Anthem Part 1; or, They Killed Mankind's Brain

The first paragraph of a story is always important. It tells you what the story is about, serves to hook your interest, maybe introduce you to the main character. In a first-person novel, like Anthem, it gives you the narrators first thoughts, introduces him as a person. It's supposed to make you interested in him and his plight, whatever it is. Let's see how Rand handled this most important section of the tale:

"It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!"

Let me tell you what I get from this first paragraph. First off, the character is defined by his fear of being caught. That, and his knowledge of the really stupid rules of his society. I'll get to the society later, but let's just focus on the narrator. He's got a designation (another thing that bugs me), but for now, I'll just call him the Wimp.

The Wimp is, at this moment, sitting underground scribbling on paper. As we'll learn later, he's a street sweeper. A street sweeper capable of purple prose, apparently. Later on, it describes his education process, which is basically rote memorization with a hatred of overly inquisitive students. The Wimp was, of course, one such child, who wanted with all his heart to be a researcher, an inventor, a Scholar! *Cue angelic music*.

Here I want to point out a minor problem with this society. Apparently, at one point, these people decided that the best way to end the world's problems (after a nuclear war, I think) was to give up individuality. To the point where the word "I" has been removed from the dictionary. This is, as I'm sure all of you must know, complete and utter bull.

It's called suspension of disbelief, Mrs. Rand. It's when you call upon your readers to accept something ridiculous for the sake of the story. You can, and have, stressed it too far. I would be swearing, but I've got some respect for the dead. People who do not agree with your ideology are not all sheeple. Nobody I've ever known in even the most oblique sense would ever do this. Human beings enjoy their individuality. The shock of nuclear war would not be enough to do this.

So, in order to preserve my rapidly straining sanity (I'm on page 5!), I'll just assume that mind controlling drugs were involved at one point.

Anyway, The Ominous Councils of Ominousness knows of the Wimp's intellectual tendencies and, not liking them, makes him a street sweeper. Might I point out that you wouldn't have this problem if you didn't educate your citizenry well enough to produce purple prose? Teach the plebs that 2+2=5, put on the conical cap, and give the idiots something to do! Heck, if you must keep the very good education for all, you could say he was sent elsewhere and kill him if you truly want to stifle intellectuality. Even when Rand's villains are in charge of everything, they act like morons. Which is of course Rand's deranged point. I don't think she believes that people can be truly smart unless they're Objectivists at this point.

May I also take this opportunity to point out that they brainwash these children from birth? Somehow, the Wimp manages to break out of this with no trouble. Him and only him. Again, we'll deal with this issue later. Let's just get back into this muck.

The OCoO have as their apparent goal the destruction of human thought. If you're "useless" (my words, not Rand's), you don't deserve to live. If you like science more than history, you're evil and deserve punishment. If you believe in a round Earth....wha?

Another passage from Anthem, about what these kids learn:

"We learned that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it, which causes the day and the night. We learned the names of all the winds, which blow over the seas and push the sails of our great ships. We learned how to bleed men to cure them of all ailments."

So, for some reason, they're Medival. I can understand abandoning lots of sciences in the case of an almost Earth-shattering nuclear war. But is there any practical reason to remove the fact that the Earth is round? It's not as if things were more peaceful with a flat Earth. I think that this is more of Rand insisting that all people who aren't on her side are completely illogical, but it just strikes me as Bad Writing on her part. Again.

You know, I'm 8 pages into this turkey and I'm already wondering if jumping off my roof will kill me. I think I have to end this now, before I really do.

Tomorrow, we shall continue the Tale of the Wimp, which includes such tremendous discoveries as sex drive. Assuming I can get as far as Section 2 before I have to stop again.

Let me just say that you could sum this whole entry up with the title: They Killed Mankind's Brain. Or, better yet, Ayn Rand Killed Mankind's Brain to Facilitate a Stupid Backstory.

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...I will not speak ill of the dead, I will not speak ill of the dead, I will not speak ill of the dead...