I think that the society in Anthem wants it's citizens to be similar to the tree from the children's book The Giving Tree written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. In The Giving Tree, the tree dearly loves the boy who often comes to play in her branches and eat her apples. And as he gets older he begins to ask the tree for things which she gives to him. When he needs money, she lets him sell her apples. When he needs a house, she gives him her branches to build his house with. When he needs a boat, she gives him her trunk to make one with. And when he needs a place to rest, she gives him her stump to sit on. The final line of the book is "And the tree was happy." I think that this connects to Anthem because in Anthem the council wants everyone to help their brothers to the best of their ability. In essence, they want all of the citizens of their community to give the community everything that they possibly can to help their brothers have the best lives possible. In addition, they drill into their citizens minds that this is the best way of life possible from the time that they are very young. They also teach everyone that their brothers are more important that them and they should love them all equally. By doing this they ensure that their citizens will grow to like this lifestyle and feel happy that they have the ability to contribute to making their brother's lives happy, good lives. They ensure that their citizens will be happy while giving.
 |
| I think that this image well illustrates the way that the society in Anthem wants their citizens to feel about their brothers |
Image source
Another connection I have made is from part four of Anthem to a part in the novel Graceling by Kristin Cashore. In Graceling, the two main characters, Katsa and Po, fall in love. The connection that I have made is the of Katsa when she realizes that she is in love with Po and the reaction of Equality 5-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 when they realize that they are in love. In the novel Graceling, Katsa is a graced character which means that she has special powers and plenty of people who hate her. Also as a consequence of being graced, she has had very few people in her life love her so the concept of being in love is as foreign to her as it is to Equality 5-2521 and Liberty 5-3000. Because of this, when she finds herself in love she is shocked and a little terrified as well as surprised that she has the ability to love just like Liberty 5-3000 and Equality 5-2521 are when they find themselves in love. In addition, all of them seem to wonder at the beauty of their newfound love. Although the situation is not completely the same, I think that the reactions are very similar and there is a strong connection between them.
 |
I think this image well illustrates the way that Katsa, Equality 5-2521, and Liberty 5-3000 felt when they realized they were in love
Image source |
No comments:
Post a Comment