Ryan specifically uses cultural surroundings to shape Mary as a rebellious individual who is determined, curious, and adventurous. To display she is determined, Ryan states, "No longer caring about the consequences, I slip out of my room and march down the hall and up the steps toward where the Outsider is being kept"(78). The reader can infer that the culture has established certain rules and regulations, so that people do not find out too much information on the secrets the Sisters are keeping. This leads Mary to being determined and able to sneak around the Cathedral to find the answers she is looking for, like how and why the Outsider, Gabrielle, came to their isolated village. To reveal that Mary is adventurous and curious, Ryan expresses, …show more content…
This leads Mary to her curiosity taking over her and controlling her decisions of doing risky and adventurous things to find what she is looking for, like exploring areas of the Cathedral that are off limits to the normal citizens of the village. A second author that uses cultural surroundings to shape the protagonist is Ayn Rand, in her novel, Anthem. Rand uses the culture within the novel to shape Equality to be different from others in a way that he is tall, strong, curious, and smarter than his fellow brothers. Rand establishes this by writing, "It was that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to …show more content…
To uncover this within Mary, Ryan presents, "You are a Bound woman now, Mary. And you have a duty to your husband, to God and this village. It is time to own up to that duty Mary"(116). By making this choice to become bound to Harry, Mary demonstrates that she is following the culture of women being Bound to men, at a certain age, so that the village has next generations of offspring. In addition, by doing this she is putting her happiness aside and leaving her other choice of being with her one true love, Harry's brother, Travis, so that the culture benefits when she puts her village's success first. This is also appeared within Mary, when Ryan affirms that, "There is proof of life outside our fences. And I cannot help but wonder how this will change our lives"(73). Once Mary discovers this information all she thinks about is how this knowledge of other people, than just the village citizens, will affect everyone in the village. By analyzing how she feels, the reader can infer that she is caring and always ends up putting the village first when thinking about what is going to happen. Ayn Rand uses cultural surroundings for a second time to shape Equality as independent towards making decisions and doing things his own way. Rand makes this evident by presenting, "And we take no heed of the law which says that men may not
“Anthem” – one of writing authors Ayn Rand, shows her at her most vicious, hungry, and ambitious reading personality not only as a writer, but as a storyteller as well. The classic hit novel “Anthem” is the predecessor to Ayn Rands later books and storytelling works such as “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged”, often tackles controversial themes that are still prevalent within modern America today, such as Family & Love. The grandeur novel “Anthem” is a reflection of such topics, all whilst being told with almost an aura of mystery within the novels plotline / storyline. “Anthem’s” take on things such as individuality and self discovery along with universal, self serving terms such as “I” & the word “We” are the key factors in helping differinciate this author Ayn Rand from other authors that write and compse the same genre of literature as Ayn Rand. Anyways, please allow for me to introduce you to the under the surface, deeper themes expressed in the classic debut novel, Ayn Rands “Anthem”
Ayn Rand chose to rename her main characters to give an understanding of her philosophies, which are shown from the comparisons. She strongly exemplifies her disbelief of collectivism by forcing her main characters to disobey their society, making them realize that they have a right to be different and that they want more knowledge about the times before the Great Rebirth. She demonstrates her belief of individualism and the right of having your own freedom by the Character Equality and how his thought process is contradictive to his
A captivating novelette in which a man’s priority is to serve only for his brothers, Ayn Rand’s Anthem illustrates a society that has suffered the ghastly consequences of collectivism. She depicts an oppressive culture in which the word “I” is unheard of and men belong to the collective “We.” Men’s lives are determined through the Council of Vocations, a group that maintains a powerful dictatorship by subjugating the public from the beginning of their lives. The idea that “If you are not needed by your brother men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies” (Chapter 1) has been forced into average mindset of the vehemently maintained society. In contrast, Rand mocks the totalitarian civilization through the main
The novel of Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, contributes to controversial subjects in society that are still relevant today. Some issues addressed by Rand in her novel include: equality, social hierarchy, individuality, and government. Throughout the duration of reading Anthem the issues in which Rand makes relevant are not obvious, but more so discussed through conflicts and situations that the main character, Equality 7-2521, encounters. Although many of the altercations that present social issues are provided by either other characters singlehandedly or by a group of the characters in alliance, some of the main issues that arise in this novel are presented within the main character himself.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a very unique novel. It encircles individualism and makes the reader think of how people can conform to society and do as they are told without knowing the consequences and results of their decisions. Also, it teaches the importance of self expression and the freedom that comes along with being your own person and having the power to choose what path to take in life. Figurative language is used often in this book and in a variety of quotes that have great importance to the theme, plot, and conflict of the novel.
As Mary’s story unravels, she continues to suffer long hours of work, starvation, and separation from her family. She reads her holy bible and is constantly reminding herself that God is with her and will see her through these trials. Her spirits are lifted her master agrees to sell Mary to her husband, and her mistress begins the journey with her, but before long the mistress decides not to go any further and they turn back. Not long after, she starts to loose hope that she will ever be reunited with her family. She becomes discouraged, and her spirit
If danger threatens you we shall face it also. If it be death, we shall die with you... Do as you please with us, but do not send us away from you” (82-83). Liberty helplessly “follows” Equality into the forest and pledges her obedience through life and death to him. She begs to never be sent away, as if she cannot survive without him. In this passage, Rand emphasizes that the highest priority of a woman’s life is to support and follow a man.
To him, contrary to Mary’s belief, his “old self” is not separated from “his current self”, rather, he is aware of the fact that his history/past is a part of his realities. He regrets that Mary “is trying to separate [him] from [his] history.” (p.84) and identifies and rejects it as an American attitude: “it is so American. The belief that people can be remade from scratch in the promise land, leaving the old self behind.” (p. 84).
In this paper, I will be talking about the book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. I will be talking about characters such as protagonists and antagonists and how some characters impacted the story. I will talk about the setting, conflicts, and the plot of the story. I will also talk about literary devices such as point of view, symbolism, mood, tone, and theme.
How could Ayn Rand’s Anthem have been altered if Equality and his society had been founded on Christianity? Throughout the story, beliefs and convictions were a significant factor in plot progressions. In addition, different doctrine also provided a huge contribution to character development. However, these various viewpoints established throughout the story, directly contrast with Biblical values. Looking closely at the development of society’s and Equality’s beliefs, a reader can easily distinguish his ideas from Christianity.
These alleged wicked thinking, societal outcasts that desire to better their community, whether that be for themselves or the population as a whole, must possess unique characteristics in order to achieve their goal of rebellion. Although many individuals may attempt to conduct rebellion, some are more victorious than others due to their outstanding characteristics, inspirational qualities and given societal circumstances. In both Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, the protagonists both possess the same characteristics of intelligence, determination and leadership that make them yearn to reform their corrupt societies. Though both possess these traits, Ayn Rand’s depicted protagonist Equality is a more inspirational character due to his notable charisma, along with his society’s restrictions being significantly more severe
The fiction novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, begins as equality takes a journey to individualism. He begins by writing how wrong he is to be writing what he is, how much of a sin it is. To be thinking as his own, and as an “I”. Ayn Rand is from Russia, which is a communist society. As Rand was growing up in this time frame, she had made the time to give herself an education which was frowned upon as she was a woman. She was not given a sense of “I” it was the normal thing for women to stand back and watch. To continue deeper into the book, Equality's eventual assessment of his writing on his own, changed from being a sin to being and individual activity, from the beginning to the end of the book.
Basic summary: The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is a dystopian science fiction novel that is set in the future where there are no rights or freedom there is no such thing as “I”. Everyone is equal to each other; they work and live in collective groups everyone is thought as one. The narrator, Equality 7-2521 has always stood out from everyone else, he was much smarter, later on, he vows to use his new knowledge to build a society based on individual freedom.
“My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose” (Rand, 95). Anthem is written by American author Ayn Rand about Equality 7-2521 on his quest for happiness. The novel is set in an unspecified time and place in the future. Years after human civilization has gone through a deconstruction in which all knowledge was lost and a new society established with no concept of the individual. “The novel describes the efforts of the main character, Equality 7-2521, to reestablish a sense of personal identity and restore the knowledge of the past by objective scientific inquiry. In doing so, he must face many dangers and privations” (Anthem). Anthem is a dairy of the Equality
The philosophy of Mary and her view about the current status of Harry, she can help the audience get a clear view about