Anthem’s Rules and Controls
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is the story of a man’s journey to find freedom in a world based on equality. The novel’s protagonist, Prometheus, tries to find the meaning of his life. As he obtains independence and begins to care less about the laws, Prometheus also uncovers the power of his own mind. Prometheus learns the turpitude of the city and escapes from it. By the end of the novel, Prometheus becomes a true man. In leading Prometheus on his journey to find freedom, Anthem accompanies the inferior side of collectivism by depicting a society of people, subdued under the needs of the common good. The rejections in his idea of electricity powering the city led to Prometheus to the path of independence. Prometheus always broke the laws of the city. His work finding electricity was denied because of the city’s laws. And at the end, he even used first person pronouns. As a result, in his new community, I don’t think he would include any of the rules of the city. First, Prometheus always broke the laws of the city. These rules of the city existed in order to make sure that everyone treated each other equally. They were forced to not have a problem with anyone. These rules showed collectivism in a unpleasant way which revealed that there was no individualism. The people of the city in Anthem were stipulated to follow every rule, or else there would be a cruel punishment or they could be executed if the problem was severe enough. Their whole lives are dictated