Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay about theme in anthem
Anthemby ayn rand reaction paper
What is the theme of anthem by ayn rand
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay about theme in anthem
In the book Anthem the society has numerous rules put in place in the name of their safety. They are taught from birth that the rules exist to protect them and ensure sure they live for each other and not for themselves. However, the purpose of these rules is to oppress their individuality. The rules remove what makes them who they are. It is easier to control people that have nothing to fight for than it is to control those who have even the slightest reason to fight. These rules are unsuccessful with Equality. He finds his individuality and becomes his own man. Equality decides to build his own society and this time he gets to decide the rules. The society that Equality lives in has an amplitude of rules. They are told that the rules exist …show more content…
for their safety. Breaking the rules would be a sin. The rules exist to keep them as one. Without the rules they are told that chaos would descend upon them. Therefore, they are taught to believe that any other way of life is wrong and a man should not live for himself, but for every other man. When they are in the Home of Students they are taught the rules and told to never break them. They repeat the mandate daily, “We are one in all an all in one. There are no men, but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.” (Rand, 19) The goal in the Home of Students is to prevent the development of any individuality. Consequently, the rules exist to prevent individuality. Without the rules life would be as we know it today. Humans would be hungry for knowledge and would never cease the hunt for purpose in life. Instead, the rules prevent them from knowing that hunger. The rules, they are told, are for their safety and to prevent a time when man is evil and knows power that man should not have and a time when men did not live for each other, such as the Unmentionable Times, from ever coming again. They are told that the rules exist for their protection, but in reality the purpose of all the rules is much different.
The rules are meant to suffocate and control the people. They live in fear of what may happen if they break a rule. The rules destroy who they truly are. The leaders have the rules in place for the sole purpose of controlling them. They fear what will happen if people become enlightened. Equality knows the dangers of breaking the rules. His fear shows that on a subconscious level they all may know the true purpose of the rules. This is demonstrated when he says, “And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocation bid them so. May we be forgiven!” (1) This excerpt shows that Equality is aware of the consequences of his actions. He also sounds fearful, which shows that he is somewhat aware of the purpose of the laws and rules. Nevertheless, he nor anyone else in the society may be able to put together the truth, but it is evident that they have acknowledged the ever present fear. Equality rises above that fear and manages to escape the choke hold that they have put him in. He decides to create a society that is better than the current one he is forced to live
in. Equality leaves his home with Liberty to escape the suffocating world he had grown up in. He decides to create his own society that surrounds “ego” and “I”. Equality will decide how everything runs and will save others like him. He will more than likely rid himself of the binding restrictions of the rules that held him and others back. However, Equality has not been taught about what the world is like with no laws. The only way he can know is to learn it and he has had no way of knowing the dangers of Anarchy. Equality wants freedom to do as he pleases. Coming from a society where he was weighed down by the numerous restrictions he would want as few rules as possible. Over time it will become clear that a state of lawlessness is not the best idea. Eventually, rules and regulations will be put into place. As laws are made, it is possible for his society to become the society that he hates. It is common knowledge that history has a tendency to repeat itself. It is not impossible that it could all circle back to a collectivist society. If men could think it up once, they can do it again. The laws existed for some of the right reasons, but their purpose was for all the wrong reasons. The laws kept people from fulfilling their potential. The people were told the rules and regulations were to keep them safe and help them live as one. Equality was suffocated by these restrictions and he would want as few restrictions in his new society as possible. His society could quite easily become Anarchy and history could wind up repeating itself. Men can achieve anything, but without some semblance of law, it can spin out of control extremely fast.
“We stood still; for the first time we knew fear, and then pain. And we stood still that we might not spill this pain more precious than pleasure.” (Rand 39). Equality cannot even pursue the woman he loves because of the rules of his Society.
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
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 a word where the past is the future and every individual strives to be like all their brother men, there is no room for difference. From the time he was five, Equality knew he was different from his classmates. However, he was not the only one who knew of his difference. The teachers and the leaders of the community frequently reminded him that he was not like everyone else. They “ frowned and said: ‘There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers’ ”. (Rand 18). He was taller and much smarter than everyone, and this was considered a burden. When the Council of Vocations decided to make Equality a Street Sweeper, their choice was not due to error or incompetence, but fear. They were frightened of what could happen to their society if Equality became a Scholar. There were many reasons for the choice they had made.
The Society of Anthem is a striking instance of a dystopian society in which daily life is dominated by fear. The society is headed by a group of elders, who attempt to destroy the concept of individuality and promote the idea of collectivism. The society controls all aspects of life including roles and profession, emotions, mating and the freedom of choice. Equality 7-2521 undergoes a transformation that is contrary to the principles of Anthem’s society. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, Prometheus (formerly Equality 7-2521) should not feel guilty when he writes “why the best in me had been my sins and transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins.” because what he learned about himself over the course of the story.
“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.
In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, children are often seen living apart from their families. Unfortunately, it’s not their choice, but society is set up such that they are made to live apart. Children are forced to live like this because dictatorial leaders are committed to collectivism. Collectivism is an emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity. Leaders enforce the separation between parents and children in order to maintain collectivism and ultimately have complete control over the children. You and I do not exist; government deems it so. We are one, a single body functioning for the collective good of society. Ayn Rand’s Anthem speaks to this collectivist doctrine while highlighting the implicit contradictions that impede its successful implementation.
Equality is not something we get to have when we come into this world. It is something that is being fought for and will continue to fight for as long as people think of themselves and do not think of the consequences that may occur from their own actions. In the book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco they narrowed in on what structural violence is. The different examples of injustices that were occurring around the countries. Lastly explains the ways the oppressed used there actions, words, and ideas to fight the injustices. Injustices are all around world many of which still have a lot of control to this day and take a toll on the less able. Allowing large corporations to dictate what will be said and done.
“We shall not report our find to the city council. We shall not report it to any men” (Rand #33). This quotation shows that Equality does not want to share it with any others and he wants these findings for himself. This is the first time Equality experience a little taste of individualism. “It is our second transgression of preference, for we do not think of all our brothers as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-3000” (Rand #41). This quotation shows that Equality is not thinking about everyone but one single person. In this society thinking about only one person is a sin and now Equality is starting to show that he doesn't care if he commits a sin. “So long lies before us, and what care we if we must travel it alone” (Rand #54). In this quotation Equality says that he would be fine with living alone and without his
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...
While Equality and Liberty take a hike in the Uncharted Forest Equality reflects on what he was taught back in his society as being one and not caring for your life, but the lives of their brothers, this is another realization he encounters of collectivism striping away his indivduality and joy. “If this is the great evil of being alone, then what is good and what is evil Everything which comes from many is good Everything which comes from one is evil This have we been taught with our first breath.” While walking in the forest Equality trips, falls, rolls, and then begins to laugh, this is his moment of joy. “Then our body, losing all sense, rolled over and over on the moss...And we heard laughing as if there were no power left in us save laughter.” While reading the manuscripts Equality comes across the word “I” for the very first time in his life, and for the first time he speaks as one person instead of two or more. “It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.” Equality comes to the realization that collectivism takes away individuality and
Anthem by Ayn Rand is a soul-shifting and mind-blowing novella that explores the dangers of a collective, dystopian society. As a man named Equality 7-2521 stumbles through life, he realizes that he has a burning desire to learn and explore, traits discouraged by the society he lives in. In the City, there are many rules, and all of them shadow the idea that “we are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE. One, indivisible, and forever.” (3) Equality 7-2521, with his passion for learning and science, slowly breaks away from this iron rule set by society, and in doing so, learns of the importance of individualism and freedom. In Anthem, Rand’s use of literary devices such as symbolism, characterization, and imagery help develop and present the tone of the importance of individuality and the dangers of a collective society.
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.
In the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 is fearless and persistent in many ways. The book directly shows how...