Anthem By Ayn Rand: Literary Analysis

Through his work, he discovers a way to harness electricity and make a primitive light bulb. He knows that this discovery with greatly help mankind because a light bulb is more practical than a candle. This, however is not the reasoning behind Equality’s experimentation. Shown in the quote “We shall put before The Home of Scholars the greatest gift ever offered to men. We shall tell them the truth . . . We shall join our hands to theirs, and we shall work together, with the power of the sky, for the glory of mankind.” (Rand 67). In other words, Equality wishes to bring man a grand discovery of his, a discovery that will make everyone’s lives much easier. If you look closely you will find that Equality is very excited to show his invention, but he shows it so that he is a contributing individual. From this we can see that Equality wants only to be an individual, that is his motivation. Also, shown here “This wire is a part of our body, as a vein torn from us, glowing with our blood. Are we proud of this thread of metal, or of our hands which made it, or is there a line to divide these two?” (Rand 61). Rand expresses that Equality’s light bulb is a part of him, he created it for his brothers, but more importantly, he created it for the sake of his own individuality. To sum this up, Equality finds that his invention will benefit mankind

Equality runs away into the Uncharted forest to officially escape. He has been alone for days in the forest. Until one day Liberty 5-3000, a woman whom he met earlier in the book, finds him. They continue their escape and make it to an abandoned house. Equality knew that this home was from the unmentionable times. They go in and start exploring and Equality finds a bunch of books that contains words he has never heard of before. This is when he discovers the word “I” he learns that the world he had grown up in had shielded him from this word of individuality. He then decides that he is going to free the people from the restraints of their society. He says “ I shall rebuild the achievements of the past, and open the way to carry them further, the achievements which are open to me, but closed forever to my brothers, for their minds are shackled to the weakest and dullest ones among them.” (99,100)“I shall steal one day, for the last time, into the cursed City of my birth. I shall call to me my friend who has no name save International 4-8818, and all those like him”. (100, 101) He wants to rid of the rules and controls put over his society and free his brothers. He wants to create a great society for all people to enjoy and be individuals and

Ayn Rand’s novel puts Equality in a great position to start his new life with his new family. Ayn Rand’s story gives hope to all who want not to be conquered by their government and to have a say in what they believe in. If your government or society doesn’t like what you have to say, then it shows you can also walk right out the door if you don’t like what is happening. When you become a collectivist, you lose your individuality and almost become a slave and or a robot to the government and society. You lose your creativity and

Equality was sick of doing something he did not want to do like the orders from others, he wanted did what he wants to do , and he decided to change that in his life

After making the discovery, Equality sees what one man can do by himself. It gives him a sense of self-importance.

He craved information, but he was not permitted to obtain it. Equality thus realized that he was different from the others. He soon learned being different was not a good quality; it was a curse. In an attempt to fit in, he worked hard to conform to what was acceptable in the eyes of others. However, it did not always work.

Without rules, our communities would fall apart, and they would do the same in Equality’s community. A balance must be found with the amount of rules and the use and control of the rules and the freedom that is demonstrated and hoped for in Equality’s community. Some of the more simple and less controlling rules would have to be carried over into Equality’s envisioned society, or else it would become

During his childhood, he was blessed with an individual spirit and the intelligence to understand the knowledge of the world. In spite of this, he reckoned his abilities as transgressions. He acknowledged that the way of life was that “Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from the one is evil” (Rand 85). Equality strives to accept the totalitarian society and consequently, he desperately struggles to disregard his abilities and subdue his desires. The grisly effects of society are portrayed immensely through the profound sense of guilt he suffers while committing the Sin of Preference. He continually recites that, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by, and for our brothers who are the State. Amen” (Rand 21). Gradually, his aspirations contradict with the dogma of society. He discovers that he finds more joy committing the Sin of Preference rather than restraining himself from happiness, which ultimately, allows him to elude his conscious premises. Equality’s belief that “[he] [has] torn [himself] from the truth which is [his] brother men… [he] knows [this], but [he] [does] not care” (Rand 76) marks his complete triumph over collectivism. Prior to his transformation, he belonged to a society in which the Sin of Preference revoked all rights for any desire, which ultimately disallowed citizens to think for freely. If permitted to do so, no

“We made it. We created it.We brought it forth from the night of the ages.We alone.” (38) In the dystopian novel called Anthem by Ayn Rand a boy named equality lives in a society in which individuality is inconceivable and he is driven by his curiosity to learn which eventually led him to individuality and solitude when he leaves his society. Ayn Rand use equality's experiments with electricity to show equality develope from group mentality to absurd individuality illustrating her point that individuality rules over groups and that everyone should be entirely and only individual.

Equality learns during his new life alone, that he doesn’t need to fit in, in order to thrive. When pushed to run away, Equality finds a house in the forest that he quickly calls his home, “For they were not white tunics, nor white togas; they were of all colors, no two of them alike… We found a room with walls made of shelves, which held rows of manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling. Never had we seen such a number of them, nor of such strange shape” (Rand). Equality not only survived in the forest, but lived. He ends up much better off than he would have back home because of the “rows of manuscripts” which allow him to gain much more knowledge than the Council. The large house he has all to himself is much different than what he is used to, and provides more luxury as well. By living in this house away from society, it shows his ability to provide for himself, an idea completely unaware to the citizens back “home”. This brings him closer to realize that he is capable of living away from his society. Equality lived alone in the forest, but he was alone in the sense that the entire population

Equality and the others must recite the pledge, "We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen'" (21) every night before they go to bed. In this pledge, anyone who repeats it, is agreeing to put the good of their “brothers” ahead of their own selfish desires and wants. Everything is to be done for the brothers. The leaders of this type of society really strive to reach their goal of “equality” among their people. Therefore, when someone like Equality comes into play, and, with his intelligence, indirectly threatens the master plan these leaders have been carefully crafting, they will try to put a stop to him in any way they can. In addition to the pledge every man must make before he goes to bed, each member of society must not be better than his subordinates. Equality explains, “This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The Teachers told us so, and they frowned when they looked upon us'" (21). Although Equality does not try to be superior over his fellow brothers, he ends up being smarter than his peers; it was just a quality he was born with. Therefore, when the teachers notice Equality’s superiority, in the form of knowledge, the Council of Vocations would do anything in their power to make sure Equality does not mess up their

Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.

Ceaseless collectivism is not something that can be forced upon a community. Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem conveys this through the writings of Equality 7-2125, a man willing to stand up to the collectivism of the society he is confined to. Anthem not only shows how dull and lifeless a society can be with a lack of individuality in its people, but also reveals how one person can significantly impact a community. This novel displays the importance of individualism through Equality’s thoughts and actions. This includes when he reinvents electricity in the tunnel, falls in love with Liberty, and when he completely separates himself from society.

Equality contemplates, “I wonder, for it is hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word “I”, could give it up and not know what they lost” (103). This quote narrates the discovery of one of the most essential words used to identify as a single, original person, I. Equality realizes the tragedy of the loss that his previous society created before his lifetime and really ponders why and how this could happen in a very separate world. Equality readies himself to be an individual person as a result of feeling strongly against the beliefs of his previous society. Equality excitedly states, “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand” (79). In the past, Equality had never done anything to express his originality because of the law stating otherwise, so when given the opportunity to finally understand his own strengths and weaknesses, he takes it. He disregards the law and excitedly grasps the concept that he isn’t supposed to be a follower like his peers were, he was meant to be a leader. Disagreeing with the law was a main point of Rand’s novella, promoting personal

Many readers might compare him to Thomas Edison, because Equality discovered electricity, but as you look deeper into Equality’s characteristics you’ll see that he more relates to Leonardo da Vinci. Back in the 1400’s da Vinci was a prolific inventor and way ahead of his times. When da vinci would work he would work in secret and sometimes underground so he wouldn’t get in trouble for his studies. This is definitely one of the major key factors that reminds me of Equality; because Equality too works underground to keep his studies a secret. When Equality says “For the first time do we care about our body.” and when he dissects a frog in Chapter