Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Thomas spotted one poster with a close-up of a tight-faced woman with her hair pulled back, with the slogan CHANCELLOR PAIGE LOVES YOU across the bottom. (24.37)
Um, does that remind you of anything? Like maybe this? Or this? Yeah, these posters are a lot like the whole Big Brother propaganda from Orwell's 1984 mixed with the all-seeing eyes of T. J. Eckleburg from The Great Gatsby—except that Chancellor Paige isn't watching everyone; she loves everyone.
Yeah, that's not creepy at all.
Now, Big Brother strikes fear into the hearts of everyone in 1984, and T. J. Eckleburg simply towers over everyone like God in The Great Gatsby, but the posters of Chancellor Paige are a bit different. Instead of serving as a symbol of fear or power, they serve as a symbol of hope.
Er, well, they were supposed to. Unfortunately, Thomas notices something wrong about the posters: "He noticed posters showing her likeness, but most of them were covered with graffiti" (24.38).
It turns out that the people of Denver aren't exactly too happy with this lovable woman. The world Thomas lives in his one of rapid decay; the people are done believing in hope, so this woman who's supposed to be saving everyone is a symbol of hatred and disappointment, rather than hope.
It just goes to show you messed-up the whole WICKED thing is. They think they're doing good, but they're torturing kids. They think they're sending out messages of love and hope, but their posters actually look like Soviet-style propaganda. Even their name is confusing. Shouldn't someone have pointed out that it's hard to imagine an organization with the name WICKED being anything other than, you know, wicked? Now there's a Freudian slip for you.