Equality's Morals In Anthem, By Ayn Rand

Novelists create science fiction novels that represents what today’s society could possibly look like if the government has too much power. Today’s society would fall into a state of corruption, where nothing belongs to a single person and everything is owned by the government. It would be a place where people cannot openly voice their thoughts or opinions without getting in trouble with the powerful government. Ayn Rand’s science fiction novel, Anthem, depicts a dark vision of the future world where individuality is not permitted to exist. The main character, Equality, sets himself aside from the other people living in society. He knows that he is different, but with a sense of naivety, he finds his independence wrong, but he cannot help it. Liberty, the female character in which Equality has feelings for, also finds herself to be different from others and follows Equality’s path. In conveying the insidious corruption of the collectivist society of Anthem, Ayn Rand uses dramatic and situational irony.

In Anthem, everyday people wake up in order to repeat the same thing. After the Great Rebirth things have not been the same, humans have to stabilize their moods now because you can not be too happy nor sad. This is the final category in Ayn Rand’s mood/tone break down, Equality has made it to the forest and Liberty has followed. They come upon a house that was left in the Unmentionable Times. Equality reads all the books in the house because there was a library in there and Liberty is expecting a child. Equality has discovered the Unspeakable Word that is forbidden in their time, and that word is “I”. In Anthem’s time period nobody is considered their own person, so people used the word “we” as referring to themselves but not as one individual. Discovering this word changed the tone of the book and made it have a better ending with a satisfying feeling. Equality’s mood was joyous because he wanted to spread the information about the Unmentionable Times to his

On the other hand Anthem and “Harrison Bergeron” are similar because both of these stories use equality as a way to manipulate and control their people. In Ayn Rand’s

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.

Throughout the book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 changes his perspective on how he views the leaders of society. As he starts to realize that there is more meaning to his life than he previously thought, he changes his view which leads him to start thinking of himself as an individual instead of just another member of his society. He no longer accepts the way his government is telling him to live his life as a proper way to live. Equality 7-2521, is correct in denouncing his leaders of their morality as he finally starts to realize that the leaders are hindering him and the rest of the society from expanding their knowledge in development of technology and advancements in the medical field.

To go to the lengths of stealing to learn, to keep secrets he would get lashed for if he spoke of a word to them, to even smashing a window to protect his glass box, Equality changed from a child of small knowledge under the power of those in charge, to an adult full with knowledge that had been prior lost for decades, and even longer. The more he knew, the more he realized that there was more to life than working for others, and only recognized as “we.” Ayn Rand showed how Equality’s transition from selfless to knowing how to be “one” was an extremely important part of anyone’s life; Learning to be yourself, and what you can do and what can be learned by doing things

In the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 has changed how he views the leaders of his society, and now is very critical of the leaders, referring to them in moral terms. He lives in a very collectivism society, where his leaders control the aspects of the citizen’s lives. The citizens are characterized by a number rather than a name. All the brothers of this society are not allowed to speak to or look at any one of his brothers or women. They follow a repeated schedule day by day, following the totalitarian rules given.

“We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible, and forever” ( Rand. 19). In Equality 7-2521’s life, he was forced to be equal to the people who were around him. He couldn’t be different from society, because it was a sin. Equality was born with a curse which made him different from his brothers. He was cursed with the quick learning ability. He tried to be like other people who were not as smart as him, but somehow his plan never succeeded. Although he tried to forget his lessons, it always came back to his remembrance. Anthem interested me when Equality 7-2521 met Liberty 5-3000, how he discovered electricity, and how he wanted his rights. Society wanted the people including Equality 7-2521 to be equal. Even though Equality 7-2521 went through some hard times, he finally got his rights at the end of the book.

Achieving equality has been attempted by many, however, none have completely succeeded. The problems lies in the individualism each person poses. By wiping out the individualism in a society, while not completely achieving equality, equality would be as close to perfect as it could get. In the novel Anthem, Equality 7-2521 and his fellow brothers live in a society in which perfect equality is being attempted to be achieved; individualism has been weeded out over time. During Ayn Rand’s novel about dystopian society, the Council of Vocations assign Equality the job of street cleaner due to a sinister motivation of believing Equality and his intelligence pose a threat to their “perfect” society.

“Anthem” is an engrossing novel by Ayn Rand focusing on the character Equality 7-2521’s descent into rebellion against the new socialistic government that has taken all previous scientific advancement out of life, only to leave the ideology of collectivism. His quest to discover, learn, and invent is problematic to those that oversee the progress of the civilization, and from roughly around the age of five, he is punished for his nature. Soon enough, the twenty-one year old is on a journey to learn, not only about nature’s mysteries, but also about what sets him apart from his dead-eyed peers. Equality 7-2521 has many distinctive characteristics that others in the restricted city do not, some of which are relatable, and others that are indeed

Ayn Rand’s views on ego are very different from what you immediately think about when you hear that word but the way she demonstrates gives a new meaning that turns out to be extremely influential. Every person has an ego no matter how old you are or how young that you are it’s something that can not be changed. An ego gives people their personality by giving them more confidence about certain things or shy about others. Equality had a very big ego about individualism that is why he was able to speak out about it so confidently. If he didn’t have such a big ego about it he would have been shy to speak out and not

“To be a judge one must possess an unimpeachable character…” (Rand, ”How does one lead a rational life in an irrational society?” Paragraph 4). Equality is that “unimpeachable character” in Anthem. He is not afraid to judge. Ayn Rand is a philosopher and a writer and she wrote Anthem and How does one lead a rational life in an irrational society. Anthem is a about a post-apocalyptic society with a government with morals that are against our morals today and humans knowledge destroyed in the disasters that took place, and the article is Ayn’s outlook on life. In Anthem, Ayn Rand uses Equalities actions to emphasize that when you are discontent with the government's morals you should denounce them.

The society of Anthem banned pronouns like I or me. Equality defied this by using these pronouns after he read them in “ancient scripts”. “I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I am the meaning” (94). Equality said this because the pronouns he used symbolized his escape from his past world. He reached his final goal, and broke free from the regulations of the strict society. Ayn Rand said in her article, “The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.” This means that Equality was freed by his gaining of independence from the past society. Equality does not owe anything to his brothers, and that helped him escape. He even gave names to himself and Liberty. This act is condemned in his original home. By defying the rules and regulations, Equality managed to free himself for good from the society of

The book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, is about a man named Equality who lives in a state with a communist-like government who developed numerous rules and controls which than Equality realizes are wrong and breaks them for freedom and starts a new life with a woman named Liberty who than start a new family and make a new society as the city in Anthem is controlled by a communist-like government and has made numerous rules and controls. They exist because the rules prevent the people from having freedom and prevent individuality from happening because in the book, the people don't know anything about individuality and they don't have any freedom of their own. The main purpose of these rules and controls is to make all the people equal and