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Literature reading comprehension
Literature and reading comprehension
Literature reflecting changes in society dystopia
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Examination Day by Henry Slesar, Anthem by Ayn Rand and Unwind by Robert C. O’Brien all revolve around the central theme of dystopia. In Unwind, the corrupt society where teenagers are taken to be technically “killed”, while their parts are removed and given away, demonstrates a view on dystopia. On the other hand, Anthem focuses on a community where having an ego or being an individual is a sin. Unwinding was created as an alternative to abortion and it is a twisted way of organ donation. The society in Anthem might have been created to remove all ideas of personal things or being independent. In Examination Day by Henry Slesar, the 12 year-old children must take a government exam in which they are tested on their intelligence.
Another theme present in the two books is individualism. In Anthem, thinking, acting and talking as an individual is forbidden, so your skills can’t even be acknowledged. How can a society make progress and develop new things when people can’t do things that they are skilled at? Even people’s names aren’t unique because they all have a number tagged onto the end of it. The language that they use in Anthem such as “we”, “our,” or “us”, shows that everyone is referred to as a group and a part of a whole, not one individual person. This thought links to the idea of having no diversity. Individualism is present in Unwind because
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I was puzzled by why the government would let all those gifted minds become useless. They could have been used to do something that would use their capabilities. Maybe the government in Examination Day didn’t actually kill the children. Perhaps they could have them kept somewhere working together to solve some problem, build a new civilization or even in testing. This could be why they had to take the test in the first place; to prove that they were worthy. This is not a theme in the short story but just my explanations on one of the peculiar details I
Anthem is a book full to the brim of symbolism. Some of it is clear to see and others you have to really pay attention to capture. Anthem is not a hard book to understand, but it can still be difficult to grasp the full meaning of it. The meaning of which is elusive at points, slipping between your fingers and resting on the pages in plain view. Unity, we, I, Ego, it all plays a major part in this book along with the symbolism of things.
Many people have trouble being apart of a society. These troubles come from trying to fit in, which is also known as conforming. Another trouble is trying to express one’s own style with one’s own opinion. This is a trouble due to the fact that many people have the fear of being frowned upon when being the black sheep of the group if one’s opinion does not correspond with other opinions. This is where one’s own sense of who they are, individuality, and trying to fit in, conformity, can get confused. A nickname for conformity is “herd behavior” which is the name of an article where the author relates animals that herd with people that conform. Many people have a different philosophy of this topic which will be expressed in this essay. An important
Many people seem to get entangled into society's customs. In the novel Anthem, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives a period of his life as a follower. However, Equality eventually, tries to distant himself from his society. He is shaped to be a follower, but eventually emerges in to an individual and a leader. On his journey, he discovers the past remains of his community. Ayn Rand uses Equality's discoveries of self to represent the importance of individuality in a functional society.
The book Anthem is a book that can be perceived many various ways. To me, Anthem is about an outstandingly smart young man, named Equality 7-2521
In Anthem there are so many rules and controls, yet there is one that truly rises above it all. And that word is “I”. There is no “I” only “We”, for the great “We” is what they follow. And they are one not individual, they are one. And poor Equality can’t seem to understand that the rules are rules, but in a way he’s making his own rules. And he is mistreated for his looks and appearance and dosen’t seem really one with his brothers. And he’s curious and most don’t even question life, and he notices the little things, “Yet as we stand at night in the great hall, removing our garments for sleep, we look upon our brothers and we wonder. The heads of our brothers are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched, and their muscles are drawn, as if their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a word steals into our mind, as we look upon our brothers, and that word is fear.”(Rand 46). He has a wanting to learn and build his knowledge, but the rules don’t permit his decisions.
In the world of Anthem there is no I, there is only We. “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great We, one indivisible and forever” (Rand, 19). Everyone is part of a collective and must be completely selfless, this is shown when they are all together, they know they must work as a whole and they immediately accept each other as they are all taught that they must. They must not be boastful or proud as they are taught that they cannot amount to anything on their own. They are taught that to think of themselves would be selfish and if something would not benefit all the brothers it was wrong. The people are numbered to highlight even more that they are nothing on their own. By stripping humans of their identity they turned them into a society that was co-dependent; each individual thinking they need the others to survive and that life as a group is the only option. By having made the world’s population dependent on each other, it ensured that people wouldn’t leave or disobey, as being shunned by the others would be an unbearable punishment. In stripping the people of their own identit...
Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7-2521, the protagonist, struggles for self-identification living in a collectivist society. Equality believes that individuality is an eminent aspect of one’s life because individuality defines and outlines who man is. He endures all the hardships in his life living with people who support collectivism, and who reject his ideas. For example, when Equality 7-2521 invents and exhibits the light bulb, the World Council rejects it and tells him that it is selfish to work on something alone instead of working with his brothers. The World Council threatens to destroy the light bulb but Equality does not let that happen and rebels, so he is forced into exile from his society. Equality realizes that he is different from others because he cares about his happiness unlike others who are convinced to believe that a group’s happiness counts more than an individual’s happiness.
Anthem, of course has a different writing style, without being able to use the word “I”. Maze Runner does say “I”, and is a lot easier read. I based my essay on the movie of Maze Runner and on the book Anthem. Movies and books are very different, so the book of Maze Runner could have been more like Anthem. Overall, Anthem was a good book and was very interesting because of the no “I” rule. The Maze Runner was a very good movie and also I normally don’t like dystopian novels or movies because I don’t really care for the mystery and misery, but this one was pretty good, I enjoyed both of them
Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.
Anthem is a story of man’s struggle to be free and to fight the masses of conformity. It tells of human nature and the want to gain all the knowledge that one could possibly attain. Man loses his safe haven and his security when he lets this lust for knowledge overpower him and lets it be seen by others. He becomes vulnerable Like Johann Faust, Prometheus sells his life for wisdom. Unlike Faust, however, Prometheus is expelled from his society but gains his freedom of individuality and his freedom of knowledge and the ability to understand. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea sin against society to become singular and understanding much like Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge to gain wisdom; as a result, they can be compared to each other by there desire for learning and by their damnation.
I have always loved them and held their ideals and hopes to heart, but Anthem has been one that has opened my eyes to larger world. Rand showed a world of misery and a hope of freedom to me through her books. Her choice of words continued her story in a manner of which I could see, feel, and understand what Equality was experiencing. There was no point where I felt alone in working with my partner. I got to work in a group and experience the book with another; but ,like the ideals of a perfect society, I was able to separate from them to continue my own thoughts. This book required more of my time due to the extra procedures, but it made the story a much more hard hitting story as I experienced Equality’s life and of being the person who passed on the story that may be forgotten in later times to
In the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand takes place when mankind has entered another dark age. A man named Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where he struggles to live equal within the brotherhood. In the world he lives in people are told they exist only for the sake of serving society, and have no other purpose. Therefore, each individual is assigned a vocation as a permanent life career which determines who they socialize and live with. However, Equality being very different from his brothers, believes in individualism and rejects the collectivism society around him. The concept of individualism vs collectivism is portrayed in the story because individuality is unknown to the people where no one is unique or excellent in any way. The people
According to Dictionary.com freedom means “the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.” Freedom. What does freedom mean to you? Even though freedom means the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint, I believe that freedom means being able to accomplish what you desire and when you desire it without anyone saying anything, by reason of the comparison and contrast of our society and the society in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, the negation of the word freedom, and synonyms of the word freedom. I believe that you should accept the consequences of the actions you take when you have your “freedom” as well.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand is a classic novel about a man who struggles through life to try and show the positives about a life unknown, unlike the dark and wicked society that he lives in. It shows what collectivism can do to a society and how a community can not flourish without individual identities. Equality is shown as a extremely intelligent young man with great potential to the future of the society, but the Council of Vocations seems him in a different light. Looked down upon by everyone, Equality 7-2521 was given the job of Street Sweeper to make him equal to his fellow brothers and to erase any individuality he obtained.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a very unique novel. It encircles individualism and makes the reader think of how people can conform to society and do as they are told, without knowing the consequences and results of their decisions. Also, it teaches the importance of self-expression and the freedom that comes along with being your own person and having the power to choose what path to take in life. Figurative language is often used in this book and in a variety of quotes that have great importance to the theme, plot, and conflict of the novel. “We blew out the candle.”