I've been taught all my life that I am an individual. That I have a voice, that my opinions matter and that no one can force me to do anything I do not want to do. I've been born in an age where the internet has presented us limitless self-expression through the avenues of tumblr dashboards and Facebook timelines, with a plethora of sunset pics and snaps of my dinner, apparently and somehow representing teen angst; more accurately dubbed "the feels". And yet, despite this amount of freedom, despite this ability to invent myself and create my own image in ways the world had never seen before, I find myself asking the question, how much of me is decided by me? How much power do I really have over myself? In the novel RAW
There is an abundance of power figures in the world, who try to force their personal beliefs on you and force you into the stereotype they think you fit and, because they are the ones who hold more power, it is more likely for you to start believing what they say you are or what you have to be. The quote “No-hopers like this one will never get a job” is a prime example of how the police, the power figures in this scene, are trying to shape the protagonist in this book, Brett Dalton’s perception of himself. What power does the individual truly have if he has to obey all this power he can't control? The answer to that is; very little. With so many different types of power, given to people in many different ways it is almost impossible for you to be your own