In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, mankind is a philanthropic machine. The brotherhood nobly works together to achieve a common goal. In doing so, each man is asked to disregard his own personal means and goals. For every decision must be a collective thought and every advancement, a joint action. However, one man in this machine malfunctions. Equality-72521. With an inquisitive nature, an innovative mind, and latent desire, Equality withholds the traits of a visionary who advocates for individuality. Every step Equality takes, is one away from the public-spirited system. Another towards personal identity. Each step is an internal struggle, due to the communist machine’s brainwash and eloquent reprogram of Equality’s instinctive mind. But nature tells Equality that his DNA is nothing save himself. Nature tells Equality that individuality is man’s birthright. Man’s one true victory. It …show more content…
Someone needs to arouse Equality’s primal instinct that has been buried by his camaraderie, and her name is Liberty. “Their body was straight and thin as a blade of iron. Their eyes were dark and hard and glowing, with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt. […] They threw seeds from their hand as if they deigned to fling a scornful gift, and the earth was as a beggar under their feet” (49). For the first time Equality feels desire and knows pain. For Liberty is so beautiful and “glowing” that she cannot be ignored. It, however, is against the commandments of Equality’s brotherhood to peruse her, as it would unbalance the mutual emotion between all men by creating preference. In a wretched battle of nature vs nurture, Equality finds that despite these regulations, he cannot stop himself from yearning for Liberty, whom serves as “blade of iron” cutting through to the undeniable truth that Equality is a selfish being, generally motivated by his own personal
Equality’s road to individuality begins with standing up to his oppressors and learning that thinking for one’s self is the only way to happiness and success. To begin, Equality’s road to freedom begins with finding the underground tunnel system. This is where Equality begins to explore his individuality. He steals candles, flints, knives, paper, glass vials, powders, acids, and even manuscripts. He is breaking the law by taking these things, but he is curious, which is where his individuality stems from.
Equality’s individuality is the second step to rediscovering the lightbulb. He has his own individuality, and his individuality is what makes him
Individual rights have been sacrificed for the greater good of the state. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521 was assigned to be a street sweeper for the city but he has always wanted to bring progress to the society through nature and science. Equality 7-2521 also knows that it is a sin for him to have these ambitions and the government would punish him greatly if he acted on them. However, he continues to perform scientific experiments in secret. In this time he meets a woman named Liberty 5-3000 who he takes notice of, but men and women are not allowed to be romantically inclined unless it is the Time of Mating.
Equality: Valuing our Independence and Freedom What is equality? In the dystopian stories “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem, the word equality has a totally different meaning than what someone in our society may think. These two stories claim to treat every citizen the same and equal, but characters such as Harrison, or Equality-72521 were treated with disadvantages. In my mind, equality is having the same rights and responsibilities as another person.
In response to the choice of Street Sweeper, Equality thinks, “We knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it” (26). With his intelligence and curiosity, Equality would do much better as a Scholar. The government punishes him for being different, and as a result, they can’t see him become advantageous. They are blinded by their beliefs on
Anthem is a book that makes oneself contemplate the future and what evils are bestowed upon it. In this novel, the reader is caught in the life of Equality. Equality’s life is placed in the future, where the feared reality of communism has conquered all but the souls of few weary men. Equality is one of those few men who have a light that is invulnerable to a ravaging wind. Equality’s time captive before his extraordinary escape has taken a toll on his body and mind and now at the end of his journey forces him to question whether the decisions he’s made are full of sin or teeming with righteousness.
The title highlights the importance of individualism and the value of celebrating one's uniqueness, which is a central theme of the book. In the society depicted by Ayn Rand, people have no individual rights, as the community is considered ‘one’. The use of the pronoun "we" is mandatory, and any expression of individuality is punished. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, has always felt a sense of curiosity and a desire to explore and learn, but these desires are withheld by the society in which he
Individuality allows every person to be themselves and be different from each other. However, In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Rand describes a society where the people were not allowed to openly be themselves, or else they would be punished for being different. The main character, Equality, notices he is different slowly throughout the novella, but kept continuing to be like everyone else for awhile. These rules exist in this society to strip human individuality in order to achieve total equality.
There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible and forever”( Rand 19). For this purpose, it can be inferred that they know, no one will ever defy them. Because of this, Equality uses it to his full advantage. Constantly his keen for insights does not hinder his spirit. Equality differentness from his “brothers” doesn’t affect him.
So long a road lies before us, and what care if we must travel it alone!” (54) In this statement all Equality cares about is his invention and he is still trying to expand his
How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family. The Anthem society in forcing of strict laws made it easy for everyone to lose their individuality.
There's so much emphasis on putting others before oneself that people often forget to look out for their own needs, as shown in this book. Ayn Rand successfully captures the negatives of an overrated ideology and presents an unorthodox perspective on the matter. In conclusion, Equality's true motives behind his work are much more selfish than they first appear to be. Equality strives to fulfil his own personal desire rather than contribute everything to society, and this isn't necessarily a negative thing.
In the novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand there was a theme about individualism and collectivism which tied up together. No matter how harsh and depersonalizing conditions are being inflicted on mankind, the power of one’s ego will always triumph one way or another is the theme that ties to individualism. The theme that is presented in their society would be that of collectivism which is the belief that all humans must depend on one another. The theme that I could connect with the most would be that of individualism because I believe that all of us have an ego whether it’s big or small which makes us think of our self-importance or brings out our self-esteem. Just like Equality overcame obstacles and found his self-confidence, I can overcome
His mindset soon becomes to be very selfish even by ignoring Liberty. Rand gives her theme of selfishness that she believes would benefit us all if we would only try
However, since the council fails to recognize this idea, Equality has two options: either face imminent execution or flee. By choosing the latter and fleeing into the Uncharted Forest, Equality finally is, in a physical sense, free from the rule of collectivist society. Now he is alone in the forest, alone with his thoughts. He decides where he goes, when he sleeps, what he eats. However, he is still not fully