Literary Analysis - Sophia Takahashi
Sophia Takahashi
Anthem
Literary Analysis
Is the book’s structure chronological or does it move back and forth between past and present? Does the author use a single (first or third person) viewpoint or shifting points of view? Why might the author have chosen to tell the story this way and how does it influence the reader’s understanding?
Anthem tell the story of the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, as he breaks all rules from the utopia. As he is assigned the role of a Street Sweeper, the protagonist finds a lost cave, where he discovers the power of electricity.
The book is clearly in chronological order, as the there are no flashbacks nor any flash forwards. Anthem is strictly chronological, as shown. You can see as how the book is set in chronological order. The novel is in sequence, as the beginning shows the protagonist getting assigned as Street Sweeper, then meeting "The Golden One". Abruptly, he finds the cave, and invents electricity. An example of Anthem being in chronological order is on page 68, "Many days passed before we could speak to the Golden One again" (68 Rand).
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http://www.itpro.co.uk/634192/ibm-turns-100-the-past-present-and-future
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Further on, it is clearly shown in Anthem that Ayn Rand uses Third Person, as she does not use the word 'I' nor 'me'. It is also not written in Second Person either. As Ayn Rand uses 'we' and 'us' to describe an individual/group. Rand does not use the First Person, as individualism is banned from the society in Anthem, by having no individualism, the First Person is 'banned' from the book, as the word/s can not be used. Anthem is shown in the protagonist Equality 7-2521's perspective, as not the antagonist's perspective.
Ayn Rand has an insightful way of telling the story, as she makes it somewhat more complicated for the reader to understand. By Rand using this technique, it makes the reader read deeper, checking for specific details. As Rand is Russian, English is also not her first language (Wikipedia).
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Ayn Rand has an insightful way of telling the story, as she makes it somewhat more complicated for the reader to understand. By Rand using this technique, it makes the reader read deeper, checking for specific details. As Rand is Russian, English is also not her first language (Wikipedia).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
Hey Sophia, although there are no flashbacks would you consider this completely chronological? We see that Equality is telling the story, but not as it goes. We read what equality wrote down in his book everyday or so. So although this is not based with flashbacks, I would consider this something other than chronological order. If not chronological, what would you think this to be?
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