Monday, November 16, 2015

Sixth Period Only

Hey Everyone!

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.

 

19 comments:

  1. The society of Anthem, I think, came to be from their history that wasn't told through the book. Maybe the way the society developed was in a way like the society of "The Hunger Games," a place where the higher class is in control and wants the lower classes to believe what they want them to believe. Just like reality, people adapt to the society around them; therefore, the characters of the book do what they think is an everyday normal. Equality just became the main character because of his mind set and how independent it is from the rest. I just think they left their "old world" because of a war against the people, but who knows? Now that I'm writing this down, I am really curious of how this society started. Does anyone else have an idea?

    -Han Phuong

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  2. I believe the society of Anthem to have originated off the basis that all men are created equal; this is a fundamentalist outlook though. This society tried to find perfection which was actually not perfect at all. Imagine, if such a society as Anthem existed; North Korea has a similar strict society which does not allow the teaching of the outside world to their citizens. This society may have came about because of once very selfish government during the Unmentionable Times. They may call it "unmentionable" now because it is so off from their current standing. I agree with Han that this society is similar to that of "The Hunger Games." Some tragic event may have occurred during the unmentionable times to where they just wanted a fresh start on a new canvas. I found the discovery made by Equality was symbolic for the government just leaving the past underground with hope of no discovery or remembering. They may be so strict with education so that the citizens may not learn of what happened in the past; and they may not learn so much that they overpower the "perfect" and "equal" corrupt society.

    -Jake Powell

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  3. In this society of Anthem it has diminished peoples creativity, and curiosity. The leaders of this society thought that they had helped create a perfect society. The one thing they could not do was force Equality to stop thinking about himself, the Golden One, science, etc.. He had to much curiosity about the world and what goes on inside it that he couldn't keep it back. He had too explore learn, and grow. They formed this society without the rest of the world because they had a much better understanding about what is better for themselves and others. Also Anthem came to be probably with what Jake said "Some tragic event may have occurred during the unmentionable times to where they just wanted a fresh start on a new canvas.". They came from a "perfect" society yet it was corrupt. They left their old lives to build new ones. The lives that Equality and "The Golden One" used to have were boring lives to live, they did they something all day and all night everyday and every night.They formed a new one because they saw things different that would make their lives better and others lives better to live.

    ~Alex Hanson

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  4. I believe that there are multiple ways that this society could have become reality. It is highly possible that it came to power the same way communism came to power in Russia. Certain people, likely with a high position of power, come up with a new idea, or philosophy. This philosophy is then spread around the people. For example, the principle of Communism is equality for all. This sounds like a very appealing thing. It is likely that the people in Anthem believed in equality, which is why they lose the sense of self. One of my questions is where is the rest of the world? Is the society depicted in Anthem how the whole world is? Some might say that has to be the case, because if it wasn't, another country would stop it. However, as Jake mentioned, this type of thing is happening in North Korea, and the citizens there have no idea. They are told that their country is the best country in the world, and everywhere else is terrible. I once saw a picture of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un congratulating the North Korean soccer team on "winning" the world cup. Obviously they didn't actually win, but the North Korean citizens largely believe it. This kind of influence is what happened in Anthem, and that means it's possible.

    -Joseph Wiley

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  5. I agree that this society maintains their "perfection" by erasing the past from their history, but I wonder if in this future world there are groups of people who have been untouched and have kept their knowledge. It would be nearly impossible to make everyone live this way. If this was true than combined with the curious people like Equality, this society could be torn apart. I think that this society is pretty fragile. All it takes is a little curiosity or even a small rebellion and it would tumble down. I'm curious to know who would think that they could eliminate all individuality and rewrite human nature. It really doesn't make sense. It is basically like they got rid of people in general and replaced them with a bunch of robots.

    -Emma Eastman

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  6. Hi guys, this is Natalie. Anywho, I believe that they formed the Anthem slowly starting with one group, the rate then increased, and more people/ groups of people joined. Another reason I believe is that there was another war, every single country or land in the world was fighting. Eventually most of Earth's population had been killed, and the left over people formed this small government which grew larger and larger as more years passed, therefore, which created ANTHEM. To add, those who created Anthem did not like fighting, and never ever wanted a war like that again, so they made their own "perfect world." These people (if you couldn't have guessed) are the survivors. The people that acted the same as everyone else were the weak of the war, however, those who think for themselves, who wonder, and who aren't afraid of challenges are the people who stood tall and were brave. Also, keep in mind everyone came from everywhere, in other words, the people of Anthem once lived all over the world, and now they are stuck in a land where freedom wasn't a choice. This is how I think the society of Anthem came to be. Any thoughts on this?

    -Natalie Marsden

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  7. In the book "Anthem", like Jake said, I think they got the idea from the saying that "all men should be equal". I thinks the reason why men wanted to change the world was to form a more perfect society. Equality didn't like the thought of everyone being equal. I think this is ironic because Equality means to be equal, hence his name. Equality didn't like how things were in its perfect society and sought to change it by creating new ideas and showing them to others. As to who these people are who changed the society and where they came from, I do not know. I also do not know why these people wanted to leave their world and form a new society, but I think the reason is because they did not like how things were ruled in the "Unmentionable time" and like Equality, they wanted to become a voice and change.

    -Courtney Hill

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  8. In Anthem, the characters may have come from an idea someone had during or after the unmentionable times to create a society where everyone was equal or close enough to be. They may have assumed that this was the answer to all the problems that may have happened before. This caused to dull the minds of some so everyone was on or very close the same level and there was no contention or difficult differences. But they may have forgotten that differences in each other make us unique and should be celebrated but it is also important to respect that and not necessarily make everyone perfectly equal. Another way could be someone in the counsel or one of the leaders could be hording all the technology, resources and knowledge for themselves, leaving the rest of the society in the dark. They may be trying to control everyone, gaining what they want. This may seem right or good for the people/person in control but not so much as a larger scale for the rest of the society.

    Sydney Evans

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  9. I think that the characters in Anthem came to be from a leader who wanted to have a perfect society. Whoever decided to create this society wanted complete order and perfection. The people were brainwashed into being perfect. It eventually grew into a huge society where everyone was thought to be equal and perfect. I believe they came from the modern world. The person or people who created this hated a world where everyone was different and wanted to create a perfect society, where everyone was the same and where they could be in complete control over everything. I think that they did not leave their world willingly, and they were most likely persuaded and/or brainwashed. After this, they followed to form this society with the concept that everyone must be the same and equal. There were likely other societies outside of this one that were similar to this. A war likely happened and that is what made this society so powerful. The society before this was likely what they call the Unmentionable Times.

    -Brayden Morton

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  10. I believe what happened and how this society was formed was by a less fortunate person. I think they were always struggling and thinking how it would be nice if everyone was equal in their society. It probably began to become out of hand, and by this time they had powerful rulers. Instead of standing up to the leaders they just followed the rules and regulations. I am sure as years passed on that the children learned in a utopian society and eventually it was all equal. This is my theory of how it happened. The Unmentionable Times is the time when there wasn't as strict of rules and there wasn't just equality.
    - Tenney Hendrickson

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  11. I believe that this form of government was instated after a large period of warfare or other social crisis. I find this explanation appropriate considering the fact that many of the remnants of ancient times have been destroyed. If an event such as a large scale nuclear war broke out, the effects on the world would be devastating. Tens of thousands of people have been killed due to only 2 such weapons, so imagine the amount of chaos that would ensue if hundreds were launched. Mankind would be destroyed. Only a handful of people could possibly live out the aftermath of such an event. This is where I believe the government of anthem came to be. The survivors of the nuclear apocalypse would begin to rebuild society. However, in anthem, the society put in place is a society in which wars can never occur. This society is one in which everyone is equal, so no one needs to start a war. I believe that this government was put in place with good Intentions, but it got out of hand and ended up hindering society rather than help it.
    _ Kyle Hepworth


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  12. I agree with Han and Jake when they said that Anthem could have came from a society similar the the "Hunger Games," just think about how similar the books are to each other. Both have a society where they are told what to do, how to do it, and to not question authority. They both had higher classes that were controlling everything they did. The higher class set a standard for the lower class and the lower class followed, not wanting to be someone different than the rest. If you think about it, this applies to our society a little as well. You may disagree with me on this, so be forewarned. Everyone wants to fit in, they don't want to be shamed by society just because they are different. Sometimes, we just sit in submission and wait for somebody to say something instead of us, out of fear of being rejected. This is where those few people who aren't afraid to speak their mind come into play. They won't stand for injustice, so they speak out. Sometimes it might just be little things, sometimes it may be big things. That's who Equality is, he decides that he's sick of taking orders from people and goes against laws and works on inventing new things. It surprised me that more people didn't speak out before him. You can only take so much of that pressure until you break. The pressure of being what society wants you to be, following every single rule there is, not being allowed to be curious, not being able to be yourself. But the few that break, they are what society needs in this book. They need change. As to why they left the previous society, I believe it was because there was so much war and hatred that they needed a new start. So they thought the only new start they could have was that everything had to be controlled because if even a little thing wasn't controlled, they'd become the old society again. But how wrong they were, the more you control, the more people choose to rebel and fight for freedom. They fight to be themselves.

    -Jenna Orwin

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  13. What I'm really confused on, is why the people of the "unmentionable times" would want to change and leave behind all of the technology. I mean, with all of the advancements that we are making these days, and how technology is helping doctors 'heal' sick people. It's very possible that there was 'so much technology' that was hurting the world and bringing us down that finally we decided that we needed a new start. So probably a group of people started thinking of a new society, which eventually turned into Anthem. It may have worked for a little while but eventually, curiosity would get the best of someone, like Equality, and they would start questioning things about the past. At first, it may have seemed like a good idea, but eventually all the truth of the past will come out, one way or another.

    Jessica Applegate

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  14. I agree with everyone who says that the society in Anthem was formed from the fundamentalist outlook that all men are created equal. Throughout the book it is shown many times that no one takes any interest in themselves or their physical appearance simply because they hold equality as their highest moral belief. A single person's desires are of no importance because 'the great WE' is all that is of any significance. However, I don't agree that the people who founded the society seen in the book were striving for perfection. Anthem is more of a dystopian novel rather than a utopian novel. I believe that they were aiming to form a system that eliminated conflict and contention. If no one is taught to develop a sense of self or allowed independence or freedom of thought then self-serving intentions and egocentric desires are unheard of; therefore, eradicating hostility and opposition. It is my opinion, that the people who created the structure in Anthem had good intentions that ended with nightmarish consequences.

    -Cora Romero

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  15. Christopher Patterson (Big C Swiggity Snapps)November 24, 2015 at 8:50 AM

    I liked Anthem. It was very interesting and had a good love story in it. A love story always keeps me enthralled. It was cheesy, but it was like middle schoolers dating. No one actually knows how or what they are doing, but they know they feel something. Hopefully things for Equality has things go better for him, though. Very few love stories work in middle school. I totally ship Equality and The Golden One. Other than the love story, the book was still good for making inferences and letting people let their imagination soar on how this came to be. I feel like the zombie apocalypse happened, and now they have escaped after defeating the zombies. The leaders are still worried and are staying in hiding just in case. That is my idea for how it all began. Let me know what you think! Thanks.:) :P :) :P

    P.S. This is the most entertaining blog you've read in a while.

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  16. In the book Anthem I believe that the society started out with an individual who was very well liked by the people in his/her community. This person probably had a lot of power and had a lot of people looking up to them. They probably had enough power to influence people to live the way they are living. Which is a perfect society. Most people in this book just go with the flow but equality sees that the way his community is living is not correct. He begins to do things that are very against the rules. But what the people don't know is that equality is what they need to break free from this society and have a sense of individuality. He begins his journey by finding a tunnel. He goes to discover this tunnel which is against the rules and then he goes further and has the to think in the tunnel which is even more restricted. My guess is by the end of this book equality will have been able to break through from this society.
    -Chloe Payne

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  17. I think that the society in the book Anthem originated from a torn world. After many wars, I think people would start to question (even more than currently) how we could have peace. I think this society was built with good intentions and high hopes that it would solve the earth’s problems, because it’s easy to assume a world where man live to serve others would be perfect. I think that the founders of this new world believed that a society without decision or ego would be better than one with mistakes and war.
    Humans will always make mistakes, have different opinions and be selfish and when you take this away from people there is no reason for them to be alive at all. So although a world like Anthem where people care only for others, is an inspiring vision, a world like we have today, seems like a pretty good option.

    -Kylee Rasmussen

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  18. Haha I agree with Chris completely! Great love story, and nice and cheesy in a great way that I'm sure we can all relate to. We've all come up with nicknames for our crushes, and a few of us have even told our crushes what they are. Isn't middle school lovey dovey stuff just sooo entertaining? XD XP Anyway, I think the society came from the nightmare that we all have. World War 3. Everyone threw around their nuclear arsenals all over the world, and everyone who lived through it was so scarred that they never wanted anything to advance anywhere close to that kind of technology. They just wanted the world to be peaceful out of fear of what the world can become when hate is driving everyone. But a life lived in fear is a life half lived. Equality and the Golden one (would their ship name be The Unconquered Gold? Or like Equal Gold? Maybe Equal One?) they kinda understood that, but they didn't know why. They knew not to be afraid, but not what to not be afraid of, or why to be or not be afraid of it. I know it's a paradox, but it makes sense, right? Anyway, you can't stop evolution. It's literally written in our genetic coding. So I believe that in time, their society will become similar to the one we have today, which I believe is the way things should be.

    -Seth (ERMS Ballroom Team Captain)[#sorrynotsorrychris]
    (AKA Bboy Shaggy Shawn, Prince Charming, Sethsquatch)

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  19. ~Jill Jorgensen~

    I think that this happened due to a future war, probably because of miscommunication. I feel like these days many act without thinking of those disastrous past wars. Will we ever learn? I suppose not in this scenario. A nuclear war happened, and someone was stupid enough to think creating this society with no "I" in it would hide the mistakes of man from the men of the future. Now they know little because their knowledge and their freedom is limited as the uneducated generation, like if a parent refused to teach their child.

    They came from us and our mistakes. Hopefully that won't actually happen.

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