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Individuality In Ayn Rand's 'The Anthem'

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Eve Cao Mrs. Futagaki CP English Honor 25 March 2016 The Anthem In the beginning of The Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the main protagonist, Equality 7-2521 states, “It is a sin to write this.” What the word “this” was referring to was the story itself. However, the book ends with Equality 7-2521 completely flipping his opinion around and believing the total opposite of his actions in the beginning. His final conclusion is accurate because individuality is extremely essential to a healthy society, forcing humans to live a robotic lifestyle and compressing their feelings isn't acceptable, and writing is a profound way of expressing original thoughts. Throughout the novel, Equality 7-2521 solves the mysteries that lie in life and educates himself …show more content…

It is how you express yourself, share your thoughts and opinions on things, and embrace your uniqueness. In the world of The Anthem, all the people are restricted from picking jobs they want to pursue, saying the word “I” aloud, and obligated to live life identical to everyone around you. The outcome of life without individuality is absolutely pointless. There is no meaning to life if you're not allowed to express yourself. Individuality is the reason that so many amazing things in the world exist. Incredibly written books, beautifully sculpted artwork, bizarre and practical man made inventions, and so much more is because people were able to think creatively and use their original ideas to turn into into something beneficially spectacular for the masses. Without individuality, there would always be a bias of what is supposedly taught to the society as acceptable or unacceptable. No one would be able to make their own decisions, thus the world would be one large and plain society where people are only existing under government control instead of living life to the …show more content…

Happiness, sadness, anger, excitement and so many other feelings are mental states that show the world what you're currently experiencing. Compressing emotions is unhealthy to the mental state of humans and could cause serious damage. In The Anthem, people are not allowed to express what they're feeling. One very principal feeling is love. When Equality 7-2521 began to develop feelings for Liberty 5-3000, he was disappointed in himself because society norms taught him that expressing these feelings were bad. Expressing emotions with one another is what makes up a community. Feelings are what makes somebody a human, and without the ability to show people emotions, they begin to forget how feelings work and fully conform to a robotic life. With the restrictions of expressing emotions, people lose the sense of purpose in life and result to weakly abiding to these unfair rules. Colliding emotions often cause conflicts, which are occasionally healthy in society because it opens the public to new ideas. This helps the world bond and create accurate opinions based on many different factors. It is crucial to be able to express emotions because this is essential to human nature, keeps society healthy, and balances the

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