Anthem Final Summative Blog Post

What theme or themes does the author explore in the novel?  Which passages in the text connect to theme?

I, ME.   WE, US. These four words are singular and plural.  The first two words are singular.  I and me are talking about one person more specifically.  The other two are more broad.  We and us are talking about about many people, and in the Anthem there government is based on those two words. We and us.   In the story, Anthem by Ayn Rand,  the author explores the theme is individual. Which I would like to tell you about.  There are many themes that the author explores in this book such as everyone needs to be an individual and no one should be the same.  However there are also many other themes that tie into this story such as group or together as a community.  Even though there may be many themes.  I want to focus on one theme that they really try to put right in front of you which is “Individuality”  which I think is the main theme in the book “Anthem”.  In “Anthem if you notice they are always using the word we to include everyone because they want everyone to be the same.  [2]“We wish to write this name. We wish to speak it, but we dare not speak it above a whisper.”  Like here when you read the passage in two sentences they say the word we three times.  Also not until the last two parts of the book do they use the words I and me, because the government forbids the words I and me.  Therefore, since they only use the words I and me at the end of the book I want to show you how the author used them. [11]“My hands... My spirit... My sky... My forest... This earth of mine.... What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer.”   Here is what most shocked me when I read this book because all along they didn’t make a peep about these words and now he learns them and is shocked.  Not only is he shocked but this sentence gives the theme of the story.  Which is “individuality”.

What is the role of conformity and nonconformity in the novel, and how does this connect to the historical setting of the text?

Are you a we or a me?  Being a we or a me is the conformity in this book, because all of the people that that are we’s are conforming to the culture.  However Equality 7-2521 didn’t conform to society because he knew there was more than they were telling him.  So he was being a me and not conforming to the established culture that he is inside of.  In the story Anthem,  by Ayn Rand,  the author explores conformity similar to the theme of the book.  Which is individuality.  He explores the conformity by the change of being a we to a me.  In the story there are many scenes where he is being a me and not a we.  Such as when he went to the council of scholars to show them what he found.  [7]“We built it for its own sake.  It is above all of our brothers to us, and it’s the truth above theirs.”  He went up to the most powerful people which was illegal and tried to tell them something that was above all that they knew.  However they did not listen because they already knew about all of the great mysteries that they didn’t want the city to know.  Which is those two words.  Me and I.    Another way this book is showing conformity from being a me to we is at the very end of the book when Equality 7-2521  read the book and and figured out what the word I means.  [12]“It was when I read the first of the books I found in my house that I saw the word "I." And when I understood this word, the book fell from my hands, and I wept, I who had never known tears. I wept in deliverance and in pity for all mankind.”  Here nor was he only figuring out what the word I means and he could change his world with that one letter or word.  However he was not conforming form his own family and worlds beliefs.  He was truly being a me

Works Cited

[2]Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print. Part 2

[11]Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print. Part 11

[7]Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print. Part 7

[12]Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print. Part 12