The Meaning Of Individuality In Anthem By Ayn Rand

Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a very unique novel. It encircles individualism and makes the reader think of how people can conform to society and do as they are told without knowing the consequences and results of their decisions. Also, it teaches the importance of self expression and the freedom that comes along with being your own person and having the power to choose what path to take in life. Figurative language is used often in this book and in a variety of quotes that have great importance to the theme, plot, and conflict of the novel.

Set in a dystopian society in the future, the novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand is all about being a collective society which doesn’t believe in individualism. Ayn Rand constructs a society in which individualism is a transgression. The government enforces the idea of collectivism to the society. They believe that in the human race each person is not single. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521 wants to be an independent person. He wants to be free. As stated in the novel, “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” This statement means that in order to be successful, he has to be his own person. As the novel goes on Equality 7-2521 learns to be an independent man and frees himself from the society which forces collectivism.

“It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil” (17). Equality 7-2521 was born into a society that portrays a totalitarian rule. The people living in the controlled environment have been taught and brainwashed to know only one thing: the priority of the group over the individual person. Equality 7-2521 is one of the few people raised in the world of collectivism that is born different – filled with curiosity, gifted with intelligence; the difference leads him to believe he is cursed and evil. He was ashamed of his unique qualities and believed that he was a flaw. It is this divergence that makes him believe there is an initial

The dystopian novella, Anthem, is set in an age in which every aspect of life is controlled by oppressive leaders. In this society, everyone was deemed equal to each other, meaning no new ideas were allowed and the past could not be discussed. Individuals are told they exist only for the sake of serving society and have no other purpose. Strict rules were put in place involving everyone’s daily lives, their partners, and even when they were allowed to smile. The goal of this controlling environment is to be completely free from conflict and maintain peace and order by giving citizens little freedom.

In the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 (Equality) lived in a society where everyone was equal and treated with disrespect. The society had no tolerance for being different and having their own opinion and ideas. People couldn’t even pursue the career they dreamed of having. They were punished for disobeying any of these “rules”. Despite Equality’s strict society, his motivations in conducting his experiments are finding individuality, starting a new revolution, finding freedom, and trying to become a scholar.

Once a society elects the government they classify as “ideal,” the government that establishes authority will have the ability to set harsh restrictions against the citizens who supported them without any knowledge on their plans. To demonstrate how sinful he has been, Equality describes the kind of life people conform

“We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike”(7). In Equality 7-2521's society, everyone must think and be just like everyone else. The society's commitment to Equality 7-2521 eventually means a confinement to sameness. If the individuals are not like everyone else, the Council Of Vocations threaten them by using brutal punishments for every law that is broken, they also threaten them from possibly being superior to others. It can be argued that it is moral to act in an individual’s own self-interest to find joy. Self-sacrifice is not an obligation. Collectivism states that people should exist for the co-operation for others and that the pursuance of individual happiness is not preachy. The dominance of mankind’s free will and the reason is most evident in the distant marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). "Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave the Home of the Students. You shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you" (20). Equality 7-2521 is proclaiming about what his teachers told him when he was a student. Evidently, in his society, no one is allowed to think or choose what they want to do with their own lives, or even to think about what they are capable enough of doing in their lives. These were

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

The novel discusses themes such as freedom and science to show that Equality 7-2521 does not fit into the society created by the council. In Chapter 1, the quote, “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.”This quote shows that he lives in a very tightly controlled society, where no is allowed to do what one wants. From this quotation in the novel we could also speculate that freedom is nonexistent since they aren’t allowed to be alone. In addition, this thought process goes against the idealism of freedom since you can’t truly be free if you can never be alone. The loss of freedom from in the novel relates to Equality 7-2521 being seen as an outcast because in the novel all he does is look for a place to be free, later on, he finds a well, which he plans to bring his findings, going against the being alone and no freedom rule. Furthermore, the theme of

In the first chapter of the novel, readers see that, at an early age, the citizens of the society are taught to think nothing of themselves and more of the World Council. Equality tells us of his childhood in the Home of the Students where they were required to say the following every day, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the

Anthem and Station Eleven are both dystopian novels. The citizens in each book live in a world where the government controls them using fear. Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, is focused mostly on collectivism. Collectivism is the political theory stating that an individual only exists to serve its state. Whereas in Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, it’s focused on a world after an epidemic wipes out most of humanity.

In the book Anthem, there are many sins, as well as transgressions. There is a transgression of preference, of being alone, of thinking alone, of writing, and even of disobedience. In this essay, I will talk about why I feel this society is corrupt as well as how I believe Equality 7-2521 has come to the same conclusion and why he doesn't care about his transgressions. I will also talk about how I think Equality 7-2521 realizes the importance of the written word. And lastly, I will talk about how I feel that Equality 7-2521 has come to his current state of enlightenment. An epiphany, if you will.

The society that Equality lives in tries to live in complete uniformity. This society is controlled by a council of elders. They dictate every aspect of a life for a man. This is supported by the quote “Councils are the voice of all justice, for they are the voice of all men.” (Rand 22) Society’s beliefs are exemplified through the hymns of brotherhood, equality, and the collective spirit. There is no concept of self and the book is written in first person plural. Collectivism is the belief the group has higher priority than each individual in it. This is demonstrated by the quote “there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.” Equality starts at the youngest of age. Starting in school students are taught not to be any different and any who are physically or mentally are reprimanded by the teachers. Even so, there is scientific development and new technologies are developed mainly by the Home of the

In a society where fabrications and the eradication of individuality ran rampant, Equality 7-2521 chose to defy the norm and stand up to leaders who created numerous, inequitable falsehoods about life, love, and the power of the self. Through small acts of defiance, our heroic character overcame the totalitarian state and ultimately started a small but legitimate revolution against the system of collectivism and compliance. However, the young rebel could not have possibly respected the leaders of the oppressive society. As Rand said in her short essay, “But since men have to act, so long as they live, such a society is willing to be taken over by anyone willing to set its direction.” Equality 7-2521 had every right to denounce those in charge of an empire that deliberately withheld information from citizens.

Another way Rand portrays collectivism in the novel Anthem, is with the word “I” essentially being nonexistent and everything being “We”. Throughout the entire book anytime Equality 7-2521 is referring to himself he states “We”, because that is what he is taught from a young age as correct. Rand writes, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One,