Although there are many significant structures that come along with the construction of a story, theme is the most important one. Theme in a story is the basic structure or the main idea of what the story is all about, using strong or immediate words. In the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, there are several themes the author purposes to the reader. Some themes Ayn Rand shares with the reader in the book Anthem are love, worthy, perfection, honesty, responsibility, etc. Although there are numerous themes that could apply to this book, only one stood out to be most relevant to my own life. The theme that was most relevant to my life was the theme ‘responsibility.’ In the book Anthem, there is a various amount of quotes that claim ‘responsibility’
In the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand takes place when mankind has entered another dark age. A man named Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where he struggles to live equal within the brotherhood. In the world he lives in people are told they exist only for the sake of serving society, and have no other purpose. Therefore, each individual is assigned a vocation as a permanent life career which determines who they socialize and live with. However, Equality being very different from his brothers, believes in individualism and rejects the collectivism society around him. The concept of individualism vs collectivism is portrayed in the story because individuality is unknown to the people where no one is unique or excellent in any way. The people
“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.
The society in Anthem is a very collectivist society, thus a single individual’s health and survival might not be as important as with an objectivist “society”. However, the society in Anthem does address health and survival in a collectivist way. By having the Old Ones not work and “the State take care of them” this society deals with one of the biggest health problems, old people (7). This society takes a socialist method of health care and the State provides for all of the Old Ones which shows how they are meeting the needs of health and survival. The society takes a different approach on survival. Because of the strong collectivism, individual lives do not matter and “there are no men but only the great WE”, as long as the WE survives any one person can die and the society will not care (3). Anthem’s society takes survival to mean the survival of the whole not the individual. This shows that society is not needed for the individual’s survival, as not only does this society provide little individual health care, Equality 7-2521 in the later part of Anthem is easily able to
Anthem is a book full to the brim of symbolism. Some of it is clear to see and others you have to really pay attention to capture. Anthem is not a hard book to understand, but it can still be difficult to grasp the full meaning of it. The meaning of which is elusive at points, slipping between your fingers and resting on the pages in plain view. Unity, we, I, Ego, it all plays a major part in this book along with the symbolism of things.
Many people have trouble being apart of a society. These troubles come from trying to fit in, which is also known as conforming. Another trouble is trying to express one’s own style with one’s own opinion. This is a trouble due to the fact that many people have the fear of being frowned upon when being the black sheep of the group if one’s opinion does not correspond with other opinions. This is where one’s own sense of who they are, individuality, and trying to fit in, conformity, can get confused. A nickname for conformity is “herd behavior” which is the name of an article where the author relates animals that herd with people that conform. Many people have a different philosophy of this topic which will be expressed in this essay. An important
Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.
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.
in his world it was believed that ?What was not thought by all men cannot
It is a rare conception where a human being is completely and utterly alone. One problem we tend to overlook due to our primitive ideals of staying as a group, is the fact of us becoming solely to that group. In the book Anthem ,by Ayn Rand, a man named Equality 7-2521 sees this problem evolve and how it becomes a nuisance to his society. The book has made me open my mind up to the ideals of doing things for yourself and not always for those around you. The feeling of the story showing a world where many are brought down for being unique and talented hurts me as I imagine a time where all are mere specs of the world. The book hits the hard points of what can easily go wrong with our society if we decide to go over the line. I can see a life
Theme is the underlying power beneath a story; the “force” that makes the whole experience worthwhile. Theme is “an idea or message that the writer wishes to convey” (Holt 874). A theme can be either stated or implied. A stated theme is a theme “that the other expresses directly in his work (protic.net); an implied theme is a theme “that is not directly stated in the work” (protic.net). As mentioned before, both of these stories have an implied theme, which now is revealed to mean that the author of the story insinuated it. Themes exist in all stories (verbal or written) and can be long, short, true or false. “Earth people will beat out any other intelligent life-form in any and all competitions” is a theme, but “good always beats evil” is one too. “Once upon a time . . .” stories have themes too, except they are more one-dimensional. For example,...
Imagine a society where individualism is frowned upon. Where self gain and expression are outlawed and imagination is considered a sin. Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel Anthem paints an interesting picture on a society that is all about selflessness. In this novel Ayn Rand warns against blindly depending on your government for everything and the consequence of a society that has done everything to make everyone equal. But is striving to be concerned for our fellow man really all that bad or is it actually the most glaring fault in our government.
When Equality 7-2521 finds the tunnel from the unmentionable times, it changes his life. He soon figures out that he is not like his brothers in the sense that he thinks for himself and wants to learn for himself. Equality from Anthem by Ayn Rand was a smart as a child and grew up to be an even smarter adult. Equality 7-2521 knows when he discovers electricity on his own or finds a women pretty he is not like others. Other people do not look for mates, or think of another job for themselves, or even want to learn more than stay in the place that they are in. In this time of Anthem by Ayn Rand the pronoun “I” was no longer used. Everyone was using “we” so they were seen as one group which was known as collectivism. An excerpt from Fountainhead, which was also written by Ayn Rand, was about being oneself and being happy about it. Equality was only able to get out of the collectivism because
“There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak” (Rand 46). Equality 7-2125, the main character in the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, lives in the City, where the citizens live in fear. Fear of the government, fear of the Council, fear of each other, fear of their ideas. Due to that fear, the City’s government, the Council, has brainwashed all of the residents in to their way of thinking. The things people in the City accept in order to live a life of obedience, drudgery and fear are the Council is all knowing, conflict is unacceptable, and everyone has to be the same.
The idea of individualism has been a main part of Ayn Rand’s life because she accomplished so many things during her childhood. She grew up in a time when russia was beginning to control what their people did. The government would choose what jobs they would have and what food that they would eat. Ayn Rand realized that this was wrong and separated herself from the group and tried to convince others that this was the wrong thing to be doing. In her book “Anthem”, it takes place in an undated era where the concept of individualism has no place and is almost forgotten. Man and Woman do not have names, instead they have numbers to identify themselves. In this world the common people have no power in what they do or influence. Although this book
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many