Anthem Essay In literature we can pull a deeper meaning from characters and what they say in the book. In order to understand these things you have to read between the lines and delve deep into what the author is really trying to say. It is important that you really understand the true meaning of the book so you can truly understand the whole point of the book. I am going to try and get the true meaning out of these three quotes and tell you what they mean to me.
“To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” To me this quote means that we can be influenced and learn from other people but we shouldn’t be exactly like them and agree with everything they say. We need to have our own original thoughts in order to be our own person. Just being able to think for ourselves and understanding who we truly are and why we are here will make us truly happy.
“It is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth” know what is right and runs away in to the uncharted forest. An example of this in the book would be that equality 7-2521 invents a light bulb, and takes it to the world house of scholars. They reject his idea and he runs away into the uncharted forest because he knows his invention is not useless. He finds a home there from “the unmentionable times” and lives in it with the golden one. This is a good example because it shows that if you do what you know is right then you will always be rewarded for and live a happier life than a person who doesn’t. He knows what is right and what he has to do and he is rewarded for doing the right thing.
“And we thought that we could trust this being who looked upon us from the stream, and that we had nothing to fear with this being” We need to be able to trust ourselves that we know what is right and that we are doing the right thing. Being able to look within to find what’s right and what’s true because it is our judgment, it doesn’t matter what others think. We have to look inside and find the best plan for us.
What I have learned from this book is that sometimes it’s hard to go against what most people consider “normal.” It takes courage to go against the majority and do what we feel is best. One example is that by the end of the book, equality 7-2521 is no longer known by that name, he chooses to be called Prometheus because that is what he wants to be called. He doesn’t let anyone choose a name for him he gets a name that he wants. Another major thing I learned is that doing what you know is best for you will always make you happy. In the end Prometheus finally emerges from his thought of “we” and becomes his own person.