It’s unbelievable today… we used to have illegal math in this country”(p267).
We have discuss many ways to interpret this novel, but passage like this-using Marcus as a mouth piece for the author- make it very clear that the book is trying to teach us about how technology is changing for our world.
Consider how this passage relates to the arguments for the freedom of speech thought out the novel. Does math counts as speech/language/expression? Is Doctorow telling us that our digital rights are just as important as those in the Bill of Rights? Does he seems to think readers are even aware of their digital rights? What in the book supports your interpretation? What about Marcus coming-of-age story illustrates the importance of not just learning technology and our rights but also teaching others about them? Why does Doctorow want us to know this?