Question

Which excerpt from Anthem best illustrates the theme that collectivism and group thinking limit man’s potential?

Answer 1

The correct answer is D. What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word “We.”

Explanation:

A theme is an underlying message that can be found in almost any type of text or speech, this means the theme is the message the author wants the audience to understand but that often requires some interpretation to be understood as it might not be given explicitly. Additionally, themes are usually connected to the ideologies, beliefs or purpose of the author that writes a text or delivers a speech.

In the case, the excerpts belong to the novel "Anthem" by the Russian-American writer Ayn Rand that includes the idea that collectivism and group thinking limit man's potential as part of its themes, one of the excerpts that show this is "What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word “We” considering the author or narrator is wondering why men ended in a submission and difficult situation and it gets to the conclusion that the main factor of it was the use of the word "we" which can be interpreted as men thinking and acting together instead of individually. This means the narrator knows it was collectivity the factor that led to the decay of men which is linked to the theme that collectivism and group thinking affects negatively man's potential.

Answer 2

The correct answer is D.