Blog Five

1) What does the uncharted forest represent in Anthem?
The uncharted forest represents the society as it is trying to from the rest of the citizens. This is because the forest is supposed to be somewhere people fear due to the fact that their individuality and free will is impossible to be expressed here. There are said to be many more forests than the main one discussed and they are all said to have grown over ruins of the Unmentionable Times. I think that the uncharted forest represents knowledge and education. The community fears the forest like they fear education because they know the details of the Great Burning and no one wishes to have the same fate. They fear education because it requires change and the changes might not be that easy. The people fear intellect because they do not wish to have their own thoughts or make their own discoveries. Equality is the perfect example of someone that does not fit in with the rest of his crowd because he develops his own thoughts and he makes his own discoveries. Equality escapes to the uncharted forest after his attempt to bring his community to individuality and curiosity fails. He says earlier in the book that he feared the forest, but he also said that he did not remember running to the forest; that his feet had just taken him there. His mind knew that he was different and that he needed to be separated from the community that feared everything. The uncharted forest represents determination, free will, curiosity, individuality and intelligence.
2.) Describe the house from Chapter X and its contents in your own words, and explain why Liberty and Equality find it so strange and unique.The house was a home of someone during the Unmentionable times. The house is something that we live in now. It has electricity (although Equality needs to find out how to fix it), mirrors that they can see themselves in for the first time, bedrooms, colorful clothes, a kitchen, windows, and a fireplace. They find it so strange and unique because they aren’t used to it. They have never seen themselves in a mirror, so they don’t know what to think.
3.) Explain the following quotes from Chapter XI in your own words, and discuss how they can be applied to your life:a) “Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me.”b) “For the word 'We' must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a second thought.”A: This quote means, to me, that he will only follow the guiding star for now, and will never follow another man.B: The quote is an extremely powerful one. When he said, “A second thought”, he meant that we will always remember his past, and what he was always told to do. But it is still one’s choice if he wants to use it or not, because in this new world, everyone is free.