Symbolism In Anthem By Ayn Rand

Equality and Socrates underestimate it as as to empower the good. In order for them to acquire knowledge, both men must fight against the regulations of the dystopian society. Both go to the city and they come across with a society they’ve never seen before. In spite of my Anthem literary analysis, on the theme in symbolism of light, Equality has invented the lightbulb, in which he believes that it will benefit mankind. In regards to his invention, he believes that it has also become a part of him. In the novella, Rand states ‘’..We can light our tunnel, and the city, and all the cities of the world with nothing save metal and wires...the power of the sky can be made to do men’s bidding.” Light symbolizes the knowledge Equality gives to his brothers. He believes that his benefit to society will outway the transgression he has committed. Also, he believes that when shows it to the World Council, they will reject Equality’s limits of his new invention. The World of Council rejects his new technology, because they are unfamiliar with it being standardize to its society. A last reason of their rejection to Equality’s creativity would be, because they are unaware of the power it possesses. For the purpose of knowledge, in Anthem, it empowers Equality to leave society and pursue his oath of liberating his brothers and sisters from

Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.

I feel that Equality’s only purpose is to show others in the story that individuality is okay. His invention would benefit mankind very much, in both others and himself. He created the light bulb to be and individual. Equality creates the light bulb and it becomes a part of him, it was intended to help others, but ended up helping Equality to find himself in a world of sameness, in world of brainwashing, and in a world of

brought them for a civilization where the word ?I? did not exist to a world

Imagine if you lived in a society that was filled with terror, where you feel the inability to do anything? What you imagined could be described as a dystopian society. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand the main character, Equality 7-2521 experiences the struggles of living in a dystopian society. Equality 7-2521 always felt alienated due to his difference in physical appearance and mentality. In the society he lived in it was wrong to be different. Those who are in the this dystopian society have to live by strict rules. In the novel Rand uses literary devices such as setting, mood, tone, point of view, climax, themes, and symbols to express this dystopian society environment.

“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

In Chapter Five, Equality announced his discovery of the light by saying “We made it. We created it. We brought it forth from the night of the ages” (Rand 20). With this being said, you can simply think of the light as being Equality’s knowledge. The light that Equality created developed from the night of ages, the place that contains lack of light or darkness. Equality’s burning desire is to share his discovery, or intellect which was used to create the light, with his brothers and the world in order to improve their life.

In a New Light One of the key symbols used in Ayn Rand’s Anthem is the advancement from the creation of the candle, to the invention of the lightbulb. The lightbulb symbolizes several things. Mainly, it represents Equality 7-2521’s new society and how it will light the way to more innovative ideas. In today’s world even, the lightbulb is used in cartoons to illustrate that a character has a bright idea. Equality 7-2521’s invention also represents change.

“We were born with a curse” (18). At the beginning of the book Anthem, this quote explains how Equality- 2721 feels about himself. He is describing how he thinks and wishes about things that are forbidden. In the book Anthem, one topic of discussion is technology and science. Technology and science is presumed to be feared in the book and is primitive.

A memorable symbol from Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem is the Uncharted Forest where Equality 7-2125 leaves civilization behind in hopes to find himself. When he left he was not willing to sacrifice his discoveries of the light bulb or even his science experiments. He aspired to be just like Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word, the man who died saying the word “I.” He knew what self-sufficiency was and he knew how he was going to get it. Moments before the Transgressor died Equality promised him that he would carry on his legacy. Not only does that represent dedication it also represents determination. His whole life he wanted to be somebody, and finally the Uncharted Forest reflected everything he worked for in his life. It resembles everything

Ayn Rand’s assertion in Anthem is that it shows mankind has had their freedom hidden and it exactly what the book says and shows. One of the quotes in Anthem was “We are one in all and all in on. There are no men but only the great we, one, indivisible and forever”. Anthem’s knowledge is skills, information and practical understanding of a subject. Equality remembers that his “Happiness is not the means to an end”. Relevant quote “Happiness is not a ended”. The purpose of knowledge is it causes us to known things. It helps survival, so therefore it’s often useful and pursued. The way how it benefit mankind is that Equality understands that his invention will benefit mankind greatly. Dystopian societies control knowledge by his images and how

Rand implements epochal symbolism, in Anthem, to illustrate symbolism throughout the plot. For example, The Uncharted Forest symbolizes the unknown. It expresses all those mysteries in the world that Equality 7-2521 says he wants to learn about, over and over again, in the opening of the novella. And more importantly, Equality 7-2521 can only start to solve those mysteries on his own because, “Beyond the plain there lies the Uncharted Forest, about which no man must think about” revealing that Equality 7-2521's society reluctant to enter it, just as it refuses to actually learn about nature through the pursuit of science(Rand 15). Equality 7-2521, on the other hand, does enter it, just as he also is driven by science to inquire into reality with an open mind. Rand also describes the invention of light. It talks about Equality

Equality doesn't always equal happiness. Ayn Rayn used symbolism in her book Anthem to show a deeper meaning on how she feels about collectivism based on how it affected her at the time. Three of of the most important symbols are a simple light bulb, a screaming person, and the Uncharted Forest. This proves that Anthem is classified as a dystopia because each symbol represents the fear and how powerless the people really are in their lives.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, light is an essential symbol. Light can be seen throughout the play through both stage directions and character dialogue

In the novel, Anthem the main character Equality is sitting inside a tunnel he had discovered and invented light and electricity. Since the cities main source of light is candle light, he believes that this invention will greatly benefit the people of the city . He wasn’t motivated in the fact that he would be helping his fellow people but he was motivated in the fact that he knows he created light and he thinks it might get him into the home of scholars.