Anthem 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 …show more content…
No exceptions. For they are “We” and there is no “I”, there is no “I” there is only “We”. “There is no crime punished by death in this world, save this one crime of speaking the Unspeakable Word.”(Rand 49). The majority of the people of Anthem, they do not even question what the Unspeakable Word is and go about their lives in perfect agreeance and harmony. For they know no different and believe everything the Council say. “May the Council have mercy upon us! We had no wish to write such a question, and we knew not what we were doing till we had written it. We shall not ask this question and we shall not think it. We shall not call death upon our head.”(Rand 49). For if the Council found out that there were people figuring out the Unspeakable Word, they would be killed and have a public …show more content…
Yet we can. We do. We have fought against saying it, but now it is said. We do not care. We forget all men, all laws and all things save our metals and our wires. So much is still to be learned! So long a road lies before us, and what care we if we must travel it alone!”(Rand 54). In Anthem, they are not supposed to have a greater knowledge than their brothers. But Equality doesn’t follow this rule and wishes he could be in the Home of Scholars and be permitted to do such curious things. He also has stolen this information, and if the Council had found out poor Equality would have been in a lot of trouble. He would be dricrimianted for his bad doings. And would be recognized as a thief and a liar. For the Council does not permit such wrong
In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, Prometheus is a man who must overcome his collective society to find himself. Prometheus is born into a society where everything is equal. Without concern for consequences, he loves a woman and looks and discovers knowledge of the past. After his discovery is rejected he flees to the forest, and his lover follows. In the forest is where he finds the meaning of the word I. There is where he says "... we crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost in the gray of it," he talks about what his society did to the differences of man, after he had run away. After Prometheus finds the house he says, "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end," which means his happiness is special and achieving this happiness is his final goal. Lastly, "I am, I think, I will," is the final sign that Prometheus has acknowledged himself as one being. Prometheus' quotes show that his emergences from his past, longing for happiness and realizing that he is a being make Prometheus the...
Within the lack of technology in the world of Anthem human being are unable to express themselves through the word “We”. The city is confined through a strict society known as Anthem. In the philosophical teaching known as Objectivism by Ayn Rand, the average age for a human being is forty. For a person in Anthem it is unable to choose freedom and is forced to become what is chosen for him. However as the story a progress Equality 7-2521 begins to discover self through events that have allowed him to find the truth. Since in the world of Anthem people must think as “we” and are forced to follow strict rules that force him to become unable to realize his inner being.
Many people seem to get entangled into society's customs. In the novel Anthem, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives a period of his life as a follower. However, Equality eventually, tries to distant himself from his society. He is shaped to be a follower, but eventually emerges in to an individual and a leader. On his journey, he discovers the past remains of his community. Ayn Rand uses Equality's discoveries of self to represent the importance of individuality in a functional society.
of all, they do not know when they will die). Anthem sees Equality and Liberty (later
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
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 the world of Anthem there is no I, there is only We. “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great We, one indivisible and forever” (Rand, 19). Everyone is part of a collective and must be completely selfless, this is shown when they are all together, they know they must work as a whole and they immediately accept each other as they are all taught that they must. They must not be boastful or proud as they are taught that they cannot amount to anything on their own. They are taught that to think of themselves would be selfish and if something would not benefit all the brothers it was wrong. The people are numbered to highlight even more that they are nothing on their own. By stripping humans of their identity they turned them into a society that was co-dependent; each individual thinking they need the others to survive and that life as a group is the only option. By having made the world’s population dependent on each other, it ensured that people wouldn’t leave or disobey, as being shunned by the others would be an unbearable punishment. In stripping the people of their own identit...
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel 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. It is this dysfunctional world that Equality 7-2521 is born into. The novel begins with Equality 7-2521 alone in a dark tunnel, transcribing his story.
Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7-2521, the protagonist, struggles for self-identification living in a collectivist society. Equality believes that individuality is an eminent aspect of one’s life because individuality defines and outlines who man is. He endures all the hardships in his life living with people who support collectivism, and who reject his ideas. For example, when Equality 7-2521 invents and exhibits the light bulb, the World Council rejects it and tells him that it is selfish to work on something alone instead of working with his brothers. The World Council threatens to destroy the light bulb but Equality does not let that happen and rebels, so he is forced into exile from his society. Equality realizes that he is different from others because he cares about his happiness unlike others who are convinced to believe that a group’s happiness counts more than an individual’s happiness.
Totalitarianism can be defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the centralized control by an autocratic authority. The leaders of these societies are obsessed with complete control and will take whatever steps necessary to reach such a goal. In many totalitarian societies, children are separated from their families. This is enforced on the citizens because rulers want them to be loyal to the government only. Such living arrangements can be portrayed in Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem. In Anthem, the narrator, Prometheus, lives in a community in which all of the children born that year live in the same house until they turn fifteen. Then they are assigned a job and live with the people that share that occupation. This keeps the people from having an emotional attachment to someone like they would have with a family.
An anthem is a sacred composition set to words from the Bible. This may have significance with the title that Ayn Rand has given the book by paralleling the story of Prometheus and Gaea to that of Adam and Eve. In the bible, Adam and Eve were given everything that they needed by God with the one exception of not to eat from a specific tree. They were told by the devil that this tree was the tree of knowledge and to eat of it would give them knowledge equal to God’s. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea are told that they have everything that they will ever need or desire by the council. They are forbidden to gain knowledge that is not permitted by the council but only to do as they are told. Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the pursuit of knowledge and ate of the tree in order to gain equality to God. When they did this God found out and so condemned them and punished them for all eternity. God banished them from paradise in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were no longer given anything as they were in the garden but instead were forced to suffer and survive on their own. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea go against the will of the council and Prometheus yearns to gain knowledge that he realizes is being hidden from him. Prometheus hides his studies at first but then wants to share them with the council for the betterment of society but is instead condemned.
In ‘Anthem’ the story takes place sometime in the future after some catastrophic event. Apparently society as we know it was destroyed and the leaders that were left decided that the problem was the individual that all men are equal in all things and that anything that is created by one person is evil. This train of thought is carried to such and extreme that the very word "I" is removed from their vocabulary. An example of this is found when the main character, Equality-1329, re-invents the electric light.
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.
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
O Henry was best known for his ironic endings in his writing but the plots of his writing wasn’t all similar. The text “The Cop and the Anthem” and “After Twenty Years” are two stories written by O Henry that has similar ending, ironic ending. Both stories have an ironic ending with the characters being arrested but however the reasons and motivations of why each character was arrested was different causing the difference in the plot. In the text “The Cop and the Anthem”, the character, Soapy, had wanted to be arrested which creates a whole ironic plot, while in the text “After Twenty Years”, the character, Bob, was trying to not get arrested, creating a normal plot unliked the text “The Cop and the Anthem”.