Dystopia Exposed In Ayn Rand's Anthem

“The word "We" is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. It is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages” (Rand 66). Anthem is a science fiction book written by Ayn Rand. This book takes place in a futuristic time in which freedom and individual rights have been demolished and substituted by collectivism. Equality 7-2521 has a different perspective on reality than the rest of society and therefore searches to find his way despite many hardships. Within Equality 7-2521’s exploration, he is able to

The society depicted in Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, has the people working for other people, and that their own lives are useless, a system known as collectivism. The rules are quite restrictive in Anthem’s society for the purpose of keeping people in line so they would not rebel against the government. Rules also serve to keep people equal to one another; however, at the end of the novel, Equality 7-2521 creates his own society with hopes to give people full freedom and individualism. The government’s society in Anthem created laws to keep the collectivist ideals alive.

All success starts with inner motivation. The most talented people that are living have an inner motivation that started their success story. The book “Anthem,” by Ayn Rand portrays the character  Equality's  main motivation which is individuality. Through his fearless discoveries he finally realizes the truth and that truth will set him free.

Imagine living in a society where everything someone does is conforming to someone else. In the novella Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the author talks about conformity by referring to how all men need to be alike and fit in with each other. Equality 7-2521 the street sweeper, believes in the feeling of individualism and rejects the collectivist society around him. Social conformity becomes dangerous in Anthem because while Equality 7-2521 follows all the rules at the beginning of the novella, throughout the book he begins to break them.

The future as we imagine it, is to be filled with hi-tech gadgets and gear. Yet we consistently forget about the past and how the past always catches up, where light is gone and equality is a must were no sight of uniqueness is allowed. If that were the case we wouldn’t not be human. “Anthem” by Ayn Rand explains this world where everyone is the same and everyone is told exactly what to do. Equality 7-2521 is the main character of this story and tries to fix this problem. In this story, there is a dystopian protagonist, and a dystopian protagonist is a character that feels trapped and is struggling to escape his/her society. Equality, the dystopian protagonist in “Anthem”, questions the society he lives in by figuring out that being

“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; If I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do” (Robert Heinlein). Sometimes, there are certain rules where we will listen to them, and others that we do exactly the opposite of what is told. Either road you go, you will have to take responsibility for the choices you make. In Anthem, the major character, Equality, did exactly this. Anthem is written as a diary in the eyes of Equality, an individual living in a place where nobody knows what individualism is, to the point of not knowing words like I. Everybody works in groups, with their lives controlled by councils which makes an insane novella. In the novella, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand has a variety of rules which purpose is to create a dystopian government in which residents can’t express emotions, can’t make decisions for themselves, live in a communistic style of society, keeps the power in the hands of the elites, and as Equality creates a new society, some of these rules will exist and some will be different, either way, it will make a positive impact.

In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand the social classes are portrayed in a way that is very different from the way social classes are viewed today. The way the power is divided in the social classes is not very different from the way it is in our society. The government has exaggerated control in the novel, but as well in our society. Although the government’s control obviously differs from the novel to our society, in the novel the control has total control from what your name is to what you will do as an occupation. In this Dystopia the government’s reach is extensive, the fact that they chose these things for their citizens almost makes it feel like anarchy.

Being “yourself” would be the biggest sin in the world of Anthem, a book by Ayn Rand, where one citizen, Equality-72521, lives as not one, but among many. By not learning the word “I” at any time in your life, including birth. Equality, however, found a spot currently unknown, and decided to do a crime worthy of death. He hid there every night, and learned all he could secretly for years. He goes to great lengths to learn much no other person really knew, such as electricity, and didn’t tell anyone else about the light bulb as to make sure he could keep on learning, and in the end risked his life to protect what he learned, independently, so he could change who he was and what he knew.

The book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, celebrates the controversial and enduring legacy of her controversial prospective. The book is written in the context of a journal, in an age that had lost all trace of science and civilization. Anthem portrays a totalitarian world of the future along with being technologically primitive. The world of Anthem does not allow the people to think for themselves, but for each other. Not having the ability to think for oneself impedes man to be self-sufficient and in this case, to progress technologically. Because of the society’s ability being hindered, it causes the society to not be able to advance, which is seen consistently throughout the novel in many events.

We often think that this world has a lot of cruel rules, but when it comes to Anthem by Ayn Rand, you get to realize that it’s far worse. There are plenty of strict and harsh rules for men in Anthem. To name just a few of them, the Council of Vocations select your job whether you like it or not. Not being able of who you want to have children with. The rules and controls in the book that Equality 7-2521, the narrator, states, should be different and less harsh and cruel.

Anthem depicts an autocratic society, a ruler having absolute power, Anthem is portrayed as the future from the Unmentionable Times. The society in Anthem is lacking advanced technology, they live in a “technologically primitive society.” In this book there are several instances that cause question about the citizen’s knowledge and their regulations compared to our modern day society. The characters’ actions and dialogue establishes the view of how their society lacks technology and how they are mentally restricted by having to think a certain way. Throughout the book Anthem shows more of a dystopian society rather than utopian society. The inhabitants of the society are clueless they just know what The Council knows and that seems to be very little.

The society depicted in Anthem written by Ayn Rand has the people working to benefit each other, a system known as collectivism. The rules are quite restrictive in Anthem’s society for the purpose of keeping people in line, so they would not rebel against the government. Rules also serve the purpose to keep people equal to one another; however, at the end of the novel, Equality 7-2521 creates his own society to give people full freedom and individualism. Anthem’s society created laws to keep the collectivist ideals alive.

“The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil. But we have broken many laws.” Anthem is a science fiction novella by Ayn Rand which takes place in the future and has a collectivist society. The novel revolves around Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000, and the rules and controls of The Great Rebirth, similar to another Dark Age.

The variety of themes showed in the Anthem novel is Individualism , Rebellion and Confinement. These themes are revealed in many ways . Individualism is revealed when Equality the main character started to identify himself in many ways . For example when equality discover light in the Unmentionable Times tunnel by himself . This proves that Individualism is being implied in the story and helps it progress becomes it helps the main character find out his strengths within his collective society. Likewise Liberty 3-5000 is also discovering herself in Anthem . For Instance when she declares that she loves him for the first time in the forest. This shows that Liberty 3-5000 grasp the concept of being an individual towards the end of the book in

The idea of the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is to teach us about independence and self awareness but also a warning about governments through Equality 7-2521. The books leading character is having a hard time to find the what life really means to him and get to know his distinctive qualities. When he acquires his freedom and liberty, he finds the strength of his soul and potential of his mind. When the end of the book comes along, the lead character is a real man that is very proud, has little fear, and independence. Anthem demonstrates the maliciousness of collectivism by portraying the people of the society that are scared and disheartened males that are overcome beneath the requirements of common goods. Why did the rules exist? What is the purpose of these rules?