Anthem: The Sin of Living Anthem Essays

Anthem: The Sin of Living

Prometheus, the hero in the novel, Anthem, has struggled to free himself from the collectivist world that he lives in. His victory was possible by breaking a lot of the rules. He realized from the beginning that he wasn't like all the other children at the home of the infants and at the home of the students. When he became a street sweeper, he was so sad. He wanted to progress and become smarter at the home of the scholars, but since he was different he was not sent there. Prometheus knows he is different. It is made aware to him in the home of the infants. It is stated in the book Anthem, "... and of all the children that year, we were locked in the cellar most often." Everything about him was different, he was too tall, and too smart and everything he thought was different. He was made an outcast by this collectivist society because he was different and in a collective world everyone is supposed to be the same and work for their brothers and follow all the rules. When he was in the home of the students he really tried to fit in but it didn't work. His teachers knew he acted differently because he asked too many questions. Sometimes he fooled his teachers, but even then he was still an outcast because of his appearance. Ayn Rand wrote, "We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall." Prometheus breaks rules from the beginning of his life in the home of the infants he fought with his brothers and in the home of the students he was too smart. He wondered things so he asked a lot of questions and that was forbidden. When Prometheus found the tunnel he must have known that was a sin because International 4-8818 told him that, "It is forbidden." Before he could have not known what he was doing then realized after. The first sentence of the book Anthem is, "It is a sin to write this." His whole life is a sin.