Light And Dark In 1984 And Ayn Rand's

Light and dark symbolism has ascended to the public eye over the course of the last few decades. There are various interpretations of this simple theme, from Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and Justin Kurzel’s “Assassin’s Creed” where protagonists work in darkness to serve the light, being the greater good. However, in other forms light and dark imagery serves to show that light is bad and dark is good. During the day the protagonist is confined and oppressed, but at night he is free to do as he wishes. This can be seen in George Orwell’s 1984 and Ayn Rand’s Anthem. The central characters are subject to their governing bodies rules and are essentially ruled over during the day, but at night they are able to indulge in whatever actions,

This is illustrated by Rand’s main character’s thoughts in one of the opening scenes of Anthem: “ And in the darkness, in the secret hour, when we awoke in the night and there were no brothers around us, but only their shapes in bed and their snores, we closed our eyes, and we held our lips shut, and we stopped our breath, that no shudder might let our brothers see or hear or guess, and we thought that we wished to be sent to the Home of the Scholars when our time would come” (Rand 9 ). In George Orwell’s 1984, when the main character is reflecting upon unconscious thoughts, he realizes that in the night when one is sleeping that he is most vulnerable to stray from his government's doctrine: “The most deadly danger of all was talking in your sleep. There was no way of guarding against that, so far as he could see,” (Orwell 64). In the former Anthem quote above, Equality 7-2521 is breaking one of his communities’ laws by wishing for a specific assignment from his governing body. Equality does his wishing in the dark when none of his brothers can see him or guess what he is thinking. This means that at night, under the cover of darkness, people are finally able to indulge in thoughts forbidden by their governing body during the light of day. The quote from 1984 also shows how people’s inner feelings surface, albeit

Winston Smith realizes that when it is dark and the telescreen cannot hear him, he will be able to think without as much fear of detection by the Party on page ---. “ It was not till twenty-three hours, when he was home and in bed—in the darkness, where you were safe even from the telescreen so long as you kept silent—that he was able to think continuously “ (Orwell ). Equality 7-2521 is also able to find a safe area to think away from prying eyes and ears under the cover of darkness in Anthem: “Thus did it come to pass that each night, when the stars are high and the Street Sweepers sit in the City Theatre, we, Equality 7-2521, steal out and run through the darkness to our place… Each night, for three hours, we are under the earth, alone” (Rand 16). These quotes show the reader that time periods when it is dark are the safest times to think because the government will not be able to know that someone is breaking the rules. The government has control and knows what the people do during the day but at night most of their power is gone. Winston will finally be able to think deeply at night because during the day there is too much risk of his facial expressions slipping or demeanor changing. Deep thinking during the day is dangerous as he might have been forced