Book: Anthem
Author: Ayn Rand
Sections: 7 & 8
Job: Literary Analysis
The question I chose to answer is:
What theme or themes does the author explore in the novel? Which passages in the text connect to theme?
This book has a variety of different themes and I have chosen my two favorite ones; change vs tradition, and facing reality. These are my two favorite themes because I believe that they are the ones that represent the book. Because the book is all about a individual/unknown figure leaving his daily routines to follow his/her dreams and finding out what and how the real world he lives in works and functions.
The first theme was change vs tradition. In the community everything is followed by a order. People do what they are told without a saying in what they want. They don't have a choice in there own lives, not even if they tried. Just like Equality 7-2125. In part 7, Equality 7-2125 shares his/her ideas with the World Council. "It" was prepared to make people believe in him/her by making a great discovery, however, the council didn't accept because of all the rule and law breaking during the process. "How dared you, gutter cleaner,"spoke Fraternity 9-3452, "to hole yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the many?". (Rand, part 7) This is a quote that I have chosen to demonstrate what I am trying to say. In this quote a member from the World Council is accusing Equality 7-2125 for believing in himself instead of the whole society, as if it were something bad. There is a picture underneath which I have chosen because I believe that it represents what I am talking about. For example, the fish is leaving it's natural habitat to live some place else.
The second theme was facing reality. Just those two words describe the whole book. This novel is about someone facing the world without there sacred bubble. Equality 7-2125 is someone who, all their life, has been looking beyond. Believing things that weren't aloud to believe, doing things separately from his/her group (which is breaking the law). "We were thinking that these were thoughts without sense, but before we knew t our body had risen in one leap. Our arms stretched out of their own will, and our body whirled and whirled, till it raised a wind to rustle through the leaves of the bushes." (Rand, part 8). This is a quote taken form the book which describes the characters feeling while doing something he/she is not aloud to. I chose this quote because I feel like it demonstrates what I mean by facing reality. Equlity 7-2125 is doing something he/she has never done before. It is going out in the wild, were there are no rules to be followed, no orders to do, no streets to be swept. He is free.
Isa,
ReplyDeleteNice post, the two themes you chose to mention were really interesting, however I am slightly confused about your second theme, the one that talks about facing reality. How would our protagonist be facing reality if they've faced it their whole life? Normally, when you hear the phrase "facing reality" you imagine someone who lives in their own world, which most times doesn't exist, however I don't really see Equality 7-2125 saying anything about a better world or anything like that. Sure, they did indeed seek out new discoveries and break several laws, but they never said anything about making their society a better place. Thus, I am unsure what you mean by "Facing Reality".