Throughout the book “Anthem” the city has many rules and controls. Such as, not loving any person over another. Not saying the forbidden word “I”. Not stealing from another. With these rules and controls Ayn Rand created a collective society, but with the idea of a utopian society. The definition of Utopia is “ an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” The rules and controls listed above and the many more that are in the book “Anthem” describe a society trying to become collective but in a utopian way.
The purpose for these rules and controls are to keep the society collectivist. Fear is what runs this society. “... our brothers are silent, for they dare not the thoughts of their minds. For all must agree with all… and so they fear to speak” (Pg. 47). A Transgression that Equality would commit while being in the Home of Infants is he fought with his brothers. “There are few offenses blacker than to fight with our brothers, at any age and for any cause whatsoever” (Pg. 20). The purpose for this rule is to stop violence. If you look at the world around us all you see is violence. Guns, knives, people killing with bare hands. Ayn Rand’s reasoning for the rule of no violence would be a rule that I personally think would work, if
When it comes to fighting with his brothers. He may not be as strict as the society he use to live in, but he as well as others do not just want fights to erupt and the be the way men solve problems. Fighting with guns and knives and also person to person has become a huge conflict in today’s society. Equality;s last society had a good and effective way of keeping violence to a minimum. In our society nowadays not every parent or guardian is always looking out for their child's best interest. So trying to get every parent in this society to stop violence once they see the first sign of it would not
One day, Equality is supposed to be in the theater, but he is not there. Consequently, Equality is imprisoned to the Palace of Corrective Detention. Oddly, the prison does not have many restrictions, so easily Equality escapes. After his departure, he goes directly to the Council of Scholars, which is where a group of people have a job to gain more intelligence. Intentionally, Equality goes here because he wants to reveal his new discovery of electricity to the scholars. In effect, they denounce him for carrying out a discovery because it is contradicting to the laws of their society. After this happens, Equality bolts to the Uncharted Forest, he begins to actualize that people should live as individuals instead of one group. Liberty follows Equality and, eventually, catches up to him. In the Uncharted Forest, they find a sublime house on top of a mountain. Once they examine the house, Equality and Liberty decide to live in it. Uninhibited, they develop a more profound relationship along with a newly-founded liberated life. As an individual, Equality wants to free the people of his society and eventually begin his own. Equality says, "We matter not, nor our transgression. It is only our brother men who matter. Give no thought to us, for we are nothing, but listen to our words, for we bring you a gift such as has never been brought to men. Listen to us, for we hold the future of mankind in our hands" (70; ch. 7). Equality's life dramatically changes as he extends his life as a
The book Anthem is a book that can be perceived many various ways. To me, Anthem is about an outstandingly smart young man, named Equality 7-2521
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
Ayn Rand wrote Anthem as a critique of Communism, yet along with that she demonstrated her own belief system of individual ideals. Objectivism was aptly shown throughout the entire novella with the thoughts and actions of the main characters, Equality and Liberty in contrast with the universal thought of the city and society. Rand clearly showed her philosophy well in this story.
Unlike his brothers he is not afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in ,no matter the consequences. Liberty 5-3000 puts it best when they give him the nickname ‘The Unconquered’. This shows that they too know that nothing can conquer Equality, for he let's “ Nothing come between the answer and he mind”. Although it is forbidden Equality makes a friend, falls in love, and went into the Uncharted Forest. However Equality sees fear in the eyes of the street sweepers and everyone in the City, fear controls their actions and beliefs. Ayn writes “ There is a fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name , without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak.”(Rand, 15). Equality sees it for what it is , wrong. And he is determined to do something about it and change the corrupt ways of the council. The council has permanently scarred them into thinking that if they do one thing wrong, make one mistake, they will be punished, often by death. Niccolo Machiavelli puts it best when he says “ It is better to be feared than
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel is set in a future society that is so highly collectivized that the word “I” has been banned. The world is governed by various councils who believe that man’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the Great Truth “that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together” (Rand, 20). Any indication of an individual’s independent spirit is swiftly and brutally put down, with the transgressors being punished with severe prison sentences or even death.
Equality 7-2521 struggles in the Home of the Students because he is too intelligent and deft at absorbing information. The ability to think quickly and easily was looked down upon by the teachers and the government. Equality notes, “It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The teachers told us so…” (21). The students are taught that being intelligent is evil and that they cannot be superior in knowledge than the officials in the government. Equality’s intelligence leads to his job as a Street Sweeper because the government wants to suppress radical ideas by assigning him to a socially lower job and authoritative status. As literary critic Tore Boeckmann states about Anthem, “[Equality] belong[s] at the pinnacle of any rational social hierarchy, yet [he is] thrown (at least temporarily) to the very bottom” (135). Overall, the public citizens in Anthem are extremely selfless and lack a sense of self-worth because the government wants them to put the good of the community above the
One of the overarching conflicts in Ayn Rand’s, Anthem, is Collectivism versus the belief in Heresy. Rand is a firm believer in heresy, making her one of history's most notable heretics. In the same way Anthem is bias, so is my ‘Big Idea’ collage. I used propaganda and symbolic images to express the importance and just within heresy. The two silhouettes of a human heads serves the significance of the seemingly everlasting conflict that both groups have. All the images that make up the silhouettes is what the different parties stand for. Equality’s rebellious views and experiments, such as ‘the power of the sky’ and the sacred manuscripts, are enclosed within the traced head on the right side. On the other side, I dissected the authority in
In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand you have a situation where most of humanity is recovering from a drastic disaster. If you were to research more about the trouble with the world today, you would understand that there has been major errors with only mankind to blame. Much of Anthem describes Earth, not a pretty sight from what I could picture. Being told to do everything as one or not using the word “I”, I’m sure that most people today wouldn’t agree on such a law. The way Anthem’s story line goes, you could tell that Earth had perished and human civilization was trying to be kept under control. With so many high powered groups, you would want to question if Earth would ever end up in a predicament like that. Also having people escape such
Ayn Rand, the author of the novella Anthem, was born is St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. The novella was written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. Anthem is based on a man named Equality 7-2521, who has found a secret tunnel and has hidden inside of it to write down his thoughts, among other things. In this dystopian society it is illegal to write, have a personality, or a sense of individuality of your own. One of the themes in this novella is the domination of one’s individuality. Equality 7-2521 discovers the importance of his existence when he realizes one is the center of one’s universe, and that one’s perception gives the world its meaning, the creation and component of a persons own identity and personality. In Anthem, the
Have you ever thought what if you couldn’t pick your job or what you wear? Well this is what the book of Anthem was all about written by Ayn Rand. The humans that lived in this city could not choose anything. They were told where they had to work based upon how they did in school. These humans were not allowed to do anything besides the job that they were assigned. This is a distinctive way of life from our way of life. There are some similar things about their society and our society.
In the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand takes place when mankind has entered another dark age. A man named Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where he struggles to live equal within the brotherhood. In the world he lives in people are told they exist only for the sake of serving society, and have no other purpose. Therefore, each individual is assigned a vocation as a permanent life career which determines who they socialize and live with. However, Equality being very different from his brothers, believes in individualism and rejects the collectivism society around him. The concept of individualism vs collectivism is portrayed in the story because individuality is unknown to the people where no one is unique or excellent in any way. The people
"There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil," Ayn Rand, author of Anthem, once said. This being said, being in the middle of self rights and the majority vote would never work for it is evil. It is only evil because of the way nothing can progress and after all progress is the main part of a society. Choosing a side is the first step to a better society, but more importantly its the side you choose to follow. Objectivism is the route one should pursue to find a better tomorrow.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a very unique novel. It encircles individualism and makes the reader think of how people can conform to society and do as they are told without knowing the consequences and results of their decisions. Also, it teaches the importance of self expression and the freedom that comes along with being your own person and having the power to choose what path to take in life. Figurative language is used often in this book and in a variety of quotes that have great importance to the theme, plot, and conflict of the novel.
Throughout life, you are faced with everyday conflicts; getting cut from soccer tryouts, not receiving the grade you wanted on a biology test, arguing with your siblings, etc. Equality 7-2521 was faced with conflicts as well; however, to a more extreme level. Several external conflicts throughout Ayn Rand’s Anthem, shape Equality’s character. The controlling factors of Equality’s society, that lead to several conflicts, prevented him from sharing his intelligence, choosing and communicating with others and venturing outside the city walls.