Anthem As A Dystopian Society

Anthem is about a man named Equality 7-2521 who finds a subway underneath his corrupt city to learn. While he is down there he discovers the power of electricity and figures out how to use it. When he tries to show his city they punished him and he ran away with The “Golden One” and found a home which they wished to start a new life, but Equality found out to understand the word ” I” and finds out the truth behind the “Utopia” he lived in for all his life. Anyone who is different gets punished. The City has so many rules and controls because they are there to keep the people unaware of the truth, to keep people down a certain path and to keep their “Utopia” a great place and Equality would have many rules and controls.

Everyone is the same, but everyone wants to be themselves. Throughout “Anthem” everyone in the city were taught to never put themselves before each other. The novel demonstrates this idea of individuality and collectivism through various archetypes. The three archetypes I found were Equality being a loner, Equality going on a journey, and everyone wearing white.

“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… We have broken the laws” (17). Thus begins Anthem by Ayn Rand, a novella about a future collectivist society and a man named Equality 7-2521. Though the story takes place in the future, all technology that came after candles and glass has been taken away. The word “I” has ceased to exist in anyone’s vocabulary. Every person must agree on everything and feel like everyone else. To accomplish ‘cleansing’ the evils of mankind, society lead its people to believe that nothing can be done independently. The story is told through the eyes of Equality as he purposely defies the laws

In conclusion, in Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality’s new society will have none of the rules of the old society. The rules were put in place to shun differences and keep everyone equal. Because Equality hated the old society, he encourages differences, and he was an outcast in the old society, he will not allow any of the rules to carry over into his new

•Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted in this society. Equality must think about “the will of all men together” and how they are all supposed to be “one in all and all in one”. No one may think of or for themselves and everyone decision is made by the grace of every brother.

Citizens are expected to know that individuality is extremely bad. This individuality is taken away from the citizens the moment they are born. The citizens are grown up to only do work that betters the group. The people are separated from the other gender and only get to experience feelings with the other gender when they are appointed someone for the “job.” The citizens don’t even get an opportunity to realize that individuality is bad, they don’t realize that anything is wrong. “Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it(Anthem).” The citizens are given names which are disguised by a different number. The citizens are considered worthless unless they are doing something to better the

Equality 7-2521, who decides to change his name to Prometheus in the final chapters of the novella, had his own vision of a perfect society. Upon discovering “I” while he is reading in the house, Equality 7-2521 becomes aware that he is the center of his own universe, and nobody has control over his actions now. He says, “I understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the sense of truth within him” (Rand 58). It is clear that he would never include any of the rules that were present in his past society in his new and improved one. Equality 7-2521 completely let go of his old life and refused to be held back among the masses. Equality 7-2521’s curse that was always frowned upon finally was looked at in a positive way. He is unafraid and proud, finally discovering himself and becoming his own man.

“Anthem” is about a boy named Equality 7-2521 who is Street Sweeper of the society and was given this job as punishment for having too bright a mind, too curious, and for fighting amongst his brothers. When he was given this job, he thought of it as an atonement to his sins for being these things. While sweeping the streets, he finds a grill buried in the ground, leading to a underground subway and sneaks down there every day to perform experiments to satisfy his curiosity and his willing to learn. Equality then finds a young woman named Liberty 5-3000 and has thoughts that no man or woman can have except at the Time of Mating. After completing many experiments, Equality discovers electricity and uses it to make a light. When he showed it to the Council of Scholars, he was considered an evil wretch, and they also tell him that while he believes he

A crucial question people often find themselves asking is whether to live for themselves or to live for others and to what extent. Ayn Rand's novella, Anthem, explores a dystopian society that takes the theme of living for others to a whole new level. The sternness of this culture creates an emotionless and a bland society set on fulfilling collectivist principles. Anthem's society manipulates language to enforce collectivist doctrine by excluding words which cultivate a personal identity and merging religious and government views.

Now-a-days, when we think of the future, we picture flying cars, and being able to transport. In the novel “The Anthem” society and technology as we know it had been driven to an entirely new direction. The characters in the society do not have the right to speak freely nor do anything that they wish. They lost all of their freedom, they couldn’t even think for themselves. The society had to think as a whole, the word “I” did not exist in their vocabulary. The society is very balanced, and everyone fears the thought of even questioning it. Up until one man known as Equality 7-25271 wants the answers to all of his questions.

electricity. In Anthem, the government constricts it's citizens in hopes of maintaining control over the people. Equality has a vision of a different society revolving around freedom.

Throughout the course of the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 was never afraid to disobey rules that were put in place for those in the city. In fact, just about every action he engaged in was a direct challenge to the leaders of the “irrational society”. Although he did not complete these deeds with malice in the beginning, eventually Equality 7-2521 had a revelation about what his society was doing to the human race. All members of the collective society were being “kept in the dark”, both

Anthem portrays how Equality 7-2521 finds his way from a collective society to an individual society.

Equality learns that although his society has taught him that to be alone is evil and to work for others is substantial, he must actually work for himself and take pride in what he aspires to be and to do in order to achieve happiness. Ayn Rand does not clearly use the word “egoism” in Anthem, but the actions Equality achieves expresses the idea of egoism. “…he broke their chains…he broke their chains…he broke their chains…” (Page 165). The use of the phrase “he broke their chains” symbolizes the respect Equality gives to his fellow brethren. Equality realizes that he must break away from the chains of the government in order to truly live. Toward the end of the novella we receive the “forbidden word” that had been hinted at throughout the entire book. “The sacred word: Ego,” (Page 171). Ego is the theme of the story because it breathes life into the alternative theme of

“What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this. The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect It. We’ve survived by hiding from them, by running from them. But they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors; they are holding all the keys. Which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them” (Vin). Dystopia began to be used as early as the 1860’s. John Stuart Mill was the first person to use the word “dystopia” while giving a parliamentary speech. Since then, Dystopia has been used to describe a society that is made up of poverty, misery, and oppression; Dystopia is an alternative to Utopia. The novel Anthem, written by author Ayn Rand, substantially depicts the meaning of a dystopian society by combining many attributes into the novel.