A Brief Summarysanthem By Ayn Rand

Equality, being one of the main issues Rand discusses, is presented by almost everything in the novel from how they treat each other to how they dress and where they live. In our society today equality is expressed by how we as a community treat each other. In the novel, however Rand takes it further to the point in which not only does everyone have to treat each other the same, but they have to dress the same, live in the same homes, live their lives based upon the same schedule, and have the same intelligence level otherwise they are looked down upon by their community. In my opinion the level of equality in the novel is too much. Although the level of equality in which they have achieved and maintained did its job and allowed everyone to be equal, it also caused them to miss out on

Anthem is a short dystopian fiction novel written by Ayn Rand. It was published 79 years in 1938 in England. The setting of the novel starts off in a dark tunnel. As we get further in the book we learn that the story takes place in an undetermined point in the future in a City that’s not specified. The main character, Equality 7-2521, narrates his thoughts to the reader throughout the whole book. He feels guilty because he’s breaking the laws by writing down his thoughts but feels it is necessary. It is forbidden for the people to have their own thoughts or do anything by themselves. A long time ago, there was something called the Great Rebirth. After that happened, society started to refer to themselves as “we” and lost the word “I”,

“It is a sin to write this. 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” (17). Equality 7-2521 was born into a society that portrays a totalitarian rule. The people living in the controlled environment have been taught and brainwashed to know only one thing: the priority of the group over the individual person. Equality 7-2521 is one of the few people raised in the world of collectivism that is born different – filled with curiosity, gifted with intelligence; the difference leads him to believe he is cursed and evil. He was ashamed of his unique qualities and believed that he was a flaw. It is this divergence that makes him believe there is an initial

Ayn Rand’s ideology centralizes on the idea that total human individuality is absolute and is obtained only by means of reason, self-esteem, and total worship of virtues. Atlas Shrugged ideal hero, John Galt, is the major example of objectivism and its complex layers. He is the symbol of no guilt, no fear, no submission, and no doubt in the value of the mind. Henceforth, John Galt is the reality that lies behind any human; the use of reason and self-interest as the motor for the improvement of the world; and, in consequence, the natural right to live by the power of thinking.

How would you want to live in a Society? In Anthem by Ayn Rand Equality- 7-2521 struggled to learn about individuality in the strict society he lived in. Equality would let his society be free and let the people in it make their own decisions. He believes that everyone should take pride in the word I. Equality would not make his society like “The City of the Damned.”

“What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them in shame and submission? The worship of the word we.” is what Equality 7-2521 thought of on page 102. What Equality 7-2521 describes of is what Ayn Rand calls collectivism, which is production for use and that a person’s own job ignores their aims, desires, and happiness. Early in the story, Equality 7-2521 shows he has a desire to become one of the few people who are chosen to live in the House of Scholars as their job. However, the Council of Vocations decide that his job for the rest of his life should be a street sweeper. Equality 7-2125 believes that the Council of Vocations has made a mistake, however there was sinister motivation of why the

My hands... My spirit... My sky... My forest...This earth is mine...” (Chapter 11 Paragraphs 1-2)

In the story, Equality does just that. On page 100, Equality states “Our son will be raised as a man. He will be taught to say “I” and to bear the pride of it. He will be taught to walk straight and on his own feet. He will be taught reverence for his own spirit” (Rand 100).This quote said by Equality, shows that Equality is symbolizing Individualism by choosing how he wants to raise his son and not having anyone else tell him how he wants to live. This quote also shows that Equality is living a life that he wants to live. He is living and doing what he wants to do, unlike in his old society when he is chosen for a job that he does not want to do and a life he doesn't want to

Is dystopian fiction, unremittingly bleak, leaving no room for hope, or is it a positive warning to persuade us to speculate about the world that mankind has created.

Many factors contribute to a broken down society. Though many may not see it , once pointed out, all becomes clear. In “Anthem”, the novella by Ayn Rand, societal blindness is caused by a government who limits information and conformation to society. Blindness, not in the sense of not seeing, but not knowing or understanding. With that societal blindness can be cause by a secretive government, which could start dangerous uprisings, or raging wars that could highly impact the community.

By the end of the story, Equality 7-2521 has changed his mind and become very critical of the leaders of his society, denouncing them in moral terms. Do you think he is correct to do so? Why or why not? Do you think he would agree with the advice that Rand offers in her short essay “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?”? Explain.

Ayn Rand’s assertion in Anthem is that it shows mankind has had their freedom hidden and it exactly what the book says and shows. One of the quotes in Anthem was “We are one in all and all in on. There are no men but only the great we, one, indivisible and forever”. Anthem’s knowledge is skills, information and practical understanding of a subject. Equality remembers that his “Happiness is not the means to an end”. Relevant quote “Happiness is not a ended”. The purpose of knowledge is it causes us to known things. It helps survival, so therefore it’s often useful and pursued. The way how it benefit mankind is that Equality understands that his invention will benefit mankind greatly. Dystopian societies control knowledge by his images and how

Vision a lifestyle where one perceives it as a sin to comprehend data more efficiently than of one’s peers; a felony to long for things that others do not wish upon. Where floods of white tunics and austere minds obliterate the Earth. A colony built upon leaders who asphyxiate anyone from infatuation of any object or significant being; moreover, a world suffocating in collectivism. Through exasperated transcription, Anthem brings about such a community; nevertheless, a world of black and white. Ayn Rand does not overemphasize the effects of totalitarianism, but amplifies it so that it is more effortless for one to enlighten he or she’s notion on the particular proposal. First, by analyzation of “Equality 7-2521”, and

He mentions how “The word ‘We’...is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steak the wisdom of the sages.” (Rand, Ayn) Equality 7-2521 views independence as “right”, and the ideas of his previous society to be “wrong”.

“When one acts on pity against justice, it is the good whom one punishes for the sake of the evil; when one saves the guilty from suffering, it is the innocent whom one forces to suffer.”