Monday, March 30, 2009

Exert from Anthem Essay

I recently entered an essay contest about Ayn Rands Anthem. I was asked to explain why the characters rarely reached the age of forty-five. Below is an exert from my essay.

Equality 7-2521 says that " When a miracle happens and some [of the Old Ones] live to be forty-five, they are the Ancient Ones." Many reasons can be found as to why most people do not reach the age of forty-five. An individualized world can have a huge impact on a person and whether he or she wants to live or die.

Most people, by the time they reach the age of forty-five, are weak. They have been worked hard their whole lives. Over exercise can severely wear the body down. With a hectic schedule, the people could not get enough rest. Working the same schedule everyday with no rest, with the exception of maybe just a few hours, is too much work. Weakness could have also been brought forth by punishment. If someone stepped out of line in any way when they were younger, they were severely punished. They were sent to the Palace of Corrective Detention where they would receive their punishment. The Palace would strip the scoundrel and then beat him or her with a whip. The beatings from the corrective detention officers could wear down the body.

In a world with no love, no hope, and no freedom what is there to live for? Having nothing to make life worth while can make living to see the age of forty-five a miracle. No one can express his or her own individuality in any way; they have to be the same as every other person.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Anthem Book Review

Ayn Rand's Anthem is a story of hope and perfection. The novel upset me at first, but began to brighten as it continued on.

The characters in Anthem live in what they view as a perfect world. There is no I, only WE. All the people are living for their brothers and sisters, not for themselves. Everyone is supposed to be happy and appreciate what they have. They believe there is no happiness except in pleasing their brothers.

Every character in Anthem is assigned a job by the Council of Vocations. When assigned their job, the characters have to go live in the house of that vocation. None of the characters get a say in what their job is to be. They are supposed to be happy with whatever is assigned to them.

Eating, sleeping, and even resting are only at designated times. Each morning, when a bell rings, all the people are to get up, get dressed, and eat breakfast in a matter of thirty minutes. The characters work in five hour increments, and at the end of each five hours they get a meal. The people are allotted thirty minutes for lunch and one hour for dinner. At the end of each day the people are allowed to go to bed until the bell rings the next morning.

There is no love in the world Ayn Rand created. Although all brothers are supposed to love each other, they cannot love one more than the other. All people are supposed to be equal, and if someone is loved more than another the rules have been broken. Men and Women are not supposed to fall in love either. They are not even supposed to look at each other except at certain times each year.

Anthem is a very good book. I would recommend Anthem to any reader. The book made me wander about what a perfect world could really be like, and about the true importance of the word "I".

The Host Book Review

Aliens are taking over the world! The human species is on the brink of extinction! Within Stephanie Myers The Host Aliens, souls, are taking over the earth. The Host is an amazing novel, and is probably the best book I have ever read.

The souls taking over the earth are not hostile, they actually just want to make the earth more peaceful. The souls view humans as a violent and vicious race, and they want to stop the fighting and anger. Do you think the human race is violent and needs to be changed? Would you fight back knowing that your body was being taken over?

The Host contains many themes, one of them being that just because someone is different does not mean he or she is evil. People all over this world make assumptions about others just off of differences. If those people could get to know the other person then they might possibly change their mind about him or her. Everyone on this planet is different, and judging someone because they are not like you is not fair. Melanie Stryder's body gets taken over by a soul named Wanderer. Normally the human mind would disappear when the body is taken over, but Melanie does not leave. Melanie shows Wanderer all of the cherished memories of the ones she loves. Melanie knows that her brother and boyfriend are still out in the world and she begins to lead Wanderer to where she thinks they are. Melanie unknowingly leads Wanderer to a cave housing over twenty humans. The humans are disgusted by Wanderer because they think she is just another soul, and they do not know about Melanie. After living with Wanderer for a while the humans discover that she is not so terrible. They begin speaking with her just as she was another one of them.

The characters within The Host are very realistic. Wanderer does not care about her own well being, but about the well being of others. Wanderer stood up for a man who wanted her dead because she did not want him to be harmed. Wanderer is not violent, but she is full of real life emotions. She feels anger, jealousy, fear, and even love. Melanie is full of realistic emotions. She becomes jealous very easily. When Wanderer is holding Jamie or Jared in her arms Melanie becomes full of jealousy. Melanie becomes angry when she cannot speak to anyone herself. Melanie and Wanderer are not the only realistic characters in The Host though. Almost every single character can be related back to a real person. They all show anger, fear, hatred, worry, love, and concern.

The Host is an amazing book that I would recommend to any girl. Boys probably would not like The Host, but girls probably would.




3 books 637 pages

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

To Perfect My World...

This world is far from perfect. The people in this world are to judgmental, and just about everyone tries to follow the crowd.

To perfect my world all the fighting needs to be stopped. Many of the wars going on have no point, and are just making the earth worse. Wars are not the only fighting that needs stopped; many countries fight bloodless battles everyday. If every country in the world could get along and work together this world would be so much better. Family and friends quarrelling needs to halt. If friends and family members cannot get along nothing will be perfect. All the inhabitants of this world need to get along for the world to be perfected. Gang violence is the worst. Young kids, and even some adults participate in gang violence.

To make my world perfect no one needs to be judgmental. People make the wrong assumptions all the time about other people. The people they judge do not always take criticism so well. No one should have to worry about being criticized in this world.

The one most important aspect of my perfect world is Jesus. The world would not revolve if it was not for Jesus. I believe the world would be one thousand times better than it is right now if every single person would except Jesus into their life.

There needs to be individuality in the world. No one needs to follow a crowd, they just need to be themselves. People need to think for themselves and not worry about what anyone else is doing. Individuality could make this world so much better.