Examples Of Individuality In Anthem

Adam Pawlak

Mrs. Rollings

Honors English 10

7 August 2016

The Conflicting Values of Obedience and Individuality

Many times in life, people are faced with choices that object to their own personal interests. The main character in “Anthem”, Equality, had to struggle with these choices as the story progressed. In the book,”Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the role of the conflicts of conformity and individuality are to make Equality develop as a character during his quest for freedom.

Equality develops as he disobeys the rules of thinking for himself and grew apart from his other brothers. In “Anthem”, it says “We say to ourselves that we are wretch and a traitor. But we feel no burden upon our spirit and no fear in our heart. And it seems to us that our

In the novel, it says “ We stretch out our arms. For the first time do we know how strong our arms are. And a strange thought comes to us: we wonder, for the first time in our life, what we look like. Men never see their own faces and never ask their brothers about it, for it is evil to have concern for their own faces or bodies. But tonight, for a reason we cannot fathom, we wish it were possible to us to know the likeness of our own person”(Rand 33-34). This continues to prove how Equality continued to show an increasing desire for himself over his brothers. This also shows how he wants to learn more about himself and the world as well. Equality continues to develop into an independent person who exceeds in learning and creating in his own ways. He continues to consider himself over the rules and obligations of the Counsel and starts to think independently without the consideration of his fellow brothers and peers. People in this society are supposed to consider all others without consideration for themselves at all, but Equality is doing the complete opposite of that. Equality proceeds to break the rules of society without fear or any

In that section, it says “I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them...I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, and my freedom.And the greatest of these is freedom. 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 do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it”(Rand 58). Equality develops into a character who desires and protects his own freedom and rights at any cost. Equality learns how to speak for himself and think for himself without any thought of his brothers whatsoever. Equality knows that love is a thing to cherish and earn rather than it be fit for every person he is surrounded by. He preserves these values of freedom and will to himself and the people he cares about the most in order to keep these values from dying out from the