Afterword

After reading Afterword in 1984, I think in some ways we should take this novel as a warning for the future. Throughout history humans have been changing and adapting to thier environment, and finding ways to make things easier for themselves and eliminate problems that we all face. In 1984, the thought of love of another human being is illegal. This eliminates the possibility of being hurt, or heartbroken, and having secrets against the party. It is rational, and at the same time ridiculous. "But the physical difficutly of meeting was enormous. It was like trying to make a move at chess when you were already mated. Whichever way you turned, the telescreen faced you" pg. 92. as you can see it is forbidden to even think of wanting to be with another of your choice.
With all of mankind focused on making things easier and more convinient for themselves and making our society perfect, this utopia in 1984 in reality is not that far off. This book is a warning because it exposes the down fall of a utopia because I do believe that this type of society cannot last because of the power of human will.

Ayn Rand- Abortion

After reading how Ayn Rand feels about abortion I am quite surprised. She has completely stated that she believes it is up to the woman to decide how she will handle the situation. This is somewhat surprising and in some ways it isn't. After reading Anthem part of me would believe that she would argue that every being has a right and that the embryo has these same rights. In Anthem she makes people realize that the ego is really very important, and it is important to be an individual. She also expresses the importance of individual rights in Anthem. However she believes that an embryo is not "man" and therefore has no rights yet.
However, you can also see her expressing her feelings of individual rights because she feels that it is the right of the woman to make the choice for abortion. This gives the woman power to make her own choices and that is the philosophy that Ayn Rand lives.

Enemies/Friends

It was amazing to me, in these chapters, to see how the terrors of war and evil can turn onto people in the same unit. Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen get into a fist fight because Strunk stole Jensen's jackknife, and Dave Jensen ends up beating him so badly that Strunk's nose breaks. Strunk is then choppered to the rear of the unit and has his nose taken care of. After he returns, Jensen almost goes crazy because he has a fear the Strunk will kill him. I feel like he gets this way because of all the killing he has seen and had to deal with during the duration of the war. Jensen watches Strunk so closely and nervously. One day Jensen takes a gun and breaks his own nose, which makes them even. After all this they become best friends and fight together. they make a promise that if one were to get intobad shape, the other would kill them, to prevent the suffering. Strunk end up getting badly wounded and is choppered away and later dies. I feel like these chapters really show the physicological affects of war on a soldier, you see this in the way Jensen becomes paranoid. It is incredible what they go through.