Pyre

Christianity in Beowulf The devout followers of the Christian religion have a long-standing reputation for adapting and manipulating antecedent and subsequent “unholy,” outright pagan symbols, practices, and traditions to have their righteous agenda subsumed into popular culture, such as Christmas or December 25th - which, to Christians, is the birth of Jesus Christ, but historically was the celebrated day of the birth of the pagan god, Mithra, the Greek god, Dionysus, and the Phrygo-Roman god,…

and horrifying situation where the transgressor was killed in a terrible way. This made him curious about what the unspeakable word could possibly be. Equality, in his curiosity, says that “What -- even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the pyre -- what is the Unspeakable Word?” (2.57) He was desperate to know what that word was because instead of seeing pain and sorrow, he saw joy and pride in the transgressors’ face. During the flares, the transgressors’ eyes wandered the crowd and…

Helen Keller once believed that “The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” This is important to know, because the struggle for freedom will lead you to wisdom and progress. Struggle and suffering can lead to wisdom and progress due to learning from your mistakes and realizing that you made a mistake in the first place. First,…

A life engulfed with fear, drudgery, and forced obedience, has compelled the people in this dystopian society to accept a miserable way of life and give in to the dictatorial, collectivist regime, yet all it took was one twinkling star amongst a dark, desolate midnight sky, Equality 7-2521, to escape the clutching grasps of this regime and finally discover the long-lost yet such a priceless word to humanity, I. Ayn Rand, the prolific writer of Anthem, portrays her repudiation for the ideals of…

was a love potion. Years later when she suspected Hercules of cheating, she drenched a tunic in the “love potion” and had Hercules put the tunic on. The potion stung Hercules so horribly, he felt the need to die so he had himself burned on a mound of pyre, flammable materials used at a funeral for burning a corpse (“Heracles,” Greek Mythology…

as it transpired. This attention to detail is thoroughly described in the recounting of Croesus’ gathering of gifts to give to the newly verified oracle of Delphi. (Book One; pg. 21-22). After Croesus finished sacrificing animals and burning down pyres on behalf of this oracle, he melts down copious amounts of gold and fashions them into ingots. Herodotus’ fixation on details shows at this point when he goes on to tell of the dimensions of each ingot, the material that makes up each ingot, and…

“There's a million reasons why I should give you up, But the heart wants what it wants.” These are the lyrics to the 2014 breakup song “The Heart Wants What it Wants” by Selena Gomez. The Aeneid is the Trojan’s response to the Greek’s The Odyssey. The author of The Aeneid , Virgil, wrote this story with the intention of it being remembered throughout history. The psychological and social qualities that characterize humankind, especially in contrast with other living things is the definition…

Collectivism is any several types of a social organization in which the individual is seen as being subsidiary to a social collectivity such as a state, a nation, a race, or a social class. In the book Anthem, this type of principle is widespread and followed by everyone. The rulers of this society have one regulation to enforce and one only: Equality. This restricts numerous freedoms that we possess today. For example, no man can own a name, no man may think that of which his brothers do not,…

In the story “Anthem”, by Ayn Rand, collectivism plays a big role. The people are restricted by the collectivist government, the leaders banning freedom of speech and freedom of thought. The people are punished if they are to think for themselves, or go against the regime. Collectivism is the belief that the group should take priority over individuals in it, which is the main belief in the society that Equality 7-2521 lives in. It is the inverse of Individualism. The people in the society all…

Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted. The warnings are everywhere, everyone hears them, yet only few listen. They have been around since the dawn of radio, silently reminding the world of why they should still seek both change and truth. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 reminds the readers of how dependent the world is on its technology, and how important it is to remain true even when the world changes. From impending war, to global ignorance, to the illusions of happiness, these are his…