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Recommended: Objections to egoism
Prompt #3 In today’s society, it is considered wrong to be an egoist. The author, Ayn Rand, expresses her belief in individualism and egoism in Anthem and “The Soul of an Individualist”. Both pieces of literature cover the topic of egoism. From analyzing these texts, readers characterize Prometheus as an egoist, discover the meaning of the word “ego”, and realize that egoism can be a good and bad thing. In the texts, Anthem, and “The Soul of an Individualist”, Ayn Rand expresses the meaning of the word “ego”. Egoism is each man’s primary obligation to achieve his own welfare or well-being. Each man has the right to be selfish to benefit himself. A quote from “The Soul of an Individualist” states, “An egoist is a man who thinks and works alone” (Rand “Soul”). The author is saying that egoists only work alone, probably …show more content…
In most of the story, Prometheus expresses how he stands with his brothers, and how they strive to be alike. He lives in a collectivist society and has never known what it is like to be an individual. After escaping to the uncharted forest, he starts to realize the importance of individualism, “ I am. I think. I will. My hands . . . My spirit . . . My sky . . . My forest . . . This earth of mine. . . .” (Rand 94). At this point in the story, Equality has learned that meaning of the word “I”. He is also understanding how it is like to be an individual. He finally feels that he has found his true identity. Another quote from the story reads, “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man’s soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet” (Rand 96). Prometheus has realized that he is his own person and he does not have to care about others like he used to. What Prometheus says can be seen as selfish, and, seeing that egoists are known to be self-centered. Prometheus is an
In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, Prometheus is a man who must overcome his collective society to find himself. Prometheus is born into a society where everything is equal. Without concern for consequences, he loves a woman and looks and discovers knowledge of the past. After his discovery is rejected he flees to the forest, and his lover follows. In the forest is where he finds the meaning of the word I. There is where he says "... we crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost in the gray of it," he talks about what his society did to the differences of man, after he had run away. After Prometheus finds the house he says, "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end," which means his happiness is special and achieving this happiness is his final goal. Lastly, "I am, I think, I will," is the final sign that Prometheus has acknowledged himself as one being. Prometheus' quotes show that his emergences from his past, longing for happiness and realizing that he is a being make Prometheus the...
Many people seem to get entangled into society's customs. In the novel Anthem, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives a period of his life as a follower. However, Equality eventually, tries to distant himself from his society. He is shaped to be a follower, but eventually emerges in to an individual and a leader. On his journey, he discovers the past remains of his community. Ayn Rand uses Equality's discoveries of self to represent the importance of individuality in a functional society.
In Anthem there are so many rules and controls, yet there is one that truly rises above it all. And that word is “I”. There is no “I” only “We”, for the great “We” is what they follow. And they are one not individual, they are one. And poor Equality can’t seem to understand that the rules are rules, but in a way he’s making his own rules. And he is mistreated for his looks and appearance and dosen’t seem really one with his brothers. And he’s curious and most don’t even question life, and he notices the little things, “Yet as we stand at night in the great hall, removing our garments for sleep, we look upon our brothers and we wonder. The heads of our brothers are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched, and their muscles are drawn, as if their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a word steals into our mind, as we look upon our brothers, and that word is fear.”(Rand 46). He has a wanting to learn and build his knowledge, but the rules don’t permit his decisions.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel 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. It is this dysfunctional world that Equality 7-2521 is born into. The novel begins with Equality 7-2521 alone in a dark tunnel, transcribing his story.
Can being selfish ever be acceptable? Anthem by Ayn Rand and the song “I Get Out” by Lauryn Hill share a similar theme relating to selfishness. “I Get Out” expresses the theme that man should be selfish, with Hill singing of reaching a new and better life strictly for her benefit. In comparison, the theme of the Anthem is that one should praise man’s ego and, again, allow themselves to be selfish. Anthem focuses on standing out from the crowd and expressing individual interests for their own sake when Equality, a young man forced into a collectivist society, finally chooses to escape to an independent land..
Like at the end of the book Ayn Rand portrays the importance of human EGO.
In Anthem, the narrator, Prometheus, lives in a community in which all of the children born that year live in the same house until they turn fifteen. Then they are assigned a job and live with the people that share that occupation. This keeps the people from having an emotional attachment to someone like they would have with a family. Totalitarian rulers often control the thoughts and beliefs of people as well. The citizens of the community are forbidden to question or explore things that are unknown to other citizens.
Anthem is a story of man’s struggle to be free and to fight the masses of conformity. It tells of human nature and the want to gain all the knowledge that one could possibly attain. Man loses his safe haven and his security when he lets this lust for knowledge overpower him and lets it be seen by others. He becomes vulnerable Like Johann Faust, Prometheus sells his life for wisdom. Unlike Faust, however, Prometheus is expelled from his society but gains his freedom of individuality and his freedom of knowledge and the ability to understand. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea sin against society to become singular and understanding much like Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge to gain wisdom; as a result, they can be compared to each other by there desire for learning and by their damnation.
It is a rare conception where a human being is completely and utterly alone. One problem we tend to overlook due to our primitive ideals of staying as a group, is the fact of us becoming solely to that group. In the book Anthem ,by Ayn Rand, a man named Equality 7-2521 sees this problem evolve and how it becomes a nuisance to his society. The book has made me open my mind up to the ideals of doing things for yourself and not always for those around you. The feeling of the story showing a world where many are brought down for being unique and talented hurts me as I imagine a time where all are mere specs of the world. The book hits the hard points of what can easily go wrong with our society if we decide to go over the line. I can see a life
In the end of "Anthem", Prometheus comes to the realization that his society's teachings and ideas were not helpful in advancement to the society. Ideas like individuality, that the society tried to squash out of its people, is beneficial to the society as a whole because men are meant to think for themselves. In the book Prometheus made the light bulb back when he was in the society, but once he showed it to the World Council, they but him in jail. After this incidence he realized that no matter what brilliant things he invents, it will never be something that particular society can use. At first he is confused, but realizing that he was acting like an individual made him see that maybe society is the evil one and he is the good one. All of this made him realize that maybe he is not meant for this, and he is thrown out into the uncharted territory. He learns that men are meant to think for themselves, and that if they do society will become more advanced and they will be able to move forward instead of staying at the same spot forever. This is how he realizes his "sins" were actually good and that men are supposed to think for themselves.
Everyone in the world has met someone with some level of ego, and they always think of them as a “bad” person. But is being an egoist such a bad thing? The thing about having an ego is that it sets people apart from everyone else, it’s what makes them an individual. The author of Anthem, Ayn Rand, believes that in order for there to be some sort of progress in a society there has to ego involved. In the society that Prometheus lived in Anthem, there are people living with no type of ego and they have no type of personality. In history, there has been inventors and scientists creating different things, some might of gotten punished or beaten down because of it, and yet without their achievements life would probably be like living in Anthem. All of those achievements were created because of their ego. Something drove them to do it, and yet many of the things people depend on are the things they created. In the novel, Prometheus was an egoist, and although many people today would portray that negatively, he was a good person.
Prometheus had been lashed and abused numerous times, yet he still dared to disobey. He broke the law; that is why he had been ill-treated and held as prisoner. And yet, he defied another law. Prometheus escaped the prison; he had now blatantly broken two laws. Prometheus continues challenging the Council, for now he had lost count of how many laws. Law by law, he continues to disobey. However, this has all been left behind once Prometheus had entered the Uncharted Forest with Gaea. From that point on, they have left behind their past society and the hardships that came with it. In a surprising turn of events, they stumbled upon a house and in that house contained sacred documents from the Unmentionable Times. Those documents, the scriptures that have contained the words “I” and not “We”, have begun a new era for Prometheus. By learning that the word “I” can give one such an identity and freedom, it felt liberating for Prometheus. He became stronger, bolder, and braver. For there is no longer an equal “We”, but an individual “I”. It is no longer “We think”, but rather “I think”. And for this, he wept. By unearthing this spectacular discovery, he continued to become empowered and spirited. He suddenly had a rush of adrenaline and wanted to preach about this wonderful concept
Ayn Rand's classic story of one man's desire to become an individual in a nameless society presents a compelling refutation of collectivism in all forms. The hero, labeled "Equality 7-2521" by the State, chooses to challenge conventional authority as he learns the joys of experimentation and discovery, the ecstasy of human love, the challenge and fairness of liberty, and the happiness of self-interest. Equality 7-2521 writes three unique phrases in his journal: 1. "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to an end. It is the end.", 2. "We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.", 3. "The word 'We' . . . must never be placed first within man's soul.". These phrases will be discussed individually in the remainder of this essay.
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.
Equality invented something that no ones ever seen before. He built something to make a difference in society and to brighten the world, light. Light is what he invented and it was a miracle when it worked. Another similarity between Equality and Prometheus was their sacrifices for their values. No matter what circumstances they both went through, they stuck with it and did not give up because they believed that they could make a difference in society. They did not want to give up because it was something that they believed they could do to make the world a better place for themselves and others. All though Prometheus was punished by Zeus for all time. Equality knew that if he was discovered he would be punished for what he invented but he didn’t care if he got punished or not. When Equality brought his invention to the C...