What Is The Theme Of Greed In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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

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

“I understood the blessed thing which I had called my curse. I understood why the best in me had been my sins and transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins” (98). This quote is about Equality’s epiphany about his curiosity he had had his entire life, proof of the twisted logic the collectivist society used on civilians to make them identical. Since Equality was feeling the best he had ever felt once being free from the collectivist reigns, he was bewildered with the reality of being ‘shunned’ or as his civilization would call him, ‘damned’. Equality laughs, “For the first time this day, we remembered that we are the Damned. [...] We are writing this on the paper we had hidden in our tunic together with the written pages we had brought for the World Council of Scholars, but never given to them” (80). Equality assesses that running away from the law didn’t come with any consequences that he isn’t willing to live with. He was no longer scared to be judged on his thoughts or creations. He comes to the conclusion that nothing is worth giving up

In this paper, I will be talking about the book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. I will be talking about characters such as protagonists and antagonists and how some characters impacted the story. I will talk about the setting, conflicts, and the plot of the story. I will also talk about literary devices such as point of view, symbolism, mood, tone, and theme.

The outcast archetype that Equality is portrayed with is partially created by their internal conflict throughout the novel. After admitting to their crime of going against conformity and being an individual in thought to the World Council of Scholars, Equality runs away and ends up in the Uncharted Forest, more or less banished from their society. They are looked at with disdain by the scholars for their attempt of individuality in a society surrounded in conformity. Rand writes the following on page 72: “How dare you, gutter cleaner,...to hold yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the many?” (Rand). By sharing the thoughts that they had alone, Equality became an outcast in their community. Even if Equality had chosen conforming over being independent, there still would have been a different form of price paid for their decision. However, if they had decided to submit to their culture’s practice, then they would not have achieved their quest, and the powerful ending of Anthem might not have been as compelling.

Nowadays, individuality is perched on top of the highest pedestal. There's nothing that compares with the ability to stand apart from each other and no one dares take that away. But in Ayn Rand’s novella called Anthem, it is the complete opposite; there are numerous Councils who are in charge of everything for the people. Some of the things include, what jobs and what future people have and also they regulate intelligence and inventions. Equality 7-2521, later renamed Prometheus, is a member of this dystopian society; he isn't at all similar to his brothers. This, leads to his urge to break away from them. The Council and the society damn him because of his actions and brain, but after his escape, he realizes this damnation is hilarious because they are the damned, not him.

    Equality, a very curious main character, wants the experience of feeling valued not only within himself but also from others. The feeling of accomplishment and knowledge is what he is deprived of in his collectivist world and what many seek to feel. Individuality distinguishes one from others which is why each and every one is unique and why Equality feels he is different. This difference is due

In conclusion, Equality 7-2521 has executed a wrongdoing by writing his journal. Equality 7-2521 has traveled far to be able to continue his writing, showing he does not feel safe around others while actively committing this sin. He has also thought on his own and wrote without the Council of Vocations authorization, even though he has been raised to obey the laws. Through these actions, Equality has carried out a great

The fiction novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, begins as equality takes a journey to individualism. He begins by writing how wrong he is to be writing what he is, how much of a sin it is. To be thinking as his own, and as an “I”. Ayn Rand is from Russia, which is a communist society. As Rand was growing up in this time frame, she had made the time to give herself an education which was frowned upon as she was a woman. She was not given a sense of “I” it was the normal thing for women to stand back and watch. To continue deeper into the book, Equality's eventual assessment of his writing on his own, changed from being a sin to being and individual activity, from the beginning to the end of the book.

He was thought that it was bad to be different but he did not care, he just wanted to show other citizens that there was more than what meets the eyes. Not only is equality an individualized thinker but he is also smart and brave. Equality makes a statement in his society by creating light and sharing the new invention with others. “We MADE IT. WE CREATED IT. We brought it forth from the night of the ages. We alone. Our hands. Our minds. Ours alone and only. We knew not what we are saying. Our head is reeling. We look upon the light which we have made” ( Rand 59). This shows that Equality made a new invention and is eventually going to show it to the council of scholars. This affects society because the council of scholars thinks that Equality is being superior to his brother. “We have much to say to a wretch who have broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy! How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers? And if the council had decreed that you should be a street sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the streets?” (Rand 71). This proves that no one, besides Equality wants to change society. This ties to the theme by trying to break out of the controlling society and leading into Equality standing up for individualism and for himself. In addition this concludes how the two short stories “Anthem” and “Harrison Bergeron” have different themes.

Equality starts to become self-reliant. He searches for knowledge and relies on himself and his discovery for joy. Page 52 says, “We Equality 7-2521 have discovered a new power of nature, and we have discovered it alone and only we know it.” (Rand 52). Although searching for knowledge is valued in Christianity, Equality’s beliefs still differ from the Bible. Equality directly defies authority and only relies on himself as the ultimate authority. However, Romans 13: 1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” In comparison with Equality’s beliefs, Equality is making himself the ultimate authority instead of God. Romans 12:2 also states, “That you should not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Similarly, Equality is respected but not conforming to

“My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose” (Rand, 95). Anthem is written by American author Ayn Rand about Equality 7-2521 on his quest for happiness. The novel is set in an unspecified time and place in the future. Years after human civilization has gone through a deconstruction in which all knowledge was lost and a new society established with no concept of the individual. “The novel describes the efforts of the main character, Equality 7-2521, to reestablish a sense of personal identity and restore the knowledge of the past by objective scientific inquiry. In doing so, he must face many dangers and privations” (Anthem). Anthem is a dairy of the Equality

After gaining knowledge of the “Unmentionable Times”, Equality then refers to himself as “I” and realizes “[He owes] nothing to [his] brothers, nor [does he] gather debts from them” (96). Finally after years of working together with his “brothers” and having no freedom, Equality has freed himself from the collectivist society. He realized working for other people’s happiness is not satisfying and that no one should owe their life for the benefit of others. At that point, Equality was almost referring to himself as a god by indicating that he’ll create a better society for everyone where happiness is the main goal. To Equality however, freedom means freedom from your brothers and that’s it. His ideals are also extremist to the point that the new society would probably have its skeptics too. According to Equality, “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers” (101). The idea of objectivism comes from this because it emphasizes the fact that a person does not need others to be happy or free. Instead, doing something should be for personal gain much like egoism, but the main objective is to be happy in the end. The idea is good in theory and Equality was right to break free from the system of the City, however, happiness implies something different to everyone, so there should be guidelines, or

In “Anthem” Ayn Rand writes in a dystopian world. A dystopian world is “a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control” (ReadWriteThink). The opposite of Utopia which is “a place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions” (ReadWriteThink). In the world of “Anthem” the main character who had no name was called Equality 7-2521. Equality meets Liberty 5-3000 a girl from the Home of the Peasant. Equality 7-2521 came from the Home of The Street Sweepers in which each person was assigned a home such as the Home of the Scholars and so forth. However, he finds out that all his life in the city was not what life was about. Equality finds out that his life is meant to be free. Also that life, consequently was a place where you were meant to be

Equality’s society is unjust because everyone strives for the same moral idea of equality. In the real world, there is absolutely no such thing as absolute equality, therefore when a slight difference occurs, there will be unjust. Equality stated,“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) Even a small difference such as intelligence still made Equality suffer. Motivation can also change one’s morality. The society’s morality changed when all everyone push for is equality. Equality’s journal claimed, “ ‘What is not thought by all men cannot be true,’ said Collective 0-0009. ‘You have worked on this alone?’ asked International 1-5537. ‘Yes,’ we answered. ‘What is not done collectively cannot be good,’ said International 1-5537.”(69) In this society, no matter how beneficial to mankind the aftermath could be, if it’s not achieving equality then is automatically morally