A utopia is considered a perfect place or state in which all of one's choices are chosen specifically by the person and for the person. In the short story “Survival Ship” by Judith Merril, a group of engineers are seeking this perfect world. Similarly, in the novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand, the setting here is also a utopian society where they follow the rules and don’t share uniqueness. Throughout both stories, similar themes are shared. One theme that is shared between both stories is that a perfect pair does not exist. Unfortunately enough, Anthem states, “And each of the me have one of the women assigned to them by the Council of Eugenics”(Rand 41). In this part of the novella, the characters are being told who to be with and would eventually be put with another by the government to mate and reproduce. Throughout the short story “Survival Ship”, glimpses of similarity popped up. Towards the end of the story, these words explain, “I have arranged a- shall we call it a dating schedule? [...] Perhaps at the end of time we will be able to choose groups; perhaps it will take longer”(Merril). Here, characters are grouped together to then be chosen into groups. As one can see, both …show more content…
While Equality 7-2521 and one other character are being given their duty, Anthem states, “This was the only thing which moved, for the lips of the oldest did not move as they said: “Street Sweeper””(Rand 26). After the fact, Equality accepted what had been given, and didn’t complain. During this story, “Survival Ship” reads, “The crew had been picked for ability to conform to the unusual circumstances; they were all without strong family ties or prejudices”(Merril). Here, the crew chosen to be put on the ship was hand picked and all of the crew accepted the fact they would be part of it. This was just one more example as to why these novels are