Historical Context Question - Ji Won Jung
Like any other book dystopian city, there always is one protagonist that doesn't conform to the city and its environment. In this book, Equality 7-2521, a.k.a. The Unconquered, is the protagonist that had the courage to think in a new matter. "The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them."(Part 3) He doesn't agree that the Council of Scholars knows everything and there is nothing more to know because he found secrets of nature that the Council of Scholar doesn't know. This can be connected with communism in USSR because some people conformed and other didn't. Ayn Rand didn't conform since her family left Russia after the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution. They most likely left because they didn't want to get involved in the chaos but they probably didn't agree with the idea of communism. This dystopia is similar to the USSR since they function in similar ways. The Council of Scholars have the power and the people are equally treated. There is no difference in people since their lives were the same: work for the country and earn your reward. This is quite similar in the book and Soviet Russia. The author is obviously trying to shape how it would look like if one decided to take risk and think differently.
Ji Won,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I can see how the idea of communism in the Soviet Union, or USSR is similar to the society that is described in the novel. As you have stated, some people chose not to conform in society, and some have chosen to because they thought it was better for them if they didn't follow what the rest of society did. I think it is interesting to see that Rand decided to create a novel where one random character is chosen to be the one who will take a risk in order to think differently from the ''normal''. In the book Anthem, those who did not follow the rules and the code of behavior would be punished in such a way. Our main character Equality 7-2521 faces a challenge that he not only thinks, but does almost everything that is pretty much forbidden in the community. Another point you have stated in the text which was interesting to me was the fact that you said people in USSR would work for the country and be rewarded. The same thing applies in the book because Equality 7-2521 works as a street sweeper and does his job in order to keep the city clean. Basically, no matter what profession you are, you will be helping the society in any way possible is the message that I think the community is trying to promote. Overall, your post was very thoughtful and gave me a more clear sense of how communism can be and affect an individual.
Ji won,
ReplyDeleteI really liked you post. I think the analyzation of Equality- 2521 and his actions was very deep. Like you said, I also agree this book may have been inspired by trying to demonstrate by Rand's experiences with the USSR. However, like, you also stated, it goes deeper than that. I think that the reason, ways, and the target that Equality 2521 is rebelling against are the same that Rand herself may have liked to do when she was younger. We can go even further and say, since all of this matches up, why not predict into the book?I think that since the reason and ways are almost identical to the types of rebellions back then, the outcome will most likely also be very similar. If we study more about the product of rebellion in the USSR, I think that we can predict what will happen to Equality 2521 in this novel.
Another interesting thing is to think about the difficulties of rebellion, and perhaps compare and contrast. Since this government is so much more strict the the USSR, I think that the ways that Equality 2521 rebels may have to be a little different. Perhaps this will alter the outcome, perhaps not. However, I think that even though these two societies are not identical, they are still similar enough to be able to compare and then, later, predict what will happen in Anthem based on history. For me, this is fascinating. Reading a book that is so original, yet at the same time to connected to the past is quite unique. I don't think i've ever read a book like this. I think that it, as the story goes on, being able to make such connections and predictions based on Rand's childhood will be quite intriguing.
Ji Won,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you brought up the fact that most dystopian novels have one character that differs from all the others, as it was so obvious that at first I didn't pay attention to it. Now though, I think this has a great impact and reflection from the author and towards the audience. What I mean by this is that I presume that since Rand experienced a community sharing traits with the one in the book, she might have felt all alone in a community that was meant to stand united, and wants the audience to feel that way by only relying on the point of view of one/few characters. Anyways, those are my thoughts on why this book is mostly centered around Equality-2521, overall though, it was a good post, you might want to beef it up a little though.