Untouched Forest and the New Life

When Equality 7-2521 is escaping from the Councils, he ran to the Uncharted Forest. In the book, page 75, it mentions Equality 7-2521 ending up in the Uncharted Forest like it was on accident. However, I recognized that Rand had a deeper meaning behind this. Equality 7-2521's boldness and courageousness lead him to the Uncharted where no one has been in because of the fear that no other brother has gone in. Thinking back at it, I feel like Equality 7-2521 had always known that if he goes into the Uncharted Forest, the forbidden place to go to, he would find everything about the Unmentionable times and the secret to everything the Councils were in fear of.

Moving on, it seems like Equality 7-2521's life has improved in many different perspectives after he entered the Uncharted Forest. Liberty 5-3000, who he secretly admired from the moment they met, had followed him to the forest and they started a living together. They created names for each other, found a realistic house which led to discoveries of the lives of the Unmentionable times and finally the first-person singular. Equality 7-2521 named himself Prometheus, and named Liberty 5-3000 the Golden One.

Overall, although the society of anthem refused to enter the forest which symbolized nature, just as it refused to accept the knowledge of nature through the pursuit of science, Equality 7-2521 entered it, driven by a courageous and open mind. By starting a new life with the Golden one, Prometheus lived more naturally, learning to hunt with a bow and arrow. Thus, I saw the resemblance of these two main characters with Adam and Eve on the Garden of Eden in a way.

Anthem trailer

The world described in this novel is a communist society where the laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and root of all evil. (17). Every existing creature has to follow the exact commands of the council and never speak up or act for themselves. Unable to choose what kind of job they want for a living, nor choose the one to love and spend a lifetime with, these men are internally blocked in by the prison of the councils.

This trailer basically summarizes the position that all men are in, where even the slightest difference from the other brothers is considered to be sin and punishable by death. Everything must be done as one, and individualism was unallowed to a point where it was unspeakable. Not only does the councils control what the men do for a job but they also manage who can "reproduce" with who, by interpreting the gene pools to create mechanicized human beings.

However, one individual, equality 7-2521 thirsted for knowledge and started to think on his own, independent from the councils. He discovered hints from the past and made the councils fear his actions. His discovery was absolutely forbidden and the councils decided to shut him up from speaking to the society about his discovery by killing him. Already knowing too much about the unmentionable times and able to think and question the councils, equality 7-2521 takes action that changed not only his life but the lives of his whole generation and his loved ones.

Bibliography: OoMLE93oO. "Anthem Book Trailer (Fan-Made)." YouTube. 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SxTSP0iPcA.

Rhetoric Study

Throughout the novel, Rand emphasized the men who were suppressed by the power of the councils in addition to the unspoken and unthought-of but desperate want of freedom of these men. However, in order to reach the audience, she used rhetorical strategies to connect and relate to the readers. There were many strategies used but the most obvious ones included irony and repetition.

First, she used irony to convince the readers of how uncontrollably councils are using their power over men. For example, in page 25, Rand explained the process of men becoming government officials, a.k.a. the councils. When a brother gets assigned as a “leader”, they he has to go to the home of the leaders where he has to study hard and become candidates in order to be voted by the men and elected by the council. The irony comes in here, it quotes, “be elected…by a free and general vote of all men.” If even any individual thought process is disapproved from the men, how are the votes counted as “free and general”? From how Rand explained the power of the councils over the men, these brothers cannot do anything individually, everything had to be done as one which also means that these votes don’t really represent what the men really want, but only what the council wants. Therefore from the beginning to the end, the councils control everything in the men’s lives.

Another rhetorical device that was used to approach to the audience was a repetition of phrases. For example, in page 61, Equality 7-2521 starts his sentence with the phrase, “For the first time do we” several times. By repeating the words, “first time”, Rand emphasized the change in his life, and the contrast between the old society and the new world. For the first time, Equality 7-2521 cared about his own body, what he looked like, and how strong he was. These things obviously connect to what guys in reality worry about and by mentioning these new changes of Equality 7-2521, Rand directly told the audience that he has officially entered the reality. Overall, through these rhetorical devices of irony and repetition, Rand emphasized how even though the councils suppressed their high-power on the men, Equality 7-2521 was able to find himself in a new world, with a bright future.