Anthem // Why Read?

Perhaps there are many reasons why people should read Anthem, but perhaps there are none. Anthem will make readers contemplate the way our world is run. We know from history how corrupt governments and people have been, so what would lead us to believe that it will be any different in the future..or even now? Can we trust everything the media, government, and even our closest friends throw at us? Anthem will give you a whole new perspective on individuality and how important it is and that we do not take it for granted. It allows us to see the effects of brainwashing by a powerful “government” per say. It allows us to appreciate our individuality and that, “we” comes second behind “I.” It allows us to make sure we never let people in power overtake our minds into thinking not only that we do not have individuality, but that we do not have the choice to make decisions on our own. Anthem is a necessary read, not only  to appreciate individuality, but to recognize the sometimes over extensive power governments hold in our world today.

Anthem // Style

Ayn Rand used an interesting style while writing Anthem by using short, non-descriptive words, and as I stated before she has almost a robotic way of telling her story. For example:

“We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and we sent it as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it,...” p. 79

Although Rand leaves us as readers with little detail on her characters and setting, she does use a unique language, such as “the night of the ages.” p. 59 or “And the roads of the world will become as veins which will carry the best of the world’s blood to my threshold.” p104. 

Although her writing seems vague and indistinct, her writing gives off an air of powerful simplicity that ends up giving us as readers the chance to develop more of a picture in our brains as we read. I noticed as I read that it was confusing and quite vague, but rereading certain passages made me realize much of her writing leaves you with a very unique and powerful aura after finishing a sentence or paragraph. 

Anthem // Setting

The setting in Anthem reminds me much of the setting of the place where Katniss lives in the Hunger Games. The city is gloomy, dark, and behind the times of other places around the world. The part we do not know in Anthem is whether the city that Equality 7-2521 lives in is the only city in the world or if it is the only city that is living in a so-called Utopian society. 

The city in Anthem is definitely behind times because Equality 7-2521 ends up inventing electricity all over again. Instead of using light bulbs, the city only uses candles. They also assign the people of the city to certain jobs such as a “street sweeper.” If the city were more modernized, they would not need street sweepers. I believe the way Rand describes the setting helps to describe the city even more. The subtle hints of the way people act and how the city is run gives us readers an idea of how much the city is behind times. Not only does the setting of the book give us a visual, but it also leads us to questions. Why is that the city has not modernized? Why (if the setting is futuristic) has the city gone backwards? These questions can be brought up due to the way Rand has described the setting of the novella. 

Anthem // Periphrastically

“I am. I think. I will.” is the most important passage in Anthem because at last Equality 7-2521 has found the word “I.” He has not only discovered the word but for all that it means and represents. It now offers him and others the meaning of individuality. No one has to go about saying the word “we” to identify themselves. Equality 7-2521 now can spread think on his own and share the word “I” with the Golden One. He can now think, feel, and make decisions on his own without including everyone else because he is an individual; his own self. I felt a big transition in the novella when Equality 7-2521 discovered the word “I.” Everything became more positive and brighter once he found the word. I compare this to the enlightenment of when the people came out of the cave for the first time in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” It resembled Plato’s story due to the fact of finding out something so important and how it completely changes your life.

Anthem // Affectively

Affectively

While reading Anthem I felt quite intrigued, yet hollow. Ayn Rand gave characteristics to her characters that resembled robots. They had no emotions, nothing that made them stick out from anyone else in the city except for the actions of Equality 7-2521 and The Golden One. I believe that Rand wrote this book to display the effects of when someone in power is given too much power and we (citizens) in turn are brainwashed and end up destructing our own identity. I believe that our own government, media, and celebrities have the ability to destroy people’s identity. They have a way of manipulating our thoughts, opinions, values, and morals by what they say, how they dress, what they sing, and what they express. In turn, it is our own choice on whether or not we follow their ways or stand up for everything we believe in. This, of course, is my take on Rand’s message of Anthem, but there are many different ways you can look at this novella. 

Symbolism // Suicide Note

In finishing Suicide Note the most symbolic part of the whole story was the bridge where Jenn spent a lot of her time. The bridge was where she would read and contemplate her life and the past that kept haunting her. The bridge was symbolic of a person, the one person she did not have in her life to go to and talk about her problems and comfort her. So she was lead to this bridge where she felt at peace. The bridge was strong and made Jenn feel comforted just as person who is trustworthy, loyal, and honest would have; the bridge was Jenn's safe haven. I find it ironic that the real life person who ends up taking the bridge's "place" found Jenn on the bridge. It was almost as if it was a passing over. Although the bridge is not real, it was giving Jenn up to Shane because after meeting him, Jenn went to the bridge once and this was because Shane was gone in the military. The part where Shane meets Jenn on the bridge symbolized a father giving up his daughter during a wedding or a mother watching her son go off to college. The bridge had done its job for Jenn; it had comforted her and been her safe haven, but it was time to give her up to someone new.

Reading Affectively // Suicide Note

How this reading makes me feel...

All my life I have tried to remind myself "everything happens for a reason." I remind myself this because I know that it all must be a part of God's plan and I trust His plan for me. Reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason compares to me that reminding yourself on a Thursday that tomorrow is Friday or even though you just spent a lot of money on a car, at least you have a sweet ride...and a car. Although the circumstances now may be pretty crappy, something better is going to turn out because of it. A situation may happen in your life where you do not understand at all at why it happened; you're frustrated, grieving, depressed, confused, etc. The belief that something amazing is going to happen from it is a difficult task to accomplish. How can we have so much strength and confidence that we are going to get out of this situation and be okay from it?

Reading Suicide Note was a slight impulse of mine. I was on my Kindle searching for something to spark my interest. The summary of the book was short but those five words hit me and I knew I had to read it...everything happens for a reason. As I began reading I felt many of the emotions that Jenn and Shane, and Jake feel in this book. I realized as I read further that I didn't relate with one character, but pretty much all of them. It made me think about how although you may think that someone is completely different than you and may be living their dream or has a great life...they may be fighting the same battle as you are. 

I must admit this isn't my favorite book nor does it have the best storyline, but it made me realize the bigger picture than just the words on the pages. I keep referring back to those five words "everything happens for a reason"; simple, yet so important are they. I have been fighting my own battles as well as everyone else on this planet and it was nice to get another wake up call to remind myself that my problems and worries don't take president over anyone else's. Not only did it remind me of that, but it also hit me a little more personally. There have been many times where I feel like giving up. To give up completely on things I hold close to my heart. I have had these thoughts due to going through tough times, not having the confidence and strength I needed, and most importantly not having a close relationship with God. All of those factors seem to be a roller coaster in my life. One minute I feel like everything is going alright and I have the strength to muster through any hard times coming my way, and the next minute I feel like the dirt on the bottom of someone's shoe. I feel so low and that I can't go on anymore. Although this book is not true, I still feel that I learned something from it. I can't give up when things are going wrong. I have to be strong enough to go on and get to the better part of my life. Problems and bad situations are always going to occur in people's lives, but it is how we deal with those problems to fully grasp them and take them as a tragedy or a blessing.

"Things spoken can be forgotten and forgiven, but the written word has the power to change the course of history, to alter our lives."