My first reaction from reading part 3 and 4 is that humans are going to destroy the world. Anthem is suggesting that the world was almost destroyed by humans and in order to prevent that from happening again humans need to hold themselves back from their full potential. In the book we learned that Equality 7-2521 discovered electricity. This was a huge breakthrough for humanity when it was discovered by Thomas Edison. Instead, Equality 7-2521 has kept it to himself and nobody knew of his discovery. Unlike in The Giver, where the Giver has to pass on all of his memories to generations to come so that humans do not make the same mistakes they did when they almost destroyed the world, Equality 7-2521 knows he cannot tell his brothers about electricity, or he will die! In Anthem somebody must know the past because they created a community where nobody can have knowledge or question their reality, in order to prevent any crucial breakthrough like in the past. These people know they must keep humanity from understanding the technology of the past, and there can be no Givers. I feel that major discoveries in the past have changed our way of life in very important ways, not always for the better, but preventing this knowledge is not the best way to protect humanity.
Another aspect of Anthem I do not understand is why men and women are separated. Society works best when men and women are working together and making strong families. In anthem children do not know their parents. All children are practically orphans. We see in times of conflict, war, and poverty that children loose their parents. It is common knowledge that this is not good for the children or anyone else. We see this today in the conflict of Iraq and Syria. These children have no way of understanding of who they are and what is right or wrong in the world. In Anthem they are dependent on strange groups and beliefs to control their lives. If they had parents like we do their life's would make more sense and the world represented in anthem would too.
JAMES,
ReplyDeleteGreat Job on your post!
I agree with your observations because its true. In the giver they learned from their mistakes, but it Anthem they never will. If they can't discover the past first, how can they sustain the future?
Men and women are probably separated so they can have a perfect society. If you could have a wife it would be out of hand. The giver did not allow people to meet their actual parents either.
James,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. I also think that the world will weaken more and more if Equality 7-2521 keeps his discovery in secret.
Your post has relevant information, and I think it would be even better if you added more pictures. Also, you could make your writing more interesting by changing its formatting.
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ReplyDeleteI believe Men and Women are separated because in the unmentionable times there was a problem with overpopulation. So in their utopia they choose to separate men and women to prevent what the Giver called stirrings otherwise know as feelings of affection. By doing this they could control the amount of reproduction that accrued preventing overpopulation and the problems that come with it.
ReplyDeleteI never thought that the city had to have a giver or something that functioned similarly in order for them to know not to do things.
This is a valid point you are making Cian, this could be a reason that they separate women and men. On the other hand in the giver men and women can be together but not have children. I think that in Anthem they could be able to control their privileges and not have kids like in the giver.
Delete
ReplyDeleteWe all wonder if someone still recalls the past. I believe that this society has no failed to achieve greatness but rather one that has forgotten that which made it great.This difference I think is important, as the existence of this past provides Equality 7-2521 with a glimpse of an alternative model for society and for his own existence. I believe since Rand does not specify how long before Equality 7-2521’s time was that this fall from greatness occurred, but it occurred recently enough that the people in the Home of the Useless still recall the old times. I do think that if Equality 7-2521 knew about the past it would give them something to aspire to, and with this he will be able to break from the society that contains him. I have a big feeling that this will happen, want you think?
Following I believe that the society separated men and women because I feel like the author is trying to give a message. They made this order or law in the society to show us readers that she believe that the success of women is in their innate wisdom - an unspoken intuitive king of knowledge, and in their physical beauty. This scenes with the Golden Ones idealized physical beauty, which sets her heroes apart from her villains. I understand that you might think me believing this that is just a law to have a perfect society, have no individualism (people stay in their groups) or no overpopulation. But this book, as you might agree with me is very complex. And I think the author throws lots of messages towards us and we have to think deeper. And I believe this is one of them.
Unlike Equality, I believe Thomas Edison, shared his discovery of electricity because the people in his time were supportive and looked forward to change their way of life. In Equality's community, it is very different. People don't want to change anything in order to prevent any type of problem. In Equality's society I they believe that "when people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong." Therefore everything is so severe and strict.
ReplyDeleteThis brings me to your next question, "why are men and woman separated?"
I agree with Cian, I believe it has something to do with problems they faced in the past, which they are trying to prevent from happening again. As Cian said, that problem had probably been overpopulation as it leads to many others such as hunger, poverty, ect. As I also said above, they are very strict. Even with small things like that (men and woman being together) to prevent certain things they are probably afraid of since it caused the destruction of the Unmentionable Times.
Great Job! Your post is very detailed and interesting, which allows us to create deep and reflective comments.
Gabi, thank you for pushing my thinking with this comment! I totally agree with you on the fact that the people of this society do not want to make the same mistakes and put it's population through the same hardships as the human race once had to endure. I can, without a doubt, see this in today's society with the abortion of certain gender in certain country's.
DeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very well written, except next time maybe you make the formatting a tad more organized. Besides that, great job!
I would like to comment on the question, why are men and women so separated. Although I do agree with your post, there is another attribute that I think you didn't talk about in your answer to this. We all know that women and men are attracted to each other (with exceptions of people with homosexuality). If in Anthem they want to keep their society all under control, they shouldn't let man and women stay together in the same environment. When they separate man and women, they are regulating population, age of intercourse, and choice of sexuality. If you were a leader in that environment wouldn't you make this rule so you could knock you 3 free choices by only one regulation?
Thank you for simulating my thinking!