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Why are rules needed in society
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Anthem A rule is a set of detailed regulations required to be followed in an activity or sphere. In the book Anthem, there is a variety of rules which needs to be followed. Towards the end of the book, Equality 7-2521 imagines a new world. He would not want the councils of scholars rules to be followed in his own world because he now knows the sacred word and what it means. Equality 7-2521, in his new world, would not follow the rules the council enforced in his last society to rid them of diversity because he wants people to exercise free agency, live independently, and grow up in a society. One reason why Equality 7-2521 wanted to banish the council’s rules was because he wanted people to have more freedom. “To be free, a man must be free
Equality 7-2521 is rebellious. If a person is rebellious, he shows a desire to resist authority. This authority is most commonly a government that runs its territory in a way which the rebellious person does not support. Rebellious people argue for changing or replacing this authority because they often view it as corrupt or ineffective. Due to their desire for change, these people are often the most dangerous to governments that wish to retain power and control. Equality 7-2521 shows this desire to defy authority in Anthem. The society that he lives in forbids writing unless it is first approved by the Council of Vocations. However, he has done exactly
Anthem has an ancient mythical feel to it. A biblical and mythical feel to it. At times the book could even read as scripture. The first word of Anthem is “Sin” many other words in Anthem read as biblical, Transgression, Evil ones, Unspeakable word, Unmentionable times, these words all capture a religious feel . Many totalitarian states adopt some of the workings of an organized religion. Along with that there is the lack of positive religious words, Divine, Holy, sacred. The use of positive religious words does not start until Equality 7-2521 flees the nation and discovers the word I.
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
The book Anthem is a book that can be perceived many various ways. To me, Anthem is about an outstandingly smart young man, named Equality 7-2521
In Anthem there are so many rules and controls, yet there is one that truly rises above it all. And that word is “I”. There is no “I” only “We”, for the great “We” is what they follow. And they are one not individual, they are one. And poor Equality can’t seem to understand that the rules are rules, but in a way he’s making his own rules. And he is mistreated for his looks and appearance and dosen’t seem really one with his brothers. And he’s curious and most don’t even question life, and he notices the little things, “Yet as we stand at night in the great hall, removing our garments for sleep, we look upon our brothers and we wonder. The heads of our brothers are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched, and their muscles are drawn, as if their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a word steals into our mind, as we look upon our brothers, and that word is fear.”(Rand 46). He has a wanting to learn and build his knowledge, but the rules don’t permit his decisions.
People in every Society are placed in categories according to gender, religion, race, and age from which one of these categories includes 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. Ever since the unmentionable times had caused destruction to the society of Anthem, the government had taken away all the free will and individuality of its people.
Equality 7-2521 struggles in the Home of the Students because he is too intelligent and deft at absorbing information. The ability to think quickly and easily was looked down upon by the teachers and the government. Equality notes, “It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The teachers told us so…” (21). The students are taught that being intelligent is evil and that they cannot be superior in knowledge than the officials in the government. Equality’s intelligence leads to his job as a Street Sweeper because the government wants to suppress radical ideas by assigning him to a socially lower job and authoritative status. As literary critic Tore Boeckmann states about Anthem, “[Equality] belong[s] at the pinnacle of any rational social hierarchy, yet [he is] thrown (at least temporarily) to the very bottom” (135). Overall, the public citizens in Anthem are extremely selfless and lack a sense of self-worth because the government wants them to put the good of the community above the
Why can a plant not grow in the shade? When a population is kept in the dark, no progress is made. One example of a community kept in ignorance is from the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, a place where there is total control by the government. This technology deprived world insinuates that science and technology can spur rebellion, division, and change, showing that technological progress develops from the freedom of oppression.
Right from the beginning we learn that Equality 7-2521 is breaking an important law. He is in a society that is tightly protected and there is not much freedom to do anything. Everything is fixed and there is no changing. Also, we see that no one can be alone and there is no freedom if there isn’t any alone. We find out that Equality 7-2521 can break some rules and will.
In the novella, someone is even killed for saying the forbidden word. None of Anthem’s civilians question the constant governmental control. "There is no reason to have guards for men have never defied the Councils so far as to escape from whatever place they were ordered to be" illustrates how the characters simply accept their destinies (Rand 66-67). Later in the story Equality 7-2521 tries to show the Council a new discovery and is greeted with the following reply, "
Throughout the book “Anthem” the city has many rules and controls. Such as, not loving any person over another. Not saying the forbidden word “I”. Not stealing from another. With these rules and controls Ayn Rand created a collective society, but with the idea of a utopian society. The definition of Utopia is “ an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” The rules and controls listed above and the many more that are in the book “Anthem” describe a society trying to become collective but in a utopian way.
The protagonist would be equality 7-2521 because he had to fight through whatever the government has set for him,like he found a tunnel and did stuff is wasn't supposed to as a street sweeper
The main character of Anthem, Equality, feels smothered by these rules and seeks to search out answers to questions he cannot ask. Some of the rules Equality objects to following are: writing down his individual
Throughout the novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand, Equality comes to understand the life he really lives in. In Anthem Equality lives in a brotherhood society, the thought of yourself or speaking the word “I” is a sin. Equality is very curious and suspicious of his society and discovers things from the unmentionable times, which are events from the past life and are forbidden for any member of the society to uncover. With his new discoveries he finds new ways to live. By going against his leaders and starting a new chapter where he can do for himself. As the story concludes, Equality denounces his leaders and changes his lifestyle, because he discovers new ways of life: he is correct in his new ways because he has evidence
Anthem by Ayn Rand tells the story of a dystopian society in which individuality is prohibited: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible, and forever” (19). The main characters in the book are Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000. Both are very original characters with constant, well-developed traits. Throughout the story, Equality is curious, mindful, courageous, and independent.