Little Brother// both express how censorship can block the ability to be free. //Little Brother// explains how to break through censorship in order to be free. Marcus explains that freedom, a close opposite of censorship, is gained by one’s own actions. "I can't go underground for a year, ten years, my whole life, waiting for freedom to be handed to me. Freedom is something you have to take for yourself" (Doctorow **334). ** This quote strongly expresses how in order to be free one must take matters into their own hands. Censorship does not allow much freedom, and //Little Brother// expresses the importance of liberty through personal independence. //Little Brother// and modern day are side by side in the appearance of trust in government. The United States government has a share in government manipulation through censorship. “Military autopsy reports provide indisputable proof that detainees are being tortured to death while in US military custody. Yet the US corporate media are covering it with the seriousness of a garage sale for the local Baptist Church. ... Anthony Romero, Executive Director of ACLU stated, "There is no question that US interrogations have resulted in deaths." ACLU attorney Amrit Sing adds, "These documents [in [|the ACLU report] ] present irrefutable evidence that US operatives tortured detainees to death during interrogations " (web.archive.org). This quote explains that the US government may say one thing while something else happened. As the main article stated, it is “the news that didn’t make the news”. //Little Brother//, modern times, and //1984// show the government through rebellious and curious eyes. In conclusion, all three examples compare censorship to freedom, explain and give examples of the government censorship, and show how modern times are able to hide certain situations. // 1984 // by George Orwell, //Little Brother// by Cory Doctorow, and modern day societies all express government manipulations through blind trust, fear, and censorship because without it being expressed, the community would not realize how the government is free to take advantage of the public. Modern times clarify how //1984// and //Little Brother// can connect to every day times. Blind trust is apparent in //1984// through trust in the Party. In //Little Brother// as well as modern day times, Marcus shows the trust in government. Fear in The Party is a main theme in //1984//, and //Little Brother// clarifies with government threats. Government today also scares people into trusting them. Finally, The Party uses censorship in //1984// to hide the freedom on the people. //Little Brother// expresses the importance of freedom, and governments today hide information, therefore hiding personal liberties. All in all, government manipulation is obvious in all these novels. As //Little Brother// states, should a person rather know the deep manipulation of the world today, or should one remain a “fool in paradise”? media type="youtube" key="4gddPwaYOIk" height="390" width="480"

Works Cited

Carroll, Jon. "JON CARROLL." //San Francisco Bay Area — News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds: SFGate//. 29 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. [].

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

Orwell, George. //1984: George Orwell.// New York: Spark Pub., 2007. Print.

Phillips, Peter. "Hard Evidence of US Torturing Prisoners to Death Ignored by Corporate Media." //Web.archive.org//. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. [].

Sullivan, Callan. "Blind Trust Is Unfounded - Forum." //The Daily Barometer//. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. [].