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Ayn rand and anthem comparison
Anthem by ayn rand essay
Anthem by ayn rand essay analysis outline
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“We do not think of them as Liberty 5-3000 any longer. We have given them a name in our thoughts. We call them the Golden One. But it is a sin to give men names which distinguish them from other men. Yet we call them the Golden One, for they are not like the others. The Golden One are not like the others.”
In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the character Equality 7-2521 writes this passage about the female character Liberty 5-3000. He states that he (rather, ‘we’, since he still refers to himself in the plural) has given her a name, other than the noun and number she was assigned. Throughout the book, the significance of names is that, among other things, they imply independence, and freedom from the collective ‘we’ of society. A name is inherent to the person to whom it belongs, and by having a name, the Golden One automatically rises above the other members of the city. The fact that her name is given to her by someone else, as opposed to being chosen by herself, implies possession. By naming her ‘in his thoughts’, Equality has made her inherently his as well. Her name is a part of her identity which belongs to him, since he is the one who has bestowed it upon her.
The name itself is a statement of individuality for both Liberty and Equality. For her because it singles her out among the others as being better and worth naming. For Equality, it is a testament to how much he has progressed in his thinking. He calls her the Golden One, implying singularity and individuality in a socie...
For example, adolescents are often forced into therapy by their parents or school as a result of an inability to cope with stress in a socially acceptable way. Patients at this stage are too old to engage in play therapy, where therapists analyze a child’s behavior during play and when presented with toys. Also, patients acting out during adolescence are often too young to obtain the maturity to verbalize their emotions in a socially acceptable form. Art therapy is useful at this stage of development because similar impulses expressed in play therapy are expressed through drawings, meanwhile not requiring verbal communication. Art therapy introduces the mature defense mechanism of sublimation to the patient, guiding them to achieve better self control as they learn to communicate their impulses through art and talking about their art. A particular form of therapy is managed in groups, and adolescents are encouraged to engage in conversation about their drawings while they are creating them. This creates an environment of low anxiety, allowing patients communicate internal conflict and disregard their normal defense mechanisms that are used to conceal these emotions. The defense mechanism of sublimation is apparent in this process, as the use of color, composition, space and shapes to provide an
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.
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.
Therefore, people forget their morals and defy their personality. Shea states people can change their morals due to the effects of power (Shea). Fromm claims that an individual’s decisions reflect his or her conscious because their conscious is what brings them “back to ourselves, to our humanity” (Fromm 126). Fromm would state that Jessup believes he could do anything because of the power he holds; therefore, Jessup allows power to rise above his conscious. This demonstrates how easily authority can corrupt an individual. Jessup knew Santiago would physically not be able to handle the “code red”, yet power overrules his morals (A Few Good Men). Fromm would admit that Jessup’s authority trumped his morals, yet also believes that Dawson and
Anthem is a story of man’s struggle to be free and to fight the masses of conformity. It tells of human nature and the want to gain all the knowledge that one could possibly attain. Man loses his safe haven and his security when he lets this lust for knowledge overpower him and lets it be seen by others. He becomes vulnerable Like Johann Faust, Prometheus sells his life for wisdom. Unlike Faust, however, Prometheus is expelled from his society but gains his freedom of individuality and his freedom of knowledge and the ability to understand. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea sin against society to become singular and understanding much like Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge to gain wisdom; as a result, they can be compared to each other by there desire for learning and by their damnation.
In the Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage of 1787, President of the Society, Benjamin Franklin states, “It having pleased the Creator of the world, to make of one flesh, all the children of men – it becomes them to consult and promote each other’s happiness, as members of the same family, however diversified they may be, by color, situation, religion, or different states of society.” (Doc. B). Mr. Franklin talks about how if we are to please God, we all need to act as one huge family despite whatever race, religion, financial income, etc. Throughout Document B, Benjamin Franklin continues to speak that a Christian’s obligation should extend their power to everyone and express the true meaning of freedom. “And who acknowledge the oblig...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness.”i
Years earlier in 1963, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram was conducting his own series of experiments on obedience. “Milgram’s idea for this project grew out of his desire to investigate scientifically how people could be capable of carrying out great harm to others simply because they were ordered to do so” (Hock, 2012). He hypothesized that humans have a proclivity to obey, especially to people in a position of power. Moreover, he hypothesized that people would obey authority, even at the expense of their own ethical
Jessup had absolute power over Dawson and Downey to order a code red. Milgram logically explains this in his article with the experimenter’s power of the individual performing the immoral act even when accustomed the choice to stop. Both Milgram and Fromm would agree that absolute power can be corrupt. While Christopher Shea author of "Why Power Corrupts" would disagree and states in his study that power does not corrupt and only heightens pre-existing ethical tendencies. However, he does agree that there is a relationship between moral identity, ethical behavior and aggressiveness. This resembles the way the subjects thought in Milgram's experiment, and they believed that they must proceed because the experimenter told them to (Milgram 81). According to Ronald E Riggo PhD "How Power Corrupts leaders" he effectively ties on the idea that leaders tend to use their power to acquire tasks not always for the good. Fromm verifies this idea by stating that for centuries people have insisted that obedience is a virtue and disobedience is a vice (Fromm 125). These statements lead to an explanation of the action by Jessup to order code red, Riggo explains that Jessup would have sensed personal power in the situation and deluded himself into thinking he was working for the greater good of the unit but engaged in power that is morally wrong. Fromm and Riggo would explain the
More specifically, the movie A Few Good Men depicts the results of blindly obeying orders. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, also explores obedience to authority in his essay “ The Perils of Obedience”. On the other hand, Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst and philosopher, focused on disobedience to authority in his essay “ Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem.” Milgram wrote about how people were shockingly obedient to authority when they thought they were harming someone else while Fromm dissected both: why people are so prone to obey and how disobedience from authoritative figures can bring beneficial changes for society. Obeying commands, even when they go against our morals, is human nature; Disobeying commands, however, is challenging to do no matter what the situation is.
Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience reflecting how this can be destructive in experiences of real life. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid hence useless.
The two Marines did not understand why they were charged with his murder, claiming, “We didn’t do anything wrong.” They claimed that they were only following orders from a superior. To explain the Marines’ behaviors, Milgram would argue that the Marines fell to the pressures of authority. In the article “The Perils of Obedience,” Milgram tests the psychological affects on the “teacher” rather than on the “learner” (Milgram 78) About two-thirds of the test subjects were completely obedient and used the 450-volt shocks, and all of the participants used the painful 300-volt shock (Milgram 80). With these surprising results, Milgram deducts that many of these test subjects carried out these actions because of the authority figure in the room. Coming to a final conclusion, Milgram states that ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being (Milgram 86). Obedience to authority is ingrained in children from the day they are born, and they are raised to be obedient and this is why many people are obedient. With Milgram’s conclusion, it would be logical to assume that he would argue that the influence of authority is why Dawson and
As to her first name, Blanche, it is clear to the reader that white stands for purity, innocence, and virtue. This descrip...
The psychoanalytic concept of repression as a defense mechanism is closely linked to the Freudian idea of an unconscious mind. Early Freudians saw the unconscious mind as having the same properties as that of the conscious mind. Just as the conscious mind was believed capable of consciously inhibiting events by suppression, so the unconscious was considered capable of inhibition or cognitive avoidance at the unconscious level by repression.
Freud's often-controversial psychoanalysis was an attempt to explain the human psyche (mind) which is comprised of three components: the id, ego, and superego; and the conflict between these components shaped personality (Swanson, 1963, p. 14-16). He believed the ego is responsive to the id that developed at infancy. He also believed that defense mechanisms are unconsciously adopted to protect the ego from anxiety. He was convinced that anxiety was used to warn the ego of potential threats. He focused on internally held forces, including conflicts, biological dispositions, and sexual motivation for his theories (Macintyre, 1963, p. 98-99). He sought to address underlying issues in a person's life, and personal cha...