Anthem Annotations 2yl5n

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Sheila Sheatz 11-1 Anthem Annotations Chapter One -

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In this community it is a sin to think differently and write it on paper that non ones else sees. Men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bids them. The “we” lives in a tunnel under the earth, alone, which is a sin and considered to be the root of all evil. There is only one candle, which they stole from the Home of Street Sweepers, and this could sentence them to ten years in the Place of Corrective Detention. The “we’s” name is Equality 7-2521, which is written on the iron bracelet that all men wear on their left wrist. He is twenty-one years old, six feet tall, and not many men are six feet tall so teachers and leaders say there is evil in his bones. Everyone must be the same and there are words carved into the portals at the Place of the World Council, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.” They mush repeat this in times of their own weakness if they forget they must all be one. Those worlds have been the truth since the Great Rebirth. You can’t talk about times before the Great Rebirth. At night, the Old ones whisper about it in the Home of the Useless. They talk about towers that rose to the sky, wagons that move without horses, and light that burned with flame. Time ed and then men saw the Great Truth, which was that all men are one and will save the will of all men together. They lived in the House of Infants until they are five years old. The sleep halls were white and clean. When they were five they were sent to the Home of Students until they are fifteen and then they go to work. Before they went to sleep they raised their arms and said “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.” Equality did not like those years and the teachers frowned on him because he was very smart. He looked upon Union 5-3992, who was pale and only has half a brain. After you are fifteen, you go before the Council of Vocations and they assign you a job. Those who are assigned “leaders” go to the Home of the Leaders and study for years to become elected to the City Council. Equality wanted to be a scholar, but instead was assigned as a “street sweeper”. When the council assigned someone a job, they had to raise their right hand and say “the will of our brothers be done”

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Each night, the townspeople go to the City Hall and sing hymns and then go to the City Theatre for three hours of a play. Equality lived at the Home of the Street Sweepers for four years until he committed a crime. When a person reaches the age of forty, they go to the Home of the Useless. Union 5-3992 and International 4-8818 are in Equality’s sweeping group. They discovered an old manhole and they went down in it and it lead to a tunnel from Unmentionable Times. They cannot report what they found because they will be killed. For two years, he stole way in the night to study science and chemistry when he was supposed to be in the theatre. He stole manuscripts, which was a major crime because it takes a year to write them. He solved secrets that scholars didn’t even know of. He is feeling the first peace he has had in twenty years.

Chapter Two -

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Equality loves Liberty 5-3000. Men are only supposed to think of women when it is time to go to the House of Mating. Women had to be eighteen, and men had to be twenty. Equality has been there two times and hated it. She lives in the House of Peasants, and Equality watches her and he greets her every day. In his mind, he refers to her as the Golden One, which is a sin. One day at a moat he talks to her. He tells her she is beautiful and he learns she is seventeen, so she has never been to the House of Mating. Three of her sisters came back in the field and then she left. The three men, Equality and his fellow street sweepers, were happy that day and decided to sing. They were reprimanded because they sang without reason. Equality thinks there is fear in the city and people. Fraternity 2-5503 cries without reason and Solidarity 9-6347 screams “Help us! Help us!” into the night. There was a war and then a fire call the Dawn of the Great Birth which burned all the scripts of the Evil Ones. There is a forbidden word call the Unspeakable Word, which you could be put to death by saying, like one townsman, but Equality doesn’t know what it is.

Chapter Three -

Equality had been sneaking away to the tunnel for two years now. One night, Equality was cutting open a frog’s leg, and a copper wire in the frog touched the metal knife and made electricity. This defied any scholar’s knowledge and even made a com’s needle move. He discovered “light bulbs” in the tunnel.

Chapter Four

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Equality saw Liberty again in the field. He told her name was the Golden One to him and she said his name was the Unconquered to her. They both thought the same forbidden thoughts. She gave him a drink from her hands and held them against his lips. They could not understand what feelings they were having.

Chapter Five -

Equality created a light box much like the light bulb. He wants to share his discovery with the city and be reassigned to the House of the Scholars. He wonders what he looks like now, for it is a sin to think that and to know it also.

Chapter Six -

Equality was discovered and hasn’t written for thirty days. He last track of time and was put in jail. He was severely beaten but he would not tell. He escaped because no one ever watches the jail, since no one would ever dare to escape and betray their city. Tomorrow is the World Council of Scholars meeting in the city and he is going to bring the box in hopes of ing the scholars.

Chapter Seven -

Equality brought the box to the World Council and they saw it as evil and were going to kill him. He grabbed the box and dashed out and ran to the Uncharted Forest. He thinks this will be the end of him and it brings him pain to not see the Golden One ever again.

Chapter Eight -

Equality wakes up in the woods and enjoys his new found freedom. He kills ad bird and eats it. This is the best meal he has ever had. He is enjoying himself but realizes he is damned.

Chapter Nine -

Golden One followed him into the forest. Equality and Golden One walk for days and he ponders why being alone is so evil. Golden One tells him she loves him. She says this because they are both alike.

Chapter Ten -

Golden One and Equality find a home in the mountains from Unmentionable Times. It was built for twelve, however they one found two beds.

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They saw mirrors, light bulbs, colorful walls, colorful clothing, books, and other strange things. Equality is not fearful of what he is going to learn here, even if some of it is “evil”.

Chapter Eleven -

Equality thinks about how his thoughts are not evil. He is going to dispose of the word “we” and start using the world “I”. Equality realizes that thinking for ones’ self, seeking knowledge, and being independent is not evil.

Chapter Twelve -

Equality discovers in the books how the word “I” is used and cries. Equality takes the name of Prometheus and Golden One takes the name of Gaea. Equality is going to figure out how to fix the light in the house and knows now that it is called electricity. Golden One is pregnant with his child and it will be thought the word “I”. Someday, he will go into the city and take Fraternity 2-5503 and Solidarity 9-6347 back home with him because they are suffering there like him. He sees how men had freedom and used the world “I”. He can’t imagine how they would ever give that up. He is going to start a new capital where people can live and be themselves. Equality is going to carve “EGO” into stone because it is not a sacred word that he does not want to die.

Vocabulary -

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Sieve -siv- noun- an instrument with a meshed or perforated bottom, used for separating coarse from fine parts of loose matter, for straining liquids, etc., esp. one with a circular frame and fine meshes or perforations- page 28 Pyre- pīr- noun- a pile or heap of wood or other combustible material- page 50 Boon- boon- noun- something to be thankful for- page 73 Torrent- tôr'ənt- noun- a stream of water flowing with great rapidity and violence- page 75 Edict- ē'dĭkt'- noun- any authoritative proclamation or command-page 94 Alms- ahmz- noun- money, food, or other donations given to the poor or needy- page 95 Botched- bŏch-verb- to repair or mend clumsily- page 97 Impotent- ĭm'pə-tənt- adjective- lacking physical strength or vigor; weak- page 97

Quotes -

“ Now, we cannot speak, for we cannot understand”- page 80 o The quote above was said by Equality after he was chased out of the World Council meeting and he cannot write anything because he is so puzzled.

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However, this quote has a deeper meaning. It can also describe the town and how they do not act out or question their leaders. That is the way the people of the town have always been taught, therefore they do not know any different, because all their lives they have been taught to fall in line and live as one. “You walk, but our brothers crawl”- page 83 o This is quote is significant because it describes Equality’s character very well. He was way ahead of the people of the town in a mental sense. He discovered electricity and was always questioning the ways the city because he could not understand why they were wrong. The teachers and leaders looked down on him for that, however Equality was smarter than them because his different thinking lead him to new discoveries and ideas. “It is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.”- page 94 o This quote is important because it shows the part in the book where Equality finally discovers that being yourself is okay. He realizes that free thinking and making your own choices are not a sin. Throughout the book, he is forced to conform to ways in which he does not believe. This quote embodies the part in the book where Equality breaks free from his chains and decides to take control of his own life.

Literary Elements -

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Point of View- First Person o “We climbed paths where the wild goat dared not follow.” –page 88  This is an example from the text which shows how the book was written in a first person point of view. Equality uses pronouns like “we” and “I” in the story, and we also know his thoughts, what he knows, and what he witnesses, which are all characteristics of first person point of view. Figurative Language- Simile o “Your eyes are as a flame...” – page 82  This example of figurative language in the text is a simile because the Golden One directly compares Equality’s eyes to a flame, which are two unlike things, by using the word “as”. Motif o “Everything which comes from the man is good. Everything which comes from one is evil.”- page 85  This quote is theme which is repeated from the beginning of the book until the end, which makes it a motif. The city brainwashes people into thinking that independent thoughts and works are evil and that only when working together as one is it good. Equality keeps repeating this idea throughout the whole book calling his thoughts sins, however at the end he

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finally realizes it is better to think for yourself and control your own destiny. Connections -

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The book connected their times back to the Unmentionable Times, which is our era today. Equality found the tunnel, the house, and re-invented electricity for light bulbs. The old people in the home of the useless also spoke of skyscrapers and cars. Before the Great Rebirth, the Unmentionable Times, again which is our times, were referred as evil in the story. The band Rush made an album, 2112, in 1976 which had a story line that was based upon the book Anthem. However, instead of the main character discovering a light bulb, he discovers a guitar. The entire book can connect to the first amendment in the Bill of Rights, which is freedom of speech. The book stresses the importance of having the right to express one’s self openly and not have any consequences for it. This connects the lack of free speech in Anthem to the struggle for keeping free speech today, which is hindered by censorship.

Comments I truly enjoyed this book because it showed us what a world would be like if we all had to think the same way. Anthem showed us what a boring place the world would be if we did the same routine each day and had to follow rules which do not let us express our individuality. However, one law in the book did not make sense to me. Equality told us that knowing your appearance was a sin and he wondered what he looked like. The one part said that the Golden One was drinking out of a moat when Equality approached. Wouldn’t they be able to see their reflections in the water? Not just the water, but any form of glass when the lighting is right? This part in the book was the only thing that did not add up for me, but despite that I thought the plot line and underlying message of being unique was an excellent one.