This week, I want you to think/write about the following question: How did the characters and events in Anthem come to be? I mean, how and why did they form their society apart from the rest of the world? Who are they? Where did they come from? Why did they leave their "world" and form a new one? As always, it would be awesome if you choose to comment with each other. Your entry will be due by midnight Friday, November 20th.
I think what happen is the earth got blasted into another galaxy and on the way some people lost their minds and one villain made into his society. That s how it all got started.
ReplyDeleteI think the society came from because this a dystopian society, maybe World War Three happened and, everyone hated each other because of the amount of people died, so they distrusted everyone and everything, the only way to save the dying world was to make this society. Either that or Donald Trump got elected. I think the people who formed this society were probably so torn after the war that they were ready to do whatever to keep humans alive (or you could use your imagination to figure out how Donald Trump caused this (( it does not require that much imagination though)). I think this is what is left of the America. This is what I think happened.
ReplyDeleteThe last question really stands out to me. I think that there are a lot of reasons that they left their "world." There are so many reasons that someone would want to leave to create a new world. Being shunned could be a big part of that. If I were being shunned and being looked at as if I were an outcast I would not want to stay in that place and put myself in that postition. I mean if you really think about it would you? I think that they are people that have lost their way. They have created a way that they want to live, a way that they think is right. When it talks about the Unmentionable times they think of it as a place that they don't what to return to and was an awful time.
ReplyDeleteCicely Smith
1st
So, since this happens in the future, anything could be possible. I think World War III came and most of the Earth's population was killed. So, one person decided it was time to create the perfect society. Since not many people were left, he took all of the survivors, brought them to an empty hospital, and put them all under a very long medically induced coma. He then picked out a few that looked strong enough to help him in his tasks, erased their memories, and filled their heads with the ideal thoughts of a perfect person. He would then wake them up and they would go to work on their continent. They would hide all evidence of the past, destroy buildings, build new buildings, and gather all of the things needed for his ideal society. When he was done, he would brainwash everybody individually to add to his society. When he woke them up they would already be ready for the day and wouldn't know any better. After he was done with his first society, he would create more and more until he was satisfied. And until Equality 7-2521 came along everybody would live happily ever after. The end.
ReplyDeleteYours truly,
Cayla Callus.
I would think that these people probably came from one of two places. First, they were in a world much like our own but had a government or someone in the government who wanted absolute control and forced the society one them. Second, I think they could have come from a world where there were tons of horrible things going on like wars and deaths and diseases. In this scenario I believe that they were probably trying to accomplish peace and safety for their people. They would want to do what they could to fix their world to stop the wars and the killings and they best way they could see to do that was to unify themselves so that people lived in harmony because the person next to them wasn’t just their neighbor but an equal a friend someone who was the same so that the idea of hurting them would be as bad as doing it to themselves.
ReplyDeletePersonally when I think about it like that it is very understandable. People would want to protect themselves from harm so they would try to help every one be able to live together and work together. They just didn’t think about the consequences. In order to have a whole huge group of people act and think and live alike all of the time, then there needs to be someone enforcing it and keeping the people under control and when there are those strong personalities and brave strong people then “accidents” like Equality are going to happen. I think that it isn’t very hard to think of the situation that the people must have been in. I honestly think that the second option is more likely. I think that people in desperate situations will follow the lead of anyone even if that persons purpose is not good. They will follow because they are willing to believe anything that anyone will tell them if it means that they can get out of their horrible situations. We have see that throughout history happening many times. For example after World War One Germany was left in ruins and when Hitler deceivingly stepped up as their “savior” they believed him because they needed to have that hope. If the people before Equality were like the Germans after World War One, then it is not hard at all to see how they could have created a society like that.
-Mariane Rizzuto
If you look at our world today, you can easily see how terrible and scary it is. I imagine that the world before Equality's world was just like ours. The leaders of his home wanted to make a place where people, jobs and emotions were in control. There wouldn't be any conflict. Thus, Equality's home was born. I think the leaders of the city were people just like us in our world today. They probably thought that everyone would be happy because everything was guaranteed to go according to their plan, but obviously with Equality, that is not the case. In summary, they formed their own world because they were afraid. When people have their own opinions, disagreements rise up, and wars start. They didn't want any of those things happening, they wanted a utopia.The problem with that is a utopia is not possible because everyone would have to be okay with the rules. Not everyone is, especially Equality 7-2521.
ReplyDelete-Lexi Sampson
11/20/15 8:37pm
I think that the new "world" was formed by people who idolized unity and cooperation. They possibly stopped using electricity so everyone had to depend on each other a lot more. The people who formed the new "world" could've been supporters of Communism. They may have left the old "world" because there may have been an uprising among citizens of a Communist country, and they're now scared of another rebellion happening. Then, they formed a new "world" with new laws, rules, and ethics. However, I think it's strange that it seems like the community Equality lives in are the only people on Earth. Another possibility is that most of humanity was wiped out, but some survived. Those survivors could've been an isolated tribe, and that explains why they haven't discovered electricity yet.
ReplyDelete-Mandy Mieu
I predict that this society came to be through a catastrophy and isolation of a group of people. The catastrophy, whether a war or an attack, was caused through t selfishness of a group of people or even a large society. The people who survived started a society built on what they thought to be an idea a of unity and brotherhood. They wanted to be different and independent from what the world that one was. They call the past the "unmentionable times" because they refuse to accept the beliefs that they had.
ReplyDeleteJoshua Cantonwine p.1
I think that they formed their society to be apart from the world because there could be a lot of wars, attacks, others or they just want to be different from the rest of the world. They are people who refer to our time as the "Unmentionable Times" because they do not wish to speak about it. I'm pretty sure that they are referring to that time to ours because in the story it says that find electricity from the "unmentionable times" and when electricity was discovered we haven't stopped using it. At first they left the world and mad their own "world", but later they left their "world" and went back to the world. I say that because i think that it might have been only in their "world" that they didn't refer to themselves as "we" or "us". After they left their old lifestyle, they started to use the word I and it said that they love it. Also, it said that they questioned why anyone would give up using the word "I" and now know what they were loosing.
ReplyDelete-Courtnie Jex
The Anthem book was a interesting book. It is a great example of a rebellion against some type of capital. To me the book didn't quit finish or say what they were going to do next. They mentioned all the great things they were going to do, yet it never took action on those things or told how they were going to complete those task.
ReplyDeleteI advise reading it
The book "Anthem" was a interesting book. It shows a great example of a rebellion against some kind of unfair or over powered government. My opinion is that the author never quit finished the story line. They mentioned all the great things they were going to accomplish and begin, yet it doesn't say how. It doesn't even go through these task which would have doubled possibly triple the size of the plot.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that before the end of the book all the characters seemed socially awkward. They didn't know how to respond well, yet were taught to read and wright. The characters needed more personality, the theme may have been that the government controls everything and everyone, which isn't possible. No one can change that people have feelings or their own. As well as taking away agency, they can think and feel anything and that can't be controlled.
Parker Diederich,
Period 2
I believe the author purposely left out what had happened to society before this time. She wanted the idea to be created by the reader, so the story could come about in many ways. There was likely several wars that broke out between nations. These battles likely caused a lot of damages and deaths. As a result, communications were lost and small societies were formed around the world, such as this one. I think their society was in the US or in Europe because of the description of the house, the fact that there are mountains nearby, the fact that there was once electricity, and because there was an abandoned subway tunnel. Equality's society must have thought it would be best to live more basic lives. Their reasoning's may have to do with the fact that it would be safer and would prevent more wars from happening if they didn't live their old lives. They saw structure in their society as beneficial and could only see positive outcomes. After generations of not having technology and other such, the new normal was created. Equality did not find this to be normal, and strived to make a change. This caused the events in the book to occur. -Adeleine Grandstaff
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Ayn purposely left out how their society got to there. I think it was left in such a way that no matter how you view your society or government, your imagination can make up the blank space. Maybe you think it started with multiple wars such as a world war, but it could have also been cause by famine or disease of some sort. However it became, I think we can agree that something must of happened to weaken the past society enough for someone or someones to be able to take over power. Though I think that most people we unhappy with the change, and that's why people in charge had to have such strong punishments put in place and had to hind the technologies of the past. Over time however, the citizens must have grown accustomed to the new ways, with few exceptions, such as Equality as you said. I think the reason Equality didn't tend to accept the rules was because as he got more and more glimpses of the past society, he realized the need for change.
Delete-Tabitha Carter
I agree, I think it was for a specific purpose that we, as readers, were left to fill in the blanks. There can be different out comes with different people's perspectives. I don't think that this happened all at once. I think it was almost like trends we have today. Someone thought of a better way society could function and slowly, more people started joining that side. After time it becomes the normal function of society. I believe that change is inevitable because there is always going to be an individual who thinks out of the box or one step ahead of the rest of the world. I think this society developed from change. Sometimes change it good and sometimes its bad. As I said before its about perception. Equality thought this was a society that needed changing for the better and I think he started his own brand new society. This is similar in why this utopian society developed in the first place
Delete-Jaelyn Hansen
I think how the society came to be is that a powerful government rose to power and took over. They wanted everyone to be equal like and the same. The society wanted to have central power and wanted to keep moving forward. They move forward and forget about the past while getting rid of technology because they don't want people to be any better off than others. When people do something wrong they want to correct it and make the society stable again. There are strict rules in place just so people are less tempted to do something like that.
ReplyDeleteAs life went on and technology advanced, the people on earth began to expand in their knowledge for the greater good of mankind. A cure for cancer was discovered, almost every disease cured, and death seemed almost inevitable. Because of the increased technology and modern advancements, humans began to be selfish and arrogant. This arrogance led to fighting, and wars beyond imagine between single persons and nations entirely. Although these contentions never wavered, no human could die because of how tremendous the modern day advancement had become. Time went on and yet not one person died. The birthrates around the world increased because of how easy it was to raise a child, and the old felt young again. Hundreds upon thousands of years passed and the selfish arrogance of man kind had began to come to a stand still. No new invention could be made, life saved, or success made on earth. This led to a meeting with prominent world leaders who decided upon an unreasonable yet effective solution to the chaos that had unfolded throughout the world. Sad as it was, this necessary decision would bring peace to a crumbling society and benefit everyone. The government wiped out billions of people throughout the world and left choice few to become the start of a new society. Ayn Rand's book; Anthem, depicts the aftermath of a seemingly perfect society and the struggles that encase everyday life. I really enjoyed learning about how Equalities choices and thoughts provoke new ideas, which start the beginning of a new end.
ReplyDelete- Sterling Ward
I believe that the old world destroyed themselves. Humankind was the cause of its own destruction. The inventor or creator of this new society based it off of what he believed would have prevented the old world from destruction. Because the new society is based completely around unity and selflessness I inferred that the old world must have ended because mankind became to self-obsessed and were no longer worried about others.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at our society today, I can actually find many ways that our world is heading there right now. In both World War I and World War II, every country was teamed up against others, they treated their enemies cruelly and inhumanely, not even for a second considering what their "enemies" might be feeling or going through. Everyone was so focused on saving their own kind and helping their country to rise to power over the others.
Imagine the impact the world would have If all human kind was so selfless that no one ever put themselves before others. If we always looked at others opinions and points before stating our own, there would be a lot less arguments.
In almost every book I've read with a dystopian society in it, the society was always trying for something good. They were always trying to make a new world that would eliminate today's worldly problems. The only reason these dystopian societies don't end up working, is because they go about it in the wrong way.
No matter what situation you put man in, I think they are bound to rebel. Without breaking the rules or thinking outside of what we have always been taught, we would never have made new discoveries. Without questioning the way things work and how they could change, humankind would be in the same place it was millions of years ago. So, I don’t believe that the world equality lives in is necessarily bad. They had good thoughts for the people’s future when they created it, they just went about their beliefs in the wrong way.
-Abbey Myers
L.A. Arts
ReplyDeleteI believe that the society formed differently from the rest of the world because someone decided to lead them how they wanted to. Some type of war might have also happened before, and changed the society. I think these people are normal people who are just taught with different rules and ways. Someone must have decided to create the society how they wanted to create it, and in their own ways. I believe that everyone does not know how to act anymore. They believe that they should follow others ways instead of their own. And they don’t exactly have their own personality. They don’t know that they have their own personalities and that they should express themselves.
Isabella F.
Well, first you have to think about how most dystopian societies start off. A few people don't like how the world is going and they try to fx it with the solution they think best fits the situation. In this case, unity was the solution. I don't think that unity solves all our problems though. One, or several, people will most likely get curious and break away. not everyone is as smart, or tall, as other people are. So how can people all be united when not everyoe is the same? The solution "the founders" came with is take away everyone's mirrors. To add to that, brainwash them. Make them start fresh and new. Their new "world" had just started, where as (maybe) the outside world was probably moving on without them. As, generations came and went, the society starated to form.
ReplyDeletePunishment was also another form of starting fresh. If you were different or weren't doing what you were supposed to (i.e. Equality working in science even though he was a street sweeper) they would punish you. I don't think that is the best idea though. When does punishment become abuse? I mean, most of these people being burned at the stake and whipped aren't toddlers. So when does this punishment for being out of line become not just punishment, but abuse?
_____Elynn Cousineau_____
I think that the reasons why the characters are living in a Utopian society is that the people didn't like the way they used to live. I think that many people were getting tired of arguments and fights all around the world. In replace of that, I believe that they wanted to gain a perfect world where everyone does the same things and look at everything the same way. Another main reason can just be that some people are grown up to different ways and beliefs. They can just be taught to follow the leader no matter what. Those kinds of people are what made this world possible. The people who likes to follow other people's ways instead of their own. And eventually, they become so into the utopian society that they forget who they are and just continue on with their lives.
ReplyDeleteEmily Song
I think the society in Anthem was created so that everyone was unanimous about all of the decisions made. I also think that they were born out of the fails of previous societies. They "learned from their mistakes" and made the new society. They tried to work out what makes people human, and made them basically robots. They thought what they were told to. They believed every choice was right. Equality found a better way of living than the controlled way he was living before and he was criticized because of it. I think this shows how much they had been basically brainwashed. If Equality never discovered electricity, the whole society would have never moved forward. They were stuck in an endless loop of life and death, with nothing but routine stuck in between the two. If you think about it, it's like the majority of our society. Wake up, go to school/work, come home, go to bed, repeat. Unlike the society in Anthem though, people's ideas are taken into consideration. Quite often, people's ideas work and they actually become something that can help us in everyday life. In Anthem, everything that's new or different from their beliefs is destroyed and the creator is killed or lashed.
ReplyDeleteI think the society was created after a big event that caused the death and confusion of many. Someone who thought they had an idea to fix the world's problems stepped up and created the society out of everyone left, and that's how the society came to be. In order for mistakes to be wiped out completely, agency has to go too, which is why, in Anthem, they're in the situation they're in.
-Noah Henrichsen
In the book Anthem, it talks about a certain war that happened in the "Unmentionable Times". I think it could possibly be WWIII. I believe this war could have wiped out a very large percentage of the human and animal population on earth. I think that here could have been a near apocalypse, and there might have been a group of people who had an idea to form a perfect government. In our respond assignment, I wrote a theory relating to Adolf Hitler in how he came to power. Maybe after the war, there was a figure who told everyone that they were good, and that they had a plan to create a new and improved society. I think that this power was passed down from generation to generation, because since everything is early perfected, the original leader has to be dead or at least very old. I think that all the people left were damaged somehow, so it was easy to brainwash them and their children. I think that they had a longing to belong to a society, and since the rest of the world was wiped out, this was their only option- to join a "perfect" society. Which resulted in everyone becoming one, so that no selfishness could happen ever again. The original leader may have had good intentions, but their idea blew up and it became a dictatorship, rather than living in peace and harmony. I think it would be very interesting to write a prequel to this book. There is so much to think about!
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn Brande
1st Per.
I believe that the reason why this society was formed, was because there was a war or something that happened in the are and it cause a new government to form, and take over the society with their own rules and laws. I think that the people who formed this new government convinced everybody that this was the right was to live, and the people know no other way to go about life. I'm sure the new leaders believe that what they are doing to these people is what's best for them, and an appropriate way to live their lives. If it weren't for Equality 7-2521 their plan would be working out just as hoped.
ReplyDelete-Abby van Uitert, 1st period
My opinion as to why they formed a society as such, rested on piece, unity, and everything else. Is ,most likely because in the past there could have been a war, or a full out apocalypse. The Home of Scholars were most likely the sum of survivors that all saw eye to eye or close enough to form a society to rest on piece, unity, not being individualized and anything as such. In a way they are selfish, taking people in and making them see the same as everyone and not have their own opinion nor experiences. In another way they're "saviors" as taking people under their wing and providing for them, creating a utopian society or as close to a utopian society as possible by, as we all know, getting rid of the thought of oneself and replacing at as the thought of many, everyone. This way they get rid of any "black sheep" and any potential dangers to their society. Equality, among others i presume are curious and not conforming to their "get rid of thinking about yourself and think about everyone before yourself. You know what? don't think about yourself ever."
ReplyDeleteI think that this book takes place in the future. I predict that there was a war that resulted in a lot of deaths and natural disasters. So in order to prevent that from happening again they decided to create a system in which everybody is one. I also think that they're not separated from the rest of the world. Everyone in the world has been forced to be in this system. But yet there are some rebels still.
ReplyDeleteNina Nguyen
I liked the book Anthem a lot. It was interesting how one point, it was soft and happy and the next part, it was adventurous and happy. I liked it how he said "we" in every sentence instead of "I". It was interesting and I am happy that I got to read it. My sister read it and she said that she liked it.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Mangum
The story, to me, seemed as though it took place in a a future version of or world that had fairly recent suffered a sort of mass extinction that was likely human caused (i.e. world war, synthetic virus, atomic fallout, ect.) I believe that it was man made because the society that has been created seems very censored, and keeps people ignorant. This form of government is proactively stopping war by taking away any controversy, and keeping people along one unanimous opinion. This society has in a sense learned from history that the only way to keep peace is to take away individuality.So this asks us an age old question. Which is better, free will or world peace? Because it is impossible for these two to coexist.
ReplyDeleteBen Lyons
I think that society was made that way because of a war. Unmentionable Times seems to work with how wars are said, because wars are not supposed to be said. I think they made society so that it wouldn't happen again, but they took it way too far. They wanted to make sure that no one would do anything unexpected, but then Equality did something out of the ordinary and it scared everybody. When he then starts using "I" instead of "we" it was cool, because it showed that he broke away from society and didn't get sucked into all the lies
ReplyDeleteNathan Woodruff
P.S. sorry it's late, Internet was out temporarily and couldn't fix it.
I think the society was formed because of a war. The people who started the society didn't want their people to be disturbed by the war so they took them away and they made a new society. I think the people are from all over the world and in the begging they came to get away from the war.
ReplyDeleteHow did this wold come to be? I believe that the world went through a major catastrophe and now has to rebuild. The leaders of this society I think believe that we hurt ourselves with all of out technology. So now they are making their ideals law. They are trying to make the world a more simple place.
ReplyDeleteAdam Smith