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Little Brother Succeeds By Cory Doctorow

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In all mediums of storytelling, storylines never follow a singular plots. Writers often attempt to shovel in various subplots as a means of trying to captivate audiences who are not as interested by the main story. These subplots often revolve around the main story in the sense that they coexist but do not affect it. This entirely ruins the purpose of including subplots, as they should intertwine with and almost become a part of the main plotline. This is where Cory Doctorow 's novel Little Brother succeeds. Throughout the novel, Doctorow focuses mainly on the story of Marcus Yallow, a high schooler living in San Francisco with gifted abilities in hacking, and his friends as he fights the manipulative government branch: The Department of …show more content…

He writes Ange and Marcus’ characters so that together, they have a natural chemistry together in both dialogue and actions. At one point, near the middle of the novel, Marcus and Ange go out on date to one of Ange’s favorite restaurants. The two decide to go to a burrito place. While there, Ange pulls out a stainless steel canister and excessively sprays her burrito with it’s contents. Marcus asks her what she sprays her burrito with, to which she informs him that "This is like pepper spray but slightly more dilute. And way more delicious. Think of it as Spicy Cajun Visine if it helps"(68). There is no other passage in the novel that can exhibit Marcus and Ange’s almost comedic chemistry together so perfectly. Ange is, by heart, more of an eccentric. She enjoys going out of her way so that she may eat spicy foods. She has an excessively liberal sense of mind and lives life how she sees fit. On the other hand, Marcus has a much more conservative mentalities despite literally fighting against the government. He openly voices his disgust to his date in a way that lets Ange know he feels appalled, but still still likes her by asking "What the hell are you doing to that poor, defenseless burrito?"(68). The two are an unlikely pair that is both entertaining and relatable to readers. The sincerity of their

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