52 pages • 1 hour read
Edward SnowdenPermanent Record
Edward SnowdenNonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Edward Snowden
In 2013, Edward Snowden released a data dump of highly classified NSA materials, exposing a huge mass surveillance network that monitored and recorded more information about American and foreign citizens than had previously been thought possible or probable. In doing so, he became famous around the world—and a wanted felon.
As the memoir’s author, Snowden is in control of his self-presentation and takes care to construct a persona that is self-effacing, self-aware, and not without regrets. Incidents from his childhood and his teenage years, in which he appears foolish or naïve, have a humanizing effect. He portrays himself as an idealist who believed in the initial democratizing potential of the worldwide web and in the nobility of his country following the attacks of 9/11. He still claims to love his country, perhaps to a fault.
Snowden’s assessment of himself as exceptional, his determination that the intelligence community feels so much guilt for 9/11 that they’re willing to do anything to stop another attack, and his belief that the mass surveillance program violates every American’s constitutional protections motivate him to commit an extraordinary act.
Whether the reader views him as a self-important agent of espionage or a defender of liberty, Snowden comes across as a person of conviction. In his telling, he is willing to sacrifice his career, his home, his health, and even the love of his life to protect his fellow Americans from the shadow of totalitarianism—and their penchant for trading sacred personal liberties for the perception of security.
Lindsay Mills
Lindsay, Edward Snowden’s longtime girlfriend and, eventually, his wife, adds a human, emotional contrast to Snowden’s analytical personality and technological prowess. She becomes the sample through which he concludes how the general population may react to the news that they are being constantly surveilled. Unaware of his burden, she serves as a contrast between the life of an intelligence agent and the life of a normal person.
Though Snowden and Lindsay’s relationship is threatened by the secrets that Snowden possesses. As is made clear in the diary sections of the book, she worries about the state of their relationship. As Snowden begins to become more and more anxious about the information he has unearthed, he withdraws into himself. He becomes depressed and is eventually diagnosed with epilepsy. Lindsay’s constant presence and support reassure Snowden; without his confidence in Lindsay’s love, it is not clear whether he could have followed through on his plan.
Lindsay remains almost entirely in the dark about Edward’s intentions, demonstrating Snowden’s adherence to the code imprinted on him by the CIA—not telling anyone about his work—and confirming that he is willing to imperil his most important relationship rather than tell Lindsay the truth. Lindsay’s point of view, exemplified in her diary entries, shows just how cut off and distant Snowden has become. Her experiences in the wake of the leaks act as a hyper-realized version of the public’s reaction: She not only learns about mass surveillance for the first time but also encounters very obvious experiences of explicit surveillance. These experiences suggest a future in which surveillance is the inescapable norm, which Snowden uses to justify his conviction that mass surveillance is an evil from which he has to protect the world.
Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras
Snowden reaches out to a number of journalists but is mostly rejected. Laura Poitras, a documentary filmmaker, is one of the few who are willing to listen. In turn, she convinces Glenn Greenwald to become involved, practically dragging him to Hong Kong to meet with Snowden. Greenwald’s reluctance makes him more essential to the story: His apathy and his cynicism are obstacles that Snowden must overcome.
If Lindsay reflects a certain population’s naivete about mass surveillance and the dangers of government misuse of technology, Greenwald reflects another segment of society’s distrust or indifference to what Snowden has to tell them. Snowden notes Greenwald’s initial disappointment that Snowden is relatively young and clean-cut, not a middle-aged, gruff, chain-smoking shadow figure. Snowden has to conquer these hesitations, both for Greenwald and the wider public, to make himself appear credible. By convincing Greenwald, Snowden takes the first step toward alerting the world to mass surveillance.
Throughout much of the book, Snowden acts alone. When he begins to think about how to make the world listen, he can no longer act on his own. By reaching out to the journalists, he admits that he needs help and that other people have skills he does not possess. Rather than simply teaching himself, he has to trust and depend on others. Coming from a person who has been so self-reliant through such an enormous undertaking, this admission speaks to the scale of the task at hand.
