In the U.S. many people don’t understand how lucky they are to have rights and freedom. After reading Anthem by Ayn Rand, I developed a better understanding of why people stepped up to fight for our rights. Many American figures even signed documents such as the Declaration of Independence to describe the basic freedom and rights people of our country deserve to withhold. After reading both Anthem and the Declaration of Independence, you realize how different our world is from the one trying to be portrayed in Anthem. Although they both describe how everyone is equal, the Declaration of Independence states that people have the right to pursue happiness through career, education and relationships. It also gives us the right to abolish any …show more content…
In the Declaration of Independence it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This tells that we have equal rights and that we can pursue our happiness as we see fit. As to in Anthem everyone is equal but not seen as individuals, this is shown on page 4, “‘Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave the Home of the Students. You shall do what the Council of Vocations shall prescribe to you…’” The teachers told the students this and it shows that they don’t get a say in what they do to make them happy and that it doesn’t matter what they want to do because they will be appointed what the Council wants them to do. In the Declaration of Independence it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson 112). This explains that all U.S. citizens have the same rights and freedoms that everyone else is entitled to but it still allows citizens to have free thoughts and personal freedom. Whereas in Anthem you have no rights or
One of the things that stand out in in Anthem is the little amount of freedoms they have. The society has been completely turned on its head every little thing they do in life is dictated and controlled down to who they can like. They aren't even allowed to be taller or different looking from their brothers. One of the freedoms missing that stands out to me is the freedom of speech. For people here in America, the freedom of speech is something we all take for granted and don't think about all that often. We know it's one of our rights and we know that some other countries don’t have it, but we don't tend to stop and think about what it would be like if we had that taken away. That is something that everyone needs to think about from time to time.
Corrupt governments, such a the one in Anthem, use laws and its citizens’ ignorance to dehumanize them thus detaching them from their senses of identity. One way in which the government influences identity is through education. As Equality quotes his teachers in his journal to describe men’s place in society
In the second paragraph of "The Declaration of Independence" is one of history's most regularly quoted passages. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Jefferson) The Declaration motivated the colonist to seek independence from from the King of Great Britain. Even though the Declaration was trying to point out a positive outcome it does not go into detail about what the values of Americans should be, which is why not all citizens are treated equally. We are not living into the promises today because there are so many negativity that is happening in America today.
Anthem by Ayn Rand is a narrative about a young man, named Equality 7-2521, who lives in a collectivist society. This book is about the personal journey of Equality 7-2521 in a future version of our society. In this novel, the reader reads about an environment in which everyone is considered as one, meaning that no one is meant to be an individual. Each person in this society is assigned a certain job to benefit their “brothers” and is expected to follow a certain order throughout their lifetime. Helping their fellow members is also an important rule to their society because it promotes the concept of selflessness. Anthem by Ayn Rand portrays three different themes that the reader acknowledges; selflessness, order, and equality.
For example, the document states that a government should be by and for the people and if this is not so, the people have a right to change or overthrow the government (Jefferson). The Declaration of Independence also holds one of the most well-known sentences in the English language, a revolutionary idea that all men are created equal. The original quote reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Part of the quote is borrowed from John Locke, another revolutionary thinker in the colonies. He proposed the phrase as “life, liberty and the pursuit of property” in one of his informational books about various topics affecting humanity. However, a topic that was mostly kept out was slavery. While the Declaration mentioned that all men are created equal, the authors of the document, especially the author Thomas Jefferson with his massive house and farm, owned slaves and did not want to be hypocritical in any
The United States of America is not doing very well in upholding some of the principles of The Declaration of Independence. You can tell this by looking at some of the protests going on in the united states such as the Black Lives Matter and the NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. The main principle the United States is not upholding well is,“All men are created equal.” The reason I stated this principle is because something you'll notice about some of the protests is that black people are usually the ones who are doing the protesting.
Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7-2521, the protagonist, struggles for self-identification living in a collectivist society. Equality believes that individuality is an eminent aspect of one’s life because individuality defines and outlines who a person is. It is difficult for Equality to endure live with people who support collectivism and who reject his ideas. For example when Equality invents and exhibits the light bulb, the World Council rejects it and tells equality that it is a sin to work on something alone and not share it with his brothers. By the end of the novella Equality comes upon the perfect place for him to live, the Uncharted Forest, where he finds a house from the Unmentionable Times and for the
The Declaration of Independence, the foundation of our country. The core of what we as citizens are supposed to abide by and also to preach. The pinnacle of our Nation’s history. “Men are created equal”, “…to alter or to abolish it [government]” (Declaration). Many civilians preach these words as if they are the absolute, ruling authority, that all abide it. While the others’ tend to point out subtle and sometimes obvious violations of these rights’ that we [citizens] are given in this country.
Imagine being a kid and being told there is no point in dreaming, your future is already decided. Without unalienable rights or Consent of the governed this is what life would be like. Being an American citizen unalienable rights give the opportunity to succeed no matter what background they come from. The US constitution helps protects these unalienable rights rights by bill of rights ,the Constitution helps protect the consent of the governed by separating the government.
“Natural rights are those which always appertain to man in right of his existence. Of this kind are all the intellectual rights, or rights of the mind, and also all those rights of acting as an individual for his own comfort and happiness, which are not injurious to the rights of others.” Philosopher Thomas Paine states a clear example of what is profound about the Declaration of Independence. This quote is an example of natural rights philosophy which is the idea that there are some rights we are born with as humans. Natural rights are rights that deem all “men” equal to each other.
Ayn Rand's 1938 book "Anthem" emphasizes the importance of individuality and how this concept is threatened by society's tendency to promote values that are damaging for people in general. The novella's protagonist, Equality 7-2521, has been discriminated ever since he was a little boy, as his teachers were determined to differentiate between individuals on account of their particularities. From society's perspective, everyone needed to be equal in the respective community and it was essential for people to refrain from standing out. This was very difficult for Equality, as his stature practically made it impossible for him to be considered an equal. This makes it possible for one to understand that Equality felt discriminated from the first years of his adolescent life and that this played an important role in making him want to live life differently from the rest of the world.
The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the American political tradition. It articulates the fundamental ideas that form the American nation and gives all Americans natural rights. According to this document it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
The Declaration of Independence states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In this very well known quote written by Thomas Jefferson, he says life is a right the people of America have.
“…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” -Declaration of
The author states the Declaration of Independance to show that people have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness; this idea supports the author by explaining that someone should be able to pursue self-given dreams, and goals to their reach, which can mean to attain their fullest potential.