In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the citizens live in a communist society. It is seen from many points in the story. In Anthem no man is higher than the other. It even goes as far as to what job they have and who they talk to is chosen for them. This is supported by the thoughts in the main character's head and the words he uses to write, his everyday life, and the many other examples of communism in the story. In Anthem Ayn Rand displays communism by letting us know the thoughts in Equality 7-2521’s mind. The story is written all from his point of view and is in first person so we only know what is thoughts are. “Our name is equality 7-2521….” Chapter 1 Paragraph 5.
“Their body was straight and thin as a blade of iron” Chapter 2 Paragraph 4
Equality does not know the word i so he refers to himself as we, but we know there can only be one equality. He also refers to everyone else by they, their or it. He does not use any genders for this doesn't matter if everyone is treated equally as one.
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Here we see that Equality really did not know the word I and that he can't have a way with his own thoughts. That it is a sin for him to think about anything outside of the council. Equality's life in Anthem is doing the same stuff over and over again. He does not get to choose what he eats or where he works or what he does when hes done with work.
“For the lips of the oldest did not move as they said “street sweeper” Chapter 1 end of Paragraph 28“So we went into the house of street sweeper” Chapter 1 Paragraph
Equality 7-2521 aspires to be a self-proclaimed individual. In the novella, Anthem, Ayn Rand discusses of a dystopian society in which every man and women are set equal to each other. Equality is damned by the World Council after a discovery of light and electricity, and a contradictory belief in individualism. Freedom is an essential factor in the happiness of man. Equality is scorned for his different looks, mental competence, and independent beliefs but laughs when he recognizes that he should be glorified for understanding that his perception of life leads to contentment.
Equality lives a great amount of his life as a follower because his conforming society establishes him to act a certain way. In fact, Equality follows the rules of his society as most men do. He follows the laws
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
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
Ayn Rand wrote Anthem as a critique of Communism, yet along with that she demonstrated her own belief system of individual ideals. Objectivism was aptly shown throughout the entire novella with the thoughts and actions of the main characters, Equality and Liberty in contrast with the universal thought of the city and society. Rand clearly showed her philosophy well in this story.
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
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
In Ayn Rand’s book, Anthem displays the struggle of the individual against a government that refuses to recognize the individual’s value, a communist culture. Equality 7-2521 is an intelligent and determined innovator who challenges to violate the rules of his strangling society and discover the forbidden word, the word that changes everything: “Ego”. By discovering this lost word, Equality rediscovers the idea of the individual, and the worth of the individual outside of the collective group of “we”. Ayn Rand names Equality and Liberty, Prometheus and Gaea because they are very similar to those gods. In recognition of his discovery, Equality renames himself after Prometheus and his love, Liberty 5-3000, Gaea, after the epic Greek myths that the two characters so strongly imitate.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel is set in a future society that is so highly collectivized that the word “I” has been banned. The world is governed by various councils who believe that man’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the Great Truth “that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together” (Rand, 20). Any indication of an individual’s independent spirit is swiftly and brutally put down, with the transgressors being punished with severe prison sentences or even death.
The beginning of the story opens with Equality being chastised because he is too tall and too smart. He noticed that “to be free, a man must be free of his brothers” (Rand 101). This quote shows that when society controls him, and he relies on everyone else, a lack of progress is inevitable. Even the higher powers control their city with aggressive strength; the Council of Vocations assigns Equality to be a street sweeper even though he wants to be a scholar. Out of curiosity, he finds a tunnel while on duty. He begins to write about himself, even though “it is a sin to think words no others are to see” (Rand 1). Having no obligation to others allows one to work towards their own goals, Equality is able to pass his previous instinct where “all men are one” (Rand 20). With the revelation of himself as being a separate indiv...
As one reads Ayn Rand’s significant quotes from the story of anthem, there is always a main theme that is trying to escape, just as Prometheus escaped in her story. All three of the listed quotes work as a trio to sing that We; as society, works to defeat individuality. The quotes emphasize that we cannot survive without individualism and being alone brings out our unique personalities. It is true that all the quotes work as one, but at the same time they have their own individualism. Each quote holds a purpose of its own and the author wants to express the quote to each persons understanding.
word “I” for the first time, summarizes his moral assessment of sin. As Equality 7-2521 flees
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
Ayn Rand authored Anthem about 20 years following the occurrences of the Russian Revolution in 1917. In addition, the misdoings and ills of the Soviet regime under the leadership of Josef Stalin contributed in influencing Rand’s insight of the significance of collectivism. The USSR shared a common belief that Communism, which can be explained as an extreme side of socialism, would assist the citizens by collectivizing numerous aspects of their existence. The collectivist principles made an assumption when people serve one another to the best of their ability, every person living in that society mutually benefits (Johannessen, 32). Nonetheless, in Russia, the rise to power by the Communists had been blood-spattered as well as entangled with totalitarian principles in the pretence of socialism. While numerous contemporary philosophers argued that the Great Depression had minimal effect on the Soviet Union as evidence of the efficacy of Communism in addition to others presupposing that Soviet Communism had turned out to be repressive because of lack of proper leadership. Rand sums up that there were inherent flaws in collectivism, and this is what she undertook to make known in Anthem.
Equality fights in what he believes in just like Prometheus. He wants Liberty to conceive his child and help create a new society for themselves and others. Equality has many similarities to Prometheus. In Greek Mythology, Prometheus brought fire to mankind. Likewise, Equality had brought fire to his town through a light bulb. It was made to show his light and power. (Ayn Rand Anthem Pg 52) “We Equality 7-2521, have discovered it alone, and we are alone to know it.”