1. When we first started reading the book Anthem, I thought this book is quite confusing. I thought this because of things like character names and because of wording of some sentences. When I got towards the middle of the book, and I started to get a jist of whats happening I started to make connections in the book and visualize things better. A connection that helped me visualize the book better was just thinking of places like 1900s Russia, and a connection that I used to help me understand the book better was the book The Giver. As I reached the end of the book its started to become addicting as I got to understand the book better and see the plot of the book develop.
The theme of individual vs the collective is seen very well in Anthem as the protagonist, Equality has to fight against society to figure out things about the past and to eventually live in freedom throughout the story. Also because the society that Ayn Rand builds up as made to suppress your thoughts but equality defies that.
2. Equality in the beginning of the story went along with society and tried to even suppress his own thoughts even though he knew he was different. This is seen as on Rand 19 it says, ” We strive to be like all brother men for all men are alike.” Later in the story though, we start to see equality care less about following the rules and status quo of society, and tries to follow out his own dreams of individuality and freedom. This is seen as on Rand 97 he begins to question himself and his devotion to society, ” What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom if even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am bout to bow, to agree and to obey? I am done with the monster of we, the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood, and shame”.
3. Anthem has taught me that sometimes to find true happiness you need to break away from society. I could not see myself acting the same way that equality and Liberty did though. This is because I don’t have the bravery or the purpose to go against and come close to carrying out treason, which is punishable by death, against my own society. I haven’t really done any of the steps of hero’s journey in my own life because I’ve never really carried out any of the big goals in my life yet.
