Analysis Of Ayn Rand´s Anthem

Imagine a world where the word “I” is banned from overall use, and is replaced by the pronoun “We”. There is no individuality here. Total equality is established, but at the cost of any distinctiveness from one another. This is the world of Anthem; a short story written by the controversial author, Ayn Rand. The civilization set in Anthem worships ethical altruism, living for others rather than oneself, and strictly opposes ethical egoism. This dystopian society can be compared to that of today’s North Korea, a communist country located in east Asia. The dystopian society described in Anthem can be compared to real-life North Korea due to the fact that they both restrict individual choice and forces control onto people against their will,

In a sense, the people have been “brainwashed” to think that the way they are living is the way life is supposed to be. In an online article, The North Korean Defector Living in London, Kim Joo Il tells his story about escaping North Korea. When describing his experience in schooling while in North Korea, he stated that “...at school, 30 percent of our studies had been about the Great Leader.” North Koreans are constantly told to worship their leaders and protect their country at all costs. He also described how depressed and mournful he was when he found out Kim Jong-il had died, questioning it because he thought Kim Jong-il to be “invincible.” In Anthem, citizens are also “brainwashed” to think that the World Council is all-knowing and superior. For instance, when Equality 7-2521 revealed his invention of the light bulb, Unanimity 2-9913 stated that “This would wreck the Plans of the World Council, and without the Plans of the World Council the sun cannot rise” (Rand 74). Unanimity is claiming that the invention of the light bulb will destroy the “plan” that the World Council has for them, when in all reality the invention will advance their society

For instance, in North Korea, citizens worship their last three leaders: Kim II-sung, Kim Jong-il, and the current leader, Kim-Jong-un. Thousands of statues, monuments, and pictures are displayed well throughout the country. In the documentary previously mentioned, government officials even criticized and lectured at a photographer for “improperly” photographing the three monuments of their supreme leaders. They took complete offense for this “heinous” act and claimed that they were going to be deported for it. In Anthem, however, the general population honors not three, but a group of “thinkers” that rule overall and address wrongdoings. This group is called the World Council of Scholars. In general, there tends to be less pressure towards the public to worship the World Council of Scholars than the leaders of North