Anthem

What did you think of the book overall?

• Did not like it

  • The characters were one dimensional

  • Lacked development of thematic elements

  • I agreed with the moral

    • Against collectivism, utilitarianism, and communism

    • Like reading Nietzsche without the eloquence and wit

Thoughts on Rand’s anti-collectivist morals?

• Sees it failing under every circumstance

• I agree with her conjecture

Preface

• Anti-collectivism

  • Lead to what happens in the book

    • There are already remnants of it around

  • Those who advocate for it and other utilitarian goals are concealing their true motive

• Meant to counteract the criticism against her ideals

Equality 7-2521

• Ayn Rand’s prophetㅡthink the prisoner from Plato’s “Allegory of the Den”

  • Often there are strings drawn between the events and that of Jesus and Moses in the Genesis

  • Yet instead of God, he worships himself

• Discovers the lightbulb

  • Specific symbol: light

[I]f this should lighten the toil of men . . . then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men

• Furthers the notion of him being a prophet and bringing enlightenment upon the people

  • When discovered he feels the need to share it for the greater good of mankind

• His discovery of his own refection

  • Finalizes his break with society

[W]e wonder, for the first time in our life, what we look like.

• He realizes his own pride and vanity

  • Ideal attributes as seen by Rand

• “Prometheus”

  • Will bring light to earthㅡnot only literally with the lightbulb, but metaphorically with the philosophy of individualism

  • Help those also fighting for individuality

    • Rand’s overall goal

• Romatcisted characteristics

  • Rand overlooked any flaws in this character to make him ideal

The Setting

• Based off of Soviet Russian

  • An exaggeration of the collectivism caused by its communism

  • References to Russia removed, making it a more object cautionary tale

But I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fate.

• Unmentionable times

  • Shows how society forgot its own greatness

• “Allegory of the Den”

  • Rand claims that her novel does not have a “traditional plot” when in reality it is a derivative of “Allegory of the Den”

Imagery

• Rand uses imagery to promote her values

  • Using positively connotated words with what she values to be good and the opposite with what she opposes

    • Equality and Liberty are described as “strong” and “vibrant”

    • Whereas the evil council is described as “featureless” and “soft

      • Shapelessness is a motif throughout the novella

        • Meant as the antithesis of individuality

        • Hence is it meant to represent the bad things

Individuality

• In this collective narrative, individuality is looked down upon

  • With the equality hated for being tall and international for having “laughter in his eye”

  • The use of the collective “we”

There was no pain in their eyes and no knowledge of the agony of their body. There was only joy in them, and pride, a pride holier than it is fit for human pride to be.

• The greatest freedom

  • When the man speaks the unspoken word, “I”, he burned on the stake, yet he is unafraid

    • Showing how the uplifting power of discovering self-identity and individuality

I am. I think. I will.

Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past . . . but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must.

• Collectivism leads men to compromise their ideals and values

  • Removing the ability from individual achievement: the source of all great change

    • The reason why that society is stuck in the dark

      • The many are holding society back, not the individuals

• When Equality is exiled

  • Demonstrates that individuality is greater than the one’s role in society

Golden One

• Seen as different from the rest

  • The pinnacle of all good

  • Hence must be worshipped as Equality implies

• Relationship

  • The City Palace of Mating is viewed as bad in the novella

    • They arrange marriage ridding choice and love

    • The opposite of what Rand values and the love between the Golden One and Equality

• Anti-Feminist symbol

  • Shallow

  • Only in the plot to act as an object for Equality’s adoration

• “Gaea”

  • A vessel for Equality’s children

    • Very degrading

No Exit

“I understand that I'm in hell. I tell you, everything's been thought out beforehand. [...] Devouring me. What? Only two of you? I thought there were more; many more. So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire, and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is other people!”

• Evil is independent of good

• Hell is naturally on earth

• The gaze/ opinion of other devours him and reduces his individuality

• He cannot act within the gaze of Inez because it makes him condemn his freedom and responsibility

  • Sees it as his only proof of his existence

What did you think of the play?

• General consensus: enjoyed the play

The Setting

• No Mirrors

  • Mirrors are a way to escape the judging look of others

  • Cannot tell how you look--others will say to you

    • When Inez sees Garcin, she thinks his mouth looks dastardly

      • Garcin must decide whether to trust his judgment or hers

      • He listens to her

        • An example of what Sartre called “Bad Faith”

• Lack of appearance and furniture

  • Symbolizes how emotions and personal interactions will drive the plot

• Three characters

  • Menage a Trois

    • Choose to listen to yourself or listen to the two others

• Second Empire

  • Delays the explanation of the room

  • Second Empire is out of date and inaccessible

    • Suggests that hell is really on earth

    • Could be an allusion to Nazi-occupied France

      • Sartre was rumored to be apart of the resistance

      • Saw what was happening and Paris at the moment to be like hell on earth

Inez

• Compared to the other characters she can cope with reality and accepts that she is dead

• Always tells the truth unlike the other characters

  • She does not subject herself to the same kind of hell as the other

  • Acts as a foil to the other characters

Garcin

• A coward

  • Seeks the approval of others

  • Pretends to like furniture and be okay

  • Denies having a nervous twitch

    • Pretends to be afraid of his impending doom

• “Bad Faith”

  • Worse than all the others

  • He needs Estelle to tell him that he is brave

  • He cannot leave the room if Inez believes he is a coward

    • Thus he surrenders his free will to her

    • He cannot exist without others' opinions

    • He is not secure in his thought

“When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.”

• Cannot decide for himself whether or not he is a coward

• He obsesses about people judging and whether

“ But they won't forget me, not they! They'll die, but others will come after them to carry on the legend. I've left my fate in their hands.”

• Listens to what other people say about him

• He is stuck in the past

  • He justifies his current actions by his past

  • Condemns himself to live in the room forever

    • Thus he makes his hell

Estelle

• Vain and caught up with what others think of her

  • The mirror scene

  • Pretends to be virtuous and pious

“ I've six big mirrors in my bedroom.”

Valet

• Has no eyelids

  • Can never go to sleep

  • Will never have a break from the torture

Self-Deception

• Estelle pretends to be in hell by mistake rather than accepting that she should be in hell for good reasons

  • She pretends to be in hell by mistake rather than accepting that she should be in hell for good reasons

    • Left her husband to have an affair

    • Got pregnant and murdered the baby, causing her lover to commit suicide

• Garcin lies about his story

  • Says that he was a pacifist journalist and refused to fight during the war, is only is hell for being an abusive husband

  • He fled his post in the army because he was a coward and was shot dead for fleeing

• Neither Estelle nor Garcin will accept that they are in hell

“What's the point of play-acting, trying to throw dust in each other's eyes? We're all tarred with the same brush.”

• The specific use of the word “play-acting” evokes an idea where Estelle and Garcin are actors lying to the audience and themselves

• They are both blinding themselves, so they are unable to see the truth and reality

  • Reinforces the idea of this being an artificial setting and a mental thing

  • There is “no exit” from self-deception

Existence and Essence

• Estelle does not believe she “exists” until she sees herself

“Don't you ever get taken that way? When I can't see myself, I begin to wonder if I really and truly exist. I pat myself just to make sure, but it doesn't help much.”

• Estelle is unable to rely on her judgment

  • She asks Inez to be her mirror

    • An Example of Bad Faith

      • She is not making her own decisions; she gets Inez to make them for her

      • Cannot define her essence

    • She gives Inez power over her

      • She surrenders her individuality to her opinion

        • This would have never worked out because they do not have the same perspective

• Inez can rely on her judgments

  • Sarte sees her suffering and her ability to do this as a step towards affirming one’s existence

“ I'm always conscious of myself—in my mind. Painfully conscious.”

Torture

• The mirror Scene

• Garcin-Inez

  • Garcin’s existence undermines Inez’s self-autonomy

• She knows that Estelle’s beauty will torture her forever and accepts and decides to face hell on her terms

  • She decides not to be bound to her past

  • Comparable to her counterparts, who are refusing to do the same

    • Inez does not base her existence on who she was

    • She bases her existence in the present and uses her present to determine her essence even though she is in hell

In Cold Blood: The Corner

What was your favourite part in this section?

• Either this one or the previous one

  • Both of them tie everything together very well

Who was your favourite character?

• Perry

  • Very complex and well written

• Kenyon

  • Very relatable and lovable

What did you think of the book as a whole? Did you like it?

• Overall Consensus: liked it a lot

When talking about Doc Savage (353) is comparative to A Clockwork Orange: taking away a man’s evil— is altering his nature and just as nefarious. You make the man a clockwork orange.

What is your opinion of Dick’s and Perry’s psychoanalysis?

• Accurate

• For some reason, Dick comes off as mentally sane, but reading this section makes you realise how much he is not

• Perry should have gotten an insanity plea and gotten the mental help he deserved

What is your opinion of the trial’s equity?

• Unfair

  • They should have been a different judge

  • Defense attorneys could have tried harder

  • Changed locations

    • Although the reasoning for choosing Holcombe makes sense— generally against capital punishment

How do you feel about the witnesses brought in throughout the trial?

• Perry’s character witnesses were cool to hear from

  • Sad how their opinions were devalued

    • Joe was not taken seriously because he was native American

• The inmate who informed the authorities of Perry and Dick was very interesting to see interrogated

  • Only snitched for the money