Anthem 30-48

Summary

I continue to unravel the mysteries behind this dystopian world and try to better understand the rules and customs of its people. One rule they have is that they have to work from age 18-40. Once they are forty, they are called the old ones. Once forty, you know that you are soon to expire and are very lucky if you reach the age forty-five (which I find surprising). Equality meets another outcast, International 4-818 and becomes friends with him. Equality says both have sinned because they have become friends and are suppose to love one another the same they love others. Equality and International venture out and find this deep hole. Equality wants to go down this mysterious hole but International is scared of going down a ‘forbidden hole’. Equality argues that it is not forbidden because the council knows not about it, so therefore there were no laws that made it forbidden. Equality goes down the hole, alone, and find out it leads to an underground tunnel that was made during the unmentionable times (which I presume would be our time). This tunnel would be where the trains would go because Equality felt some tracks that were laid down. When Equality goes back up, International says he wants to report the finding to the council, but Equality refuses and says “to surrender it, we shall surrender our life with it also” (Rand 34). Everyday Equality goes back to the same hole and steals candles so he can see the tracks for himself, which is yet another sin (stealing candles- I guess). Equality introduces us to Liberty-3000, a female. It is forbidden for men to notice women and for women to notice men, so Equality is committing yet another sin by looking at Liberty. Equality stares Liberty everyday on his commute to work and thinks she looks back at him. One day, Liberty actually turns around and notices Equality, and then turns back around and walks away. The very next day, they both greet each other with their eyes and by smiling at one another. Equality decides to start calling Liberty the Golden One, which is a sin because you cannot call one by a name that is not assigned to them. Equality says he does not know why or when he thinks about liberty but feels the earth is not a burden to live in anymore, so he tries to find out by talking to her. Liberty knows that Equality is not like the other men, and Equality believes Liberty is not like the other women. They’re having a conversation, which is cut short when the other women come out to spread seeds. As Liberty leaves, she throws seeds wildly onto the ground because her hands were trembling.

Quote

“Children are born each winter…Twice have we been to the Palace of Mating, but it is an ugly and shameful manner, of which we do not like to think”. (Rand 41)

Reaction

This quote was quite, well the first part, hilarious to me. When I read that children were born only during the winter, I wondered, what if everyone was born on December 25th. That would’ve been so weird and awkward, well to us but not to them. The second part of the quote made me wonder what happened to Equality at the Palace of Mating. Did something go wrong and he didn’t get paired up with someone? Did he feel disgusted and refused to participate in the ‘ritual’? What happened Mrs. Rand?

Anthem pg 17-29

Summary

My first impression of this book was that it was going to be a jungle book. It had tress in the front and some leaves, but after reading the first sentence, “It is a sin to write this” (Rand 17), I started to say in my mind, ‘something is not right’. And I was right, something isn’t right. The narrator says he/she has committed a great sin. A sin that has no punishment because it has never been committed therefore there were no laws that gave the specific punishment. I found out that the narrator’s name is not really a name actually, but a number. The narrators name/number is Equality 7-2521. Now that I found really weird, and I though to myself, where else have I seen a number being substituted for a name, then I remembered the Holocaust. I continued reading and I found something very strange with Equality, he/she refers to him/herself as a third person. Equality doesn’t say ‘my name’ but ‘our name’. Equality doesn’t say ‘I have committed a crime’ but ‘We have committed a crime’ which makes me wonder who is 'we’? Equality is 21 years old and 6 feet tall, which is supposedly bad. We, no I learn more about this society and the way it functions. I learn that there are councils that are in charge of different areas of the society’s daily life. They have the council of scholars (the smart people), vocations (ones who assign jobs) and so on. This book then reminded me of the dystopian society in Gathering Blue and The Giver (both by Lois Lowry). So that’s when I started to ask myself yet another question Is this book a dystopian novel? So many questions, so little space.

Quote

“ We are six feet tall, and this is a burden….We are born with a curse." (Rand 18)

Reaction

This quote was quite….humorous the first time I read it but then I understood what Equality meant. At first I thought I should be considered a gift because we, in my society, consider it a blessing to be that height because, well you can be a basketball player and earn lots of money, but then it is difficult being different from the others. Being ostracized from your peers and family, if he/she had one, and being looked down upon by your teachers and leaders and everyone telling you “You have evil in your body because you’re taller than me” is very difficult to handle.