The Declaration (5)

It's impossible to escape from Grange Hall. The Catchers will come after us, and Mrs Pincent will too. But we have to go. Mrs Pincent was talking about Peter and she wants to get rid of him. She said that I was stupid too. Indoctrinated. I hate Mrs Pincent. I thought I liked her. I though Mrs Pincent knew best. I thought she did horrible things for our own good. But she doesn't. She's cruel and mean and she doesn't think I'm Useful at all, even though she told me that I was, even though I've always done everything that she said I should. I'm scared about leaving Grange Hall, though. I don't know anything about the Outside. On the Outside I won't be a Prefect. I won't be set to be a Valuable Asset either. I don't know what I'll be on the Outside. Just an Illegal, I suppose...But Peter says we have to go to London. Peter says we have to go back to my parents...Peter says that in Bloomsbury I won't have to scrub and clean and be Obedient; that my parents will teach me about literature and music and that I can join the Underground Movement. (pg. 137-138)

 I feel that this passage from The Declaration symbolizes the struggle people have to break free from a conformist society. Throughout the novel, Anna struggles with choosing which path is the right one: Mrs. Pincent’s words or Peter’s words. In the beginning of the novel, she chose to listen to Mrs. Pincent, but in the end she realized the truth, which was she was using Anna. Out of anger and realization, Anna chooses to follow Peter and his urge to escape Grange Hall, along with the way the government is ruling society. Anna’s fear symbolizes her reaction to finding out the truth. Similar to when anyone finds out the truth about something, Anna is in somewhat of a denial state where she does not know which side is the right side. Though she is afraid to escape Grange Hall she knows she must do it in order to be free from a world where having a mind of your own does not exist.

Anna and Peter are people who step out of the ordinary and challenge the thoughts of the government. From the beginning, Peter saw that a common thought among the people was not the way a society should behave. Everyone should have self-expression and have different perspectives. At the end of the novel, they both see that a government like theirs does not bring happiness or a better life like they were told. Without a government with absolute control, Anna can live in a world where she doesn’t “have to scrub and clean and be Obedient”. People are born different because no two people share the same thoughts on everything. Since the world is so different, then it is wrong for people to be forced to follow certain behaviors and laws. Therefore, the government depicted in this novel where they establish a uniform thought among the people is corrupt and dystopian.