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Essay on liberty and equality
Essay on liberty and equality
Essay on liberty and equality
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Have you ever felt that you are limited in what you can do? Anthem is a society that limits what everyone does. They limit how you think and what you know. No one really knows why they do this but Equality and Liberty know that it is extremely wrong. This is why when they are in the society they commit so many sins. Some in which are very bad, but Equality knows that in reality they are just above average things to do. The book begins with "it is a sin to write this" which means that in the beginning he thought that it was a sin. Later in the book he has a different idea of what is a sin. The other people in the society think that these two are extremely bad, but don't know that they have done more sins than what people have seen them do. One being Equality taking the manuscripts from the house of scholars. Another being Equality and Liberty leaving the society and living together forever. The quote " I wished to know the meaning of things, I am the meaning" pg. 94. It shows that towards the end of the book Equality realized that the ways of the society were and had always been wrong. The only reason why Equality thought it was a sin to write what he did was because the scholars made him think what they wanted him to. Throughout the story Equality started to realize that there wasn't anyway that it could have
Later he also realized that he loved her too. This quote from the beginning of the book " we are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great we. One, indivisible forever." Pg. 19. Describes their relationship at the end of the book. By then Equality has completely made up his mind about what he thought about the peccadillo he has committed. His decision was that he absolutely did not agree with anyone of the societies decisions. For this reason he stayed in the house they found on the mountain that was far away from Anthem
In the beginning of the Anthem, Equality 7-2521 commits a sin, a sin that everyone knows they are not to perform. Equality 7-2521 broke both rules with a sentence consisting of seven words in his diary. "It is a sin to write this," were his first thoughts. This was the very start of Equality 7-2521's breakthrough development. Luckily for him, he was not caught committing this sin.
Equality is different from the other men in his world, and because of this he has lived most of his life concealing his emotions, being outcasted and punished by the leaders and teachers of his society, and stripping himself of his talents and uniqueness, therefore he has every right to criticize the leaders who kept the real Equality trapped inside for so very long. Equality expresses his love for science and aspiration to be a Scholar throughout the book and talks of how he wished to be sent to the Home of Scholars so badly his hands trembled under the blankets at night and he had to bite his arm just to stop the pain of wanting something so much (Rand 24). To want something so badly and have to conceal it everyday with no one to share it with is a very difficult thing for someone to have to do. Equality also struggled with concealing his friendship,“International 4-8818 and we are friends.
On page 72, the dialogue between several characters gets very violent with discussing what Equality’s punishment is. They say, “‘ How dared you, gutter cleaner, ‘ spoke Fraternity 9-3452, ‘to hold yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the many?’ ‘You shall be burned at the stake,’ said Democracy 4-6998. ‘No, they shall be lashed,’ said Unanimity 7-330, ‘till there is nothing left under the lashes.’” This shows that they, indeed, do hold anger deep beneath them, however, they are not supposed to show this side of negativity to their brothers. In this community, the citizens are forced to think of each other as equals; nothing more, or nothing less. Having this rule forces them to always act happy, and with not having anything to complain or to hate, the whole world follows this rule. However, once Equality experienced neglect or harsh behaviour from his fellow brothers to whom he thought would have loved his idea, he starts feeling a new emotion; anger. Hate is within all of us, however, whether or not you choose to express this feeling is your
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
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
However, Equality is inventing for his own selfish wish, he wants to be included in The Council of Scholars. Equality shows this in chapter six when he states “Then, tonight, we knew we must escape. For tomorrow the World Council of Scholars is supposed to meet in our city.” (6.66). Equality was placed into the Palace of Corrective Detention, for he would not share where he was with the Councils of Home. He showed his main purpose of inventing by wanting to go to the World Council of Scholars meeting. He wished to share his invention in hopes to be placed in the Council of Scholars. Another example of how Equality displays his true motive to creating electricity is when he first discovers the power that electricity holds, and how it can not only benefit his society but how it could possibly get him into the Home of the Scholars “ We shall go to this Council and we shall lay before them, as our gift, the glass box with the power of the sky. We shall confess everything to them. They will see, understand and forgive. For our gift is greater than our transgression. They will explain it to the Council of Vocations, and we shall be assigned to the Home of the Scholars. This has never been done before, but neither has a gift such as ours ever been offered to men.”(5.61) here Equality literally declares what he believes will truly happen if he shares his invention, he will
At this point in the novel Equality does accept the moral teachings of his society. He doesn’ feel shame When Equality and his friend find the hidden tunnel from the past, they knew that they probably shouldn’t explore it, but they do it anyway because curiosity is purely human nature and sometimes you just have to go with your instincts rather than what other people say for you to do.
At the start of Anthem, Equality is a collectivist who knows there is something wrong with the world he lives in. This allows him to evolve into an individualist. Equality says , “It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own” (Rand 17). Equality admits he has committed a transgression and hopes to be forgiven. Equality, at this moment, is living to the standards of others because he lives in a society where no man is to think differently than another. This contradicts Rand’s philosophy because she says that a man is entitled to his own happiness and that you are in charge of it, but since Equality is living to the rules of his society, he cannot find his own happiness, for he is almost forbidden to do so. Likewise, it states in the text, “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). Equality realizes that he is not to live nor commit himself to the standards of others. He has come to the understanding, as Ayn Rand says in her interview, “That he cannot demand that others give up their lives to make him happy, nor should he wish to sacrifice himself for the happiness of others.” Equality finds his own happiness because he has found himself, and he has learned that he cannot put his happiness in the hands of others nor put the happiness of others in his own hands. This allowed him to find himself, and to find
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.
He defends not only his rights but his society’s. There is a quote by a Greek poet, Sappho, that says “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” The Council of Scholars gives every resource available to the society so they will be able to survive in a world where the word “I” does not exist. A person should not go against someone that has done everything for them. It is supporting that Equality should not become critical of his leaders, but his moral values were stronger than the fact that the Council helped him to become the human he is today. The leaders of Anthem select the best decisions according to them to be able to provide resources for people. Equality decides go to against them and bring a new perspective to his society, which puts the leaders’ moral reputation in doubt about how secluded they keep the society. Furthermore, Rand stated in her essay, “There is no escape from the fact that men have to make choices; there is no escape from moral values; ...” (Rand, 7). It does not matter the situation, men have to make choices even if others disagree with them. Equality makes multiple choices to improve his society, while the leaders make choices that only helps them to be in control of every single thing happening in Anthem. At some point Equality started to realize that there was more to learn and enjoy, it was not just to work with his “brothers” and support each other. He
Equality 7-2521 embodies this essential idea throughout the story because of his eternal struggle with not quite being able to conform to society’s expectations. He is physically different from the others (Rand, 1946, p. 2) as well as mentally different as he disagreed with others even as a child (p. 4) and was smarter than the rest (p. 5), and this mental sharpness is carried into adulthood as he is able to discern the feelings of oppression and fear that weigh over all men in this time (Rand, 1946, p. 30). Rather than acting as a machine, he feels preferences and desires within himself. Equality 7-2521 enjoys science, dreams of being a Scholar, likes a pretty girl, and wonders about himself. Since these things are not shared by all, they are forbidden, and despite how simple they may be, they define
In the beginning of the book, Equality is part of the society and is not an individual. “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see” (Rand #261). This quotation shows how Equality feels about sin and what he thinks a sin is. This perspective on sin is not correct because he thinks being an individual is a sin. “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist, by
Anthem has an ancient mythical feel to it. A biblical and mythical feel to it. At times the book could even read as scripture. The first word of Anthem is “Sin” many other words in Anthem read as biblical, Transgression, Evil ones, Unspeakable word, Unmentionable times, these words all capture a religious feel . Many totalitarian states adopt some of the workings of an organized religion. Along with that there is the lack of positive religious words, Divine, Holy, sacred. The use of positive religious words does not start until Equality 7-2521 flees the nation and discovers the word I.
Anyone can instruct another person to act in a certain way, but a dictator forces action upon others making it impossible to follow one’s passion. The leaders in Anthem governed the citizens’ lives; they gave each person a job and selected his or her mates. Equality 7-2521, the main character of the novel, wanted to grow in his knowledge of the earth and the Scholars’ inventions. In order to do this, Equality needed to become a Scholar himself. His life’s work depended on his vocation assignment, for in his society, “You shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you” (pg. 22). When the Council of Vocations declared him as a Street Sweeper, it prohibited him to study science and to create inventions. Equality loved the “Science of Things”, but he was unable to follow his passion because of the law (pg. 23-26). The leaders of this world controlled the mating process too. Producing offspring can only be done at one time, the “Time of Mating”. “T...