Anthem Analysis

Life has fared well since Gaea and I have lived in this house. There are now others in houses surrounding us. These are my friends that I returned to rescue, International 4-8818 being one of them. He is now called Apollo. We are happy here, all of us. The others are learning, albeit rather slowly, yet they learn to say I instead of we. It is my hope that, before my first child is born, they will all say I so that he or she may only know this and not the cursed we.

In Equality’s society of Anthem by Ayn Rand, they have many rules and controls, or regulations. They have the rules in place so everyone is the same. The Council doesn’t want anyone to be different, or to have different thoughts. Equality’s new society may have no rules from the old society because he encourages differences, he hated the old society’s rules, and he knows what it means to be an outcast.

The rules in the cities are to create a world with collectivism. (TRANSITION WORD), “And yet... And yet... There is some word, one single word which is not in the language of men, but which had been. And this is the Unspeakable Word, which no men may speak nor hear. But sometimes, and it is rare, sometimes, somewhere, one among men find that word. They find it upon scraps of old manuscripts or cut into the fragments of ancient stones. But when they speak it they are put to death” (Rand 27-28). This quote expresses how the council forbids the word “I” for the purpose of preventing man from becoming individuals. (BLANK) The council is acting as a form of totalitarianism and wants to control all the aspects of the citizen's lives. (TRANSITION WORD), “And they answered: ‘Since the Council does not know of this hole, there can be no law permitting to enter it. And everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden’" (Rand 15). This quote shows that the dictating council of the city created rules for the purpose of its people to live as a fragment of a group instead of as a whole. Laws were not made to permit but rather to forbid. The rules served a purpose so that the council could remain in control at all times of the citizen's lives.

Although Equality lived in a very controlling environment, he would not use any of these laws as a result of his personal beliefs towards these laws, but also because of his experiences breaking these laws. Equality starts talking about his thoughts toward some of the rules in chapter 2. “Twice have we been sent to the Palace of Mating, but it is an ugly and shameful matter” (Rand 41) This is supremely important to the story because this is the first time Equality shows some individuality when he talks about how he himself feels. Equality would not include these rules since he has negative innervation about them, but also because of his experiences breaking the rules. For instance, when Equality is arrested and taken to the Corrective Detention to be sent to their “jail” he is not afraid but almost excited. “It was easy to escape from the Palace of Corrective Detention. The locks are old on the doors and there are no guards about. 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. Our body is healthy and strength returns to it speedily. We lunged against the door and it gave way. We stole through the

Every citizen believes the way they are living is correct and that there is no problem with the society. “This was the only thing which moved, for the lips of the oldest did not move as they said: ‘Street Sweeper’(Anthem)”. Equality 7- 2521 feels differently when he knows that he is extremely smart and is given the job to be a street sweeper. Throughout the story, Equality 7-2521 learns to realize that the society is brain washing every single citizen. “The locks are old on the doors and there are no guards about. 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 (Anthem).” Any citizens who were supposed to be locked up would never to attempt to even escape because they knew they would be put to death, however, escaping was easy for Equality

There has always been a slight anxiety, a slight fear, of being alone or standing alone. Students rarely want to admit to having an answer different from the rest of their classmates; some people do not want to go somewhere and do something by themselves. Notably, with more shy or anxious people, they will often stick around someone they know, so they will not be alone in the crowd. Although that company might help them make it through those nerve-wracking moments, when is the right time for them to walk alone? Should a person ever walk alone? In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality’s internal conflict of conformity versus individuality plays a role that Equality needs to overcome in order to complete their quest for freedom which helps create

The dystopian novella, Anthem, is set in an age in which every aspect of life is controlled by oppressive leaders. In this society, everyone was deemed equal to each other, meaning no new ideas were allowed and the past could not be discussed. Individuals are told they exist only for the sake of serving society and have no other purpose. Strict rules were put in place involving everyone’s daily lives, their partners, and even when they were allowed to smile. The goal of this controlling environment is to be completely free from conflict and maintain peace and order by giving citizens little freedom.

The quote, “The secrets of the earth are not for all men to see, but for those who will seek them.” means that you cannot see what you do not look for. The secrets of this earth does not come to our hands whenever we want it. We must seek for the secrets of the earth ourselves. Only the people who work to find the secrets will have a chance to acquire it.

Equality is motivated by himself. He wants to invent things. He’s not doing it for fame or to try to impress the council, but for himself. He’s eager to discover and he’s curious about things and how they work. He is very passionate about his experiments and puts a lot of pride and work into them. Equality is much smarter than the rest of his society as it states “It was that the learning was too easy”(21). He dreamed of being a scholar where he can put his talents to a good use;

He is in a society where his knowledge is stifled and not encouraged to think for himself. Equality expresses, "We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike”(7).  This had to be implanted into Equality's head by the council  which is why it is natural for individualism to be what he wants most and why he should be able to follow his own ideology. Readers see not only in Anthem but in today's world how people are taught to only think of what they know. Equality wants the council to know of his accomplishments and as a outcome to show all men how it can help improve society. He wants the feeling of accomplishment and knowing that through his accomplishments he has uplifted others within the community.

     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.

No “I” and no “you”, just “we.” How could we live in a world like that? Ayn Rand’s book shows a twisted and different form of collectivism. Everyone is told what they have to do for the rest of their future. Children are not even allowed to know who their parents are and are never given the chance to meet them. Although, only one shines in the society that no one else may see until now. Equality finds it difficult to find individualism in his life and in the rules of his society. Equality eventually finds individualism in escaping, to a haven of his own, from his odd society. Equality can then find peace with himself and can live in a more individualistic life in his newfound house with “The Golden One” in the forbidden and

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand the city has several rules that everyone must follow or they will be held to serious consequences. These rules exist for many reasons even though some of them are a little extreme. The rules do have a lot of purposes, many are to keep the community safe. The City Council has created many rules and restrictions for things and there is a possibility of execution if you break or don’t follow one of those rules.

The rules and controls in this society exists for a few reasons, but they exist for one main reason. All of these rules they have to control the people in this city are so they can have a “perfect” world. The leaders or rulers in this world want no contention, individualism, choices, bad decisions, and many others things that can cause contention. “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.” (page 19). This is the pledge that they make the citizens say every day such as saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school now. These citizens don’t know the work “I” and they refer to themselves, one individual person, we. This is to get rid of individualism. Principles like this are used to contain their citizens.

| 1. Why is the character or act condemned in Anthem? 2. Should it be condemned? Explain why/why not.