Caitlin Keely S.

Ong HUMALIT N05 Peter TM Little Brother TM is one of Bruce Holland Rogers many short stories published in Strange Horizons in the year 2000. The story is about Peter wanting to have a Little Brother TM for three Christmases in a row now. This Christmas, his mother finally gave him one. The story may be really simple, but that last sentence definitely gave me quite a jolt. I have chosen this story because personally I like reading dystopian stories. In Little Brother TM we have a world where there is an on/off switch at the back of someones neck. So if I dont like you, its only a matter of time till I find that off switch. But more importantly, I chose this particular story for the reason that I can somehow relate to it being the eldest among four siblings; three sisters and a bro. An underlying theme I found in Little Brother TM is sibling rivalry and that is the focus of this paper. It is quite similar to that of the Book of Genesis and of the millions of families today. Cain and Abel may as well be the most popular sibling rivalry in history. The Bible also has other sibling rivalry themes; Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, to name a few. Cain and Abel are competing with each other through their offerings to God. When God favours Abels offering and disregards Cains, Cain was very angry. But, God told him that: If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:7). Cain must do what is right to be uplifted. As the story goes, Cain chooses not to do what is right but to do what is easier, by eliminating the competition (Rooney). This then resulted to God putting Cain under a curse. First things first, be careful what you wish for they say. Sibling rivalry can be rooted in a lot of aspects but, according to Seymour Reit the deepest need, the greatest hunger, is to receive love and attention from their parent/s. With this in mind, siblings may think that the love given to others may mean that there is not enough (or none at all) love for themselves. These can be seen in several occasions between Peter and his mother.

Peter had built a tower that was taller than he was, the best tower he had ever made. Look! he said. But Mommy didnt even look at the tower. Mommy told Peter to clean up the wrapping paper, Peter had already picked up the wrapping paper once, and she hadnt even said thank you. She hadnt even noticed. Later, when Mommy came into the living room, she didnt thank Peter for picking up all the wrapping paper. Sound familiar? Heres a line that appears three times in the whole story, Hes mine. I guess this wouldnt come up in a sibling rivalry in the real world since, technically, you dont really own your brother/ sister. But, analyzing it in the context of Little Brother TMs dystopian world, I can say that this line of Peter connotes his perceived authority over Little Brother TM. Peter believes that his ownership gives him the power to do whatever he wants to Little Brother TM without being reprimanded. Lastly let us also notice that Peter turns Little Brother TM off twice. No matter how many times his Mommy tells him to understand his Little Brother TM (to do what is right as God said to Cain) because he is just like a real baby, he still shut him off. Peter also chooses the easier way by eliminating the competition not only once, but twice. As his punishment, Peter expected a spanking but nothing came. Instead, he felt his Mommys fingers at the back of his neck. This is his punishment; his curse. The origins of sibling squabbles are vague and complex. Did the older child precipitate the fight? Perhaps so. On the other hand, younger siblings do learn how to manipulate, how to goad and provoke older brothers and sisters in various ways. So unless the guilt is clear and blatant, the best course for you is to remain objective and refuse to take sides (Reit 48).
"Chapter 2 Parents and Children." Raising children of peace. New York, NY.: HSA-UWC, 1998. np. Web. Reit, Seymour, and Dorothy W. Gross.Sibling rivalry. New York: Ballantine Books, 1985. Print. Rooney, Kevin. "The Battle of Brothers: The Old Testament and Sibling Rivalry | The Old Testament as Literature." The Old Testament as Literature. N.p., 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.