The society of Equality 7-2521 is dishonest, and everyone knows nothing about the truth of the past. Equality 7-2521’s ego gets in his way of his own judgement. His perspective blurs his vision and makes his decisions selfish. His ways of individuality are better for the people. The brothers in the corrupt society would be better off if they were not in a collective society but if they were in an individual society, and stood as many instead of one.
Equality admits that he has broken laws, but that does not stop him from writing his knowledge down on paper. “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and put them down upon a paper no others are to see.” (Rand 17). Equality writes sins down upon a paper knowing he
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will be punished, for he is not allowed to write anything down without permission. Equality is selfish because he does not care if the information he is writing down will hurt the society he just wants to benefit himself. As Equality 7-2521 and International 4-8818 sweep the streets of the society they come upon a old, rusted, iron bar. When they see the hole Equality decides he will go in and see what it is. Equality later realizes that he had discovered an underground hideaway. International 4-8818 suggest to tell the City Council, but Equality was selfish with his find, and he said, “We shall not report our find to the City Council.” Equality immediately shoots him down “We shall not report it to any men” (33). He is being selfish when he says this because he knows that he and International 4-8818 could be punished for finding this but not telling anyone of the discovery. But instead of keeping them both from being punished he keeps his finding a secret and makes International not tell. There are no mirrors located in the society in which Equality lives. The people are not allowed to see themselves, for that is selfish. Equality does not care about the rules because he wants to see himself. “But tonight, for a reason we cannot fathom, we wish it were possible to us to know the likeness of our own person,” (62). Equality wants to disobey the laws of the society just so he can see himself. Equality is self absorbed and does not care about the rules he breaks while writing in his journal.
He is selfish when he tells the Golden One that they should forget about the society but talk to each other anyway. “There is no danger in solitude. we have no need of our brothers. Let us forget their good and our evil, let us forget all things save that we are together and that there is joy as a bond between us,” (83). By saying this to the Golden One he is suggesting that they should just forget the society and the wrong they have done and just be together. By doing this he can get the Golden One and himself into trouble because of what he wants.
As Equality escapes the corrupt society and makes his way into the uncharted forest he realized that he will live alone because he left the Golden one behind. He claims that he wants to spend his last days alone. As he walks through the uncharted forest he states “We are doomed. Whatever days are left to us, we shall spend them alone”
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(76). “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning of things. I wished to find a warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction” (94). Equality is conceited and holds himself above everyone else. He believes he holds value. Equality is so conceited that he neglects to see that everyone is the meaning of things. He sees everything in the world in a negative state. He is showing that he is all about himself and that he knows the best for everyone when he really does not. Equality 7-2521 reveals his selfishness as a person when he does not do anything for the better of his brothers.
Not only does he do things for the better of his brothers but he does everything for the better of himself. He believes that everything that he has discovered he does not owe it to anyone in the society. “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 other. I covet no man's soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet” (96).
Although Equality 7-2521 vision is blurred by his selfishness, his findings of the unmentionable times is just what his society and brothers need. When Equality finds the old house he finds and learns more about the unmentionable times he says he will build a society and he will pick his friends. “I shall choose my friends among men, but neither slaves or masters. And I shall choose only such as please me, and then I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey. And we shall join or hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire” (96).
He wants to have an individual society where everyone is equal and no one has to think for the better of them or their brothers. They do not have to say “we” when they are talking about themselves. They can use “I.” For the word “we” must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a second
thought. Equality knows about the unmentionable times and with the information, he wants to build a new society. One where the brothers and sisters no longer have to believe “we are all in one and one in all.” Equality 7-2521’s selfishness is what the society needed. His bothers need someone who will free them from their totalitarian society. He does not want to end up like the older men who look tired and out of shape all of his life. Because of his selfishness he is able to build a new society in the uncharted forest. He no longer stands on the beliefs of the society itself, but as an independent man looking for a change within the people and the society. The selfishness of one man will change people to become more independent on their own. He knows by letting people use the word “I” the people will finally be free of thinking people are united and are all equal. The thought of individuality is what comes to mind when Equality starts a new society.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where everyone was forced to be exactly alike? Well in Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem she directly confronts this topic through the main character named Equality 7-2521. Equality 7-2521 faces challenges directly relating to the issue that the government has been trying to address for many years. Equality 7-2521 is not like his brothers, he is smarter, wiser and even taller, therefore, his brothers think that he has “evil in his bones” (Rand 18). The book Anthem is the firsthand account of how Equality 7-2521 finds the word “I” amongst the word “We”. He does not agree with these rules that the government has put into place, these are the rules that held him back for a time, but in the end, pushed him forward to be his own person.
light to his society as they believed that what's done individually but not collectively cannot be
As Equality stops to devour the supper he caught, he notices a, “great satisfaction to be found in the food by which we obtain by our own hand” (Rand 80). For once, Equality puts the hunting skill he possesses to use, and the pleasure that comes with consuming an adequate meal made completely by him is far beyond that of meals prepared by others. And by residing in the Uncharted Forest, Equality experiences joy because he essentially is free and can pursue tasks he desires, like hunting, at any time. Furthermore, as Equality proceeds through his day he, “walks on til the sun had set” (Rand 80). Equality now does not have to conform his life to regulations, such as having a curfew, set by the World Council of Scholars. He has the power to choose where he wants to settle and the time at which he must be home, a decision that would not be left up to him back in the city. Ultimately, Equality for the first time broke the chains of uniformity that bound him since birth, and because of this he scoffs at the idiocy of the Scholars to realize that true happiness is achieved through liberty, not
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.
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 natural desire of Equality 7-2521 is knowledge who is born with a curse of uniqueness. He abides within the walls of a collectivist society. The citizens of this society prioritize the good of society over the welfare of the individual. In the beginning of the novel, Equality confesses that “[He] have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so” (Anthem 17). Equality is asking for forgiveness and proves this by quoting “[I] strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike” (Anthem 19). Through Equality’s journey of self-discovery, he gradually starts changing his mind on how he perceives of how critical the Council truly is. He begins rebelling without a care and denounces
Equality deserves the right to be motivated in his own way, and the people in the world today would or would not benefit from being motivated in all the same ways. Firstly, the main character was creating electricity to finally be added into the House of Scholars. Next, he deserves the right to be motivated in this way because he is his own person. Finally, in today’s world if everyone was motivated in the same way we would not be our own person anymore. In conclusion, every man has his own
"We are one in all and all in one. There is no man but only the great 'we', one, indivisible, and forever."
“For I know what happiness is possible to me on Earth. And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it” (Rand 95). In this part of the novella, Equality, the narrator, is aware that he can find his own happiness and he should show it once it is found. Throughout the novella, Anthem written by Ayn Rand, Equality is trying to find himself in a society full of equals. As he discovers the tunnel, Equality creates a light bulb in which he wants to flaunt upon the people of his society. Subsequently, when it is rejected by the Council, he hides in the forest from those who see him as a betrayer. Equality tries to find himself in a collectivist society that he knows he does not belong in, in which he evolves. The author believes in objectivism,
In a year that remains undefined beneath a small city lit only by candles, a young man is working. He works without the council to guide him and without his brothers beside him. He works for his own purposes, for his own desires, for the dreams that were born in his own steady heart and bright mind. In his society, this is the greatest transgression. To stand alone is to stand groping in the dark, and to act alone is to be shamed by one’s own selfishness. The elegantly simple society that Ayn Rand has created in the novel Anthem has erased all segregation and discrimination by making every man one and the same with those around him; only Equality 7-2521 defies the norm with his ruthless
“An inventor is a man who asks ‘Why’ of the universe and lets nothing stand between the answer and his mind”( Ayn Rand). In the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 is seen as an outcast compared to his brothers; different. Equality is the inventor, he questions the council and the world around him. When we take a closer look at the protagonist of the novel, Equality, we can see that he is intelligent, unique in his own way, adventurous, and curious. Some might say his curiosity is what drives him to to be the way he is and seek out the unknown. To most, these characteristics, proves Equality a prophet that stresses the idea of Equality for all.
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.
Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen’” (Rand 21). This chant repeated by all men has influenced the thoughts of all within the society. Changing the thoughts to say you are not unique but you live only for your brothers. Language has influenced the men and women to not think for themselves but only for the society itself. “’You are not one of our brothers, Equality 7-2521, for we do not wish you to be. …nor are you one of our sisters’” (Rand 43). Equality and Liberty have both just changed how they are thinking and see that neither one is like the others. They both see past the ways they were taught to think and have started to think for themselves and see the changes in each other. Within a society of “We” these two people have found the “I” within themselves but have yet to find the real
Equality has discovered something all by himself and he’s the only one that knows it. Equality would help create a new idea of the period of invention and discovery but only if it was accepted by the Council. (Pg 53 Rand)“We put a piece of copper and a piece of zinc into a jar of brine, we touched a wire to them, and there under our fingers, was a miracle which had never occurred before, a new miracle and a new power.”
Equality is a great thinker and is good at finding ways to innovate. He experimented everyday in his tunnel to create new things that could impact the world. Such as electricity, which Equality discovered, he wrote this in his journal “The frog had been hanging on a wire of copper; and it had been the metal of our knife which had sent a strange power to the copper through the brine of the frog’s body”(pg.53). Equality discovered the power of electricity that could save lives and make life easier, but can not put it to use because his ways are sinful to his society. He has a greater range of wisdom than the Home of The Scholars but he is useless to their society. Equality has “A greater wisdom than the many scholars who are elected by all men for their wisdom”(pg.54). That wisdom helps him create the lightbulb, something the Scholars will not accept. He is a different type of person than anybody else. Socrates best explains that “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”. Unlike his brothers there is a fire lit in Equality, the others are filled with orders from their leaders. His mind helped Equality become a better thinker and problem solver that not only helps himself but helps