Theme Of Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Anthem is a short novelette written by Ayn Rand in 1937 and vividly expresses the Rand’s beliefs in praising the human being’s ego and rationalism that never changed during her life. From the literary point of view, Anthem could be compared with Neil Peart’s 2112 album as its basis can be observed in the song. Both works show a grim vision of a world of dark ages in the future where their main characters suffer from lack of free choice and struggle to find out their individuality in a fearful and ignorance society. Since there are many similarities between the novel and the song, this paper will compare and discuss the conflicts, discoveries, accomplishments, and the common theme of both works that involve the protagonists in their way to individualism and
In Rand’s novel Anthem, Equality 7-2521; as every other human being, has the desires to know the mysteries that dystopian society is hiding from him: "mysteries in the sky and the water and in the plants which grow. But the Council of Scholars has said that there are no mysteries" (Rand 21). He escapes the society to explore rest of the old world and finds an old house, furniture, books, electricity and light or in other words, the intellectual enlightenment and liberation. It is there that he also discovers the weird but beautiful words “I” and subsequently “I love you”. Likewise; in Neil Peart’s’s lyrics "2112", the oppressed hero finds a guitar and discovers music which also stands for the resurrection of sentiments. However; to the temple priests, the guitar is not just a guitar. It is actually a philosophical source that can potentially destroy the elder race believes and the equality that is created throughout the society by them and “A Toy” that can cause the collapse of society by creating difference between the individuals. In brief the main characters of both works discover their individuality and

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