Anthem

= media type="file" key="Anthem Project.wmv" width="300" height="300"Anthem: = = __** 3-29: **__ = = ** Today we are just starting the book, but to get a glimpse of what we are reading we have a small background. ** = = ** Background: ** = LINK: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem_(novella])
 * ** a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the use of the word "I" or "Ego" is punishable by death). **
 * ** Characters: **
 * ** Equality 7-2521 is described as "six feet tall, 21 year old male". **
 * ** Liberty 5-3000 is the love interest of Equality 7-2521. She is described as being "brave and single-minded. **
 * ** People have numbers in instead of names, children are seperated from parents and raised by state. **
 * ** Written in a diary/journal format. **


 * About the Author**

Rand herself prefaces //Anthem// by exhorting collectivists, those who believe in uniting individual labor efforts under the auspices of the single government for the good of the whole, to acknowledge that they are forcing individuals into slavery. She asserts that social goals have become commonplace in society, and that it should be obvious to all people that the world is headed toward a complete disintegration of the kind she portrays in //Anthem//. She wants those who advocate such goals to be honest about their intentions, and where their intentions may lead, so that in the future, when the world completely yields to the ideals of the collective, and people find themselves slaves, they will not be able to deny that they chose their own paths.

__3/30:__
Equality, describes his world and how that there is no I or me only one people that are the same. He describes how that he has been told that he is cursed and that his bones are evil because he is taller than most and any differences between people are discouraged. There are councils of higher people in society that govern all the rest of the people. Until the age of five children enter the Home of Infants and he describes how the living establishments are all the same and nothing is different from plain white walls and only one hundred books. Equality describes how that most children fought in the first few years of their life and that the ones who fought spent a lot of time in the cellar. At the age of five they are sent to the Home of Stundents to live until they are fifteen. When they turn fifteen they must enter the work force. In the house the kids are brainwashed and must recite "we are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our live. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen." He then describes how the learning was to easy and how he is eager to learn more and more, but he was frowned upon for learning too quick. After the schooling Equality goes to the Council of Vocations to receive the job that they will do for the rest of their life. Equality wishes to be a scholar and to learn the science of things. When he goes to receive his job he is made a street sweeper and even though it isn't what he wants he goes with it because disagreeing is punishable by death. He will do this job until he is forty years old then he goes to the Home of the Useless where old people are and if they are lucky they live to be 45. Then one day as Equality, Union, and International are working they discover a place underground that no one knows about and Equality goes down into the hole even though it is foridden. He finds a tunnel with thin iron strips like a railroad line underground. Equality then come up and tells everone present to not report it and he begins stealing things from the street sweeper house and takes them down in the hole and begins experimenting to learn things that they want to know. He then steals manusripts to learn more, but he already has passed the knowledge in the manuscripts. He then says that even though everything he does is illegal he feels no shame or regret and in his heart he finally feels peace.

While working Equality sees a girl that is working in the fields. When he sees her Equality immediately falls in love with her. The next day Liberty (the girl) comes over to the hedges by where Equality is working. They do not speak but Equality names Liberty "The Golden One." When the two finally speak for the first time Equality tells Liberty how beautiful she is. Later that day Equality is questioned as to why he is singing at dinner. He tells the man that he is singing because he is happy. Equality then went to his tunnel and thought about the meaning of hapiness and why it is against the law to be unhappy. He came to the conclusion that all of his "brothers" are afraid and that is why they are not happy, but Equality is not afraid because he has the tunnel, and that is why he is happy. While disecting a frog, Equality becomes intriged with electricity.In his tunnel he runs experiments with electricity. He wrote in his journal about him making a lightning rod, and making a magnet move with electricity.Later on Equality explores the tunnels and finds technology from the "unmentionable times." He comes to the conclusion that the people from the "unmentionable times used the power of electricity. He then writes in his jounal that he knows more than the council of scholars, which is said to be impossible.
 * __4/2:__**

__**4/3**__ Today we had our discussion with Mr. Bundy. We talked about the cause of this type of society. He arose the question of how this relates to Ayn Rand's theory of objectivism. The following link is Rand's description of her theory: []

__**4/4:**__ A few days after their last encounter, Equality speaks to The Golden One at the same spot by the hedges again. He tells her that he has renamed her The Golden One and she tells him that she has renamed him the "Unconquered."He warned her that she was not supposed to have those thoughts, and she said that she didn't care and that she was going to have the thoughts anyways. She then invites Equality to come over into the fields where it is cooler but Equality will not cross the hedges, so The Golden One left and brought him a cup of water. In chapter 5 Equality figures out how to use a lightbulb. He then wants to be allowed into the House of Scholars because he believes that there are rooms where he can expirement and get help from the scholars in advancing his invention. About a month after his discovery, he decides that he wants to show the World Council of Scholars, because he believes that they will see the importance of his invention, and promote him from a street sweeper to a scholar so that they could continue working with his invention. He then devotes himslef to guarding his tunnel because he believes that no one but the World of Council of Scholars should see his invention, and while thinking about this, he realizes that he has never saw his own body. He came to the conclusion that he wanted to see his reflection.

__**4/4 (Ch. 6)**__**:** Equality writes about how he is excited about the new light that he had discovered. He lost track of time while he was in the tunnel and this caused him to get back to the Home of the Street Sweepers late. He was then sent to the Palace of Corrective Detention because he would not tell the Council where he had been. While he was there, he was stripped of his clothes and was whipped repeatedly until he would tell them where he was. After waking up in a cell from being unconscious, he escaped from the Palace of Corrective Detention and went back to his tunnel to write about how he will be reunited with his brothers the next day.

Equality recounts what happened throughout the day. He walked right into the meeting of the World Council of Scholars. He adresses the scholars in a very loud voice telling them who he is and why he has come to them. The Scholars listen to him as he tells them about the invention of the lightbulb, the tunnel, and his incarceration in the Palace of Corrective Detention. The Scholars are very frightened when Equality shows them the lightbulb. The wisest of the Scholars is angered that Equality would do this and doesn't believe this light is a good thing for their society. He does not want his lightbulb to be destroyed so he grabs it and runs off into the Uncharted Forest.
 * Chapter 7:**

Equality wakes up i the forest feeling rested for the first time in his whole life. He gets up and takes a walk through the forest. He uses a stone to kill a bird to cook and eat. He finds enjoyment in doing this. He then finds a stream to get a drink from but is surprised by seeing his reflection for the very first time. He notices he does not look like his brothers.
 * Chapter 8:**

Equality is still wondering through the forbidden forest without any clue as to where he is going. Towards the beginning of the chapter he hears footsteps moving towards him. He discovers that these are the sounds of the “Golden One.” She tells him that she has followed him and that she wants to be with him forever. The two continue their journey and later that night Equality realizes that a true sense of ecstasy can result from holding his loved one in his arms. It then dawns on him that love between a man and a woman is not a curse but a gift. Equality and the Golden one climb up a mountain and find a house that was from the “Unmentionable Times,” the claim the house to be theirs and make a home out of it. Equality and the golden one deduce that only two people lived in this house. They were amazed at this idea of privacy in combination with the amount of technology that the house contained. As Equality vowed to gain all the knowledge that the house provided the Golden one became fixated with looking into the mirror at her own reflection. As eleven begins the word I is used for the first time in the book. This is meant to show that equality has found the ending point of his quest. He realizes through that “we” should always be second to “I”, and that he owes his brothers nothing. He says that “we” is the source of man’s downfall and that it is pure evil. He goes on to state that by using the word “we” the weak people in the world can steal from the strong people. The golden one becomes pregnant and Equality vows that his son will be raised in accordance with the values of the unmentionable. They pick names for each other to once again reinforce the idea of individualism. He goes on to vow that he will return to free the others that were like him and that man should live by the sacred word: Ego. = media type="file" key="Anthem Project.wmv" width="200" height="40" = = = = Final project rubric grade: =
 * Chapter 9: By Chad Barron**
 * Chapter 10 - 11:**
 * Chapter 12:**