An Unjust Society
The Novel Anthem by Ayn Rand follows the story of Equality 7-2521. He as an individual that ultimately decided to stand proud for his life, limb and liberty and curse the society that tried to take that away from him. Therefore, I believe he is fully right for him to change his mind and disagree with the leaders of his society; he would also agree with Ayn Rand essay “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society”.
First, Equality should be correct in changing his view about his society. Since he was a child he was “not happy in those years in the Home of the Students. It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin” (Rand, 21). It is a shame that he
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No because, when Equality met with the World Council of Scholars, a council member critically said, “How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the kids of your brothers? And if the Councils had declared that you should be a street sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than is sweeping the streets?” (Rand, 71-72). The council member said that if Equality was forced to be a street sweeper for the greater good of all men and that he has no further use to men other than cleaning the streets. Equality is not free at all and therefore he isn’t happy, and the basis that built this society is broken. Furthermore, when Equality start seeing The Golden one, He mentions a rule, “For men are forbidden to take notice of women, and women are forbidden to take notice of men.” (Rand, 39). Meaning that men lack freedom not only in professional matters but in personal matters, also. His leader must be ignorant and incompetent to not see that this is the exact opposite of what this society stands …show more content…
First off, it start with “I will name only one principle…That principle is: One must never fail to pronounce moral judgement (“How does…”). At the end of the story, He morally judges his society and decides that it must change. Furthermore, “It is not justice or equal treatment that you grant to men when you abstain equally from praising men's virtues and from condemning men’s vices.” (“How does…”). Equality would agree with this statement because he was punished for all the “sins” that he committed and the only virtues his society had was for everything to be done together. Finally, “Moral values are the motive power of a man’s actions” (“How does…”). I believe that all of Equality’s actions were because of moral value from him writing his pages to naming The Golden One to him breaking out of
In the book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 had never seen his physical appearance. He was surprised to see such a strong individual staring at him. One day after escaping into the woods, he finally met himself at a flowing stream and gained new confidence. This was an essential part of the theme of "Anthem." This shows how Equality finally found himself as an "I" in order to help others see themselves as an "I." This is an important part of "Anthem" since it reveals Equality 7-2521's determination, bravery, and development as a person.
Equality eventually escapes from the place that never felt like home, and runs off with his love, Liberty 5-300, who he calls the Golden One. After learning about the men from the Unmentionable Times, Equality would agree with Ayn Rand’s words in her short essay, “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?”, where she not only talks about the importance of having moral judgment, but also about being brainwashed by your leaders and government. Equality can relate because, for his whole life, he was in a society where their version of wrong and right were opposites to what they should have been. Individualism and moral judgement weren't encouraged, they were prevented, and that is where the society became irrational.
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
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 society that Equality 7-2521 was brainwashed in since birth was based on no individualism. Ayn rand in fact was the maker of the self individualist philosophy. She based Equality’s qualities on individualism. Which means putting yourself first and showing all qualities of individuality. Equality 7-2521 wanted to have certains thing like people, places, and the way he learned more than others. As well as looking different than others; taller, smarter and of different color. He was an Individual; which allowed him to want to be a scholar in the house of scholars.
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
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 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
Rand explains the anatomy of the human, their various conflicts throughout their lives, and how the human is expected to react in certain circumstances. Furthermore, Ayn wrote this sentence in her essay, “But to pronounce moral judgment is an enormous responsibility” (Rand, 4). Judging someone by their mistakes takes a good amount of responsibility, when accusing someone there has to be evidence to support their claim. Humans do not go around the world throwing accusations at each other, if the world was like that, it would be a disaster. Equality has a lot of responsibility by becoming critical of the leaders of his society. He believes that there is more to the world, that there is still many unknown things to discover outside of his society. In fact, Ayn added on her essay the following sentence, “An irrational society is a society of moral cowards -- of men paralyzed by the loss of moral standards, principles, and goals” (Rand, 18). Equality always follows the rules, he nevers breaks a rule until he discovered that there is more to learn about the world. It is difficult for him to act a certain way, only because he wants The Council to be
When Equality 7-2521 turned fifteen, he writes that he was told that “you shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you” (Rand, 22). He says that although he knew it was sinful, he had a desire to become a scholar and learn the “science of things.” In Equality 7-2521’s world, it was immoral and illegal to prefer one subject or person over another because everything was supposed to be equal. Equality...
People in every Society are placed in categories according to gender, religion, race, and age from which one of these categories include social class. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, people are placed in social classes according to the government 's liking and instead of race, age, gender etc their social class depends on the job they are given by the government. This was done to treat everyone equally in order to keep peace in the society. However, sometimes equality can cause rebellion and this idea is portrayed through the protagonist of the novel, Equality 7-2521.
Equality had more than one primary motivation on his mind. I think the world would be a better place if everyone were motivated in the same way. Equality had more than the light on his mind. Equality started looking at Liberty 5-3000 and called her the ‘Golden One” “You are Beautiful, Liberty 5-3000” ( Chapter 2, Paragraph 17) I think Equality is allowed to feel this way. He should have the right to like a person more than he likes another person. He cared about Liberty and was glad she was only seventeen, so she didn’t have to go to the Palace of Mating. “How old are you?” we asked “Seventeen” they whispered “And we sighed, as if a burden had been taken from us, for we had been thinking without reason of the Palace of Mating.” ( Chapter 2, paragraph
The word collectivism often makes people cringe. Overall, there is a general fear of not being able to make personal decisions in America. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, collectivism can be defined as; emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity (“Collectivism”). In Anthem, Ayn Rand describes an extreme collectivist society. Although Anthem’s society seems extremely surreal, aspects of its collectivist society closely mirror today’s society.
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).
If Equality were to created the society he envisions he would have little to no rules in it. Equality, going from living under strict rules to living in the woods with every freedom one could think of, would have to go through a long and gradual adjustment period. Therefore, eventually he would have some rules but, before that is to happen he would make his society completely rule free without thinking of the consequences. A quote that supports this claim is “Perhaps, later, some men had been born with the mind and courage to recover these things which were lost…” (102). This shows that Equality thinks people are always good and strive for improvement yet, he fails to realize that there is evil as well as good. He believes that humans will by default be good without rules but that is simply not factual in any