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The Theme Of Equality 7-2521 In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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“The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me”(Ayn Rand). When The Council tried to restrict the narrator, Equality 7-2521, from being different from his brothers and everyone else in the society, he still continued to think and experiment on his own. Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem, takes place in a future, dystopian society, where the idea of individualism is no longer accepted by society. Throughout the plot, Equality 7-2521 is breaking away from the rules of The City and he works as a street sweeper trying to make up for his sins. He makes some discoveries and strengthens relationships along the way. Ayn Rand included themes of individualism and taking risks throughout the novel. She also chose to include some …show more content…

Teachers and authority figures continuously yelled and reprimanded Equality 7-2521 for fighting with others. Growing up he was always looked down upon as many saw him as a great evil because of his differences (Rand 18). Being a very curious youth, he began to ask many questions and think a lot. Knowing it was wrong to have a preference over something or someone else, he wanted more than anything to be assigned the job of a scholar. When the day came for the Council of Vocations to decide everyone's job, Equality 7-2521 was assigned to the Home of Street Sweepers. He was still glad because it meant working this job would help him make up for the sins he committed (Rand 26). During his years as a street sweepers, he became good friends with International 4-8818 and falls in love with Liberty 5-3000, or as he renamed her, The Golden One. One day while sweeping the streets he and International 4-8818 discover a tunnel and they keep it a secret. Time goes by and Equality 7-2521 keeps writing in his journal while he's in the tunnel and soon invents the lightbulb after discovering electricity (Rand 59). Coming home late to the Home of Street Sweepers the …show more content…

The author made simple things to have a greater meaning. She chose to include symbols such as: light, the forest, the golden one, the river, and manuscripts, each of those having a different, more meaningful idea behind it. Ayn Rand’s idea of light’s symbolism is truth. For example, the light that the candles give off is very dim and does not brighten many areas. So being that The City is only lit by candles this means that there is secrecy in it and The Councils are hiding something from the people. When Equality 7-2521 brings the light bulb to the World Council they reject it not because it's a bad idea, but because they are afraid. They see that this individual was able to create something they could not and they disliked it because it broke the rules of being common to everyone else. Authorities feared that he was too smart and would cause an outbreak and people would start to think more for themselves and change the way the society works. With a simple lightbulb, the truth was revealed about why Equality 7-2521 wasn't allowed to do certain things and why people thought he was evil. Another symbol used was The Forest. The Uncharted Forest, as the characters called it, stands for freedom. As Equality 7-2521 was in The Forest he began to feel a great weight lifted off his shoulders. He felt as though handcuffs had been taken off of him and now there were no restrictions on his abilities and

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This book, written by Ayn Rand is about Equality 7-2521, a young man who was quite brave. He was twenty-one years old and was six feet tall. He had broken and went against many laws. However, one law that he did not break was the law that disallowed him to refer to himself as “I” or “me”.

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Throughout Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem, numerous objects and occurrences symbolize much more than what they are presented as. Of the more obvious symbols, light has the largest impact on the course of the story. The most important instance of light centers around Equality 7-2521’s re-invention of the light bulb. Rand uses light to provide a religious, mythic feeling to the acts of Equality 7-2521 and how he symbolizes light himself. In a society where all men and women are one equal and single minded being; Equality 7-2521 becomes the lone source of individuality and a beacon of light to the people of this oppressed civilization.

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The council did everything to make him less of a danger to their society, such as leaving him Street Sweeper that requires no knowledge. As a Street Sweeper, Equality 7-2521 is restricted the resources needed in order to reach his goal of learning. The council also turned away Equality’s glass box because it is “dangerous” to the society. The council is Equality 7-2521’s biggest nemesis resorting in him escaping the

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In Ayn Rand's Dystopian/Philosophical novel “Anthem” we are given the chance to witness Equality 7-2521 flourish and bloom as a character in the first chapter alone. Despite living in a society where his rights as a human being are overly oppressed, Equality began to bring forth his uncoerced mind by the end of chapter 1 through his desire to know more about himself and the world around him. At the beginning of the story Ayn Rand portrays Equality 7-2521 as a defiant yet compliant person, Accordingly Equality states that “... there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone … The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!”(Rand 3).

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We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.”(Rand 2) Equality-7-2521 had struggles with remorse across the entire chapter due to the wrongdoing he committed against the supposed mentors in his life. He believes that by biting the hand that fed him, they ended up in the tunnel, penning this letter. Proceeding into the Novel, Equality 7-2521 was viewed as someone with a burning curiosity, so he was sent to the Home of the Sweet Sweepers and that’s when they made a groundbreaking discovery, they saw “iron rings as steps leading down a shaft into a darkness without a bottom.” We shall go down,” said the character International 4-8818.”

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Ayn Rand says, “God…a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man’s power to conceive.” When one can’t think for their self, how can one be set free? The citizens of society conform to the belief that as a group they are the great WE. The word “I” is not in the vocabulary of men. Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem portrays examples of a dystopian text because the protagonist questions the social and political systems, citizens conform to uniform expectations, and the protagonist is struggling to escape.

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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.

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He escaped the jail the day they came so he could show them his invention. He expected praise for his groundbreaking discovery, but instead something

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Equality 7-2521 was motivated to think, which is the things that changed his life, although his whole entire life was planned out by the ruling authorities from the start to finish, he chose to stand out and commit many crimes, sins and transgressions for the sake of self-hood and individualism, after being selected as a Street Sweeper, with the wish of being a scholar and exploring the unknown and the lost, he continued on with his journey, breaking many laws, and viewing himself as a sinner and transgressor. Throughout his journey, he made a series of discoveries, both scientific and philosophical, which ultimately led him to find his own happiness, joy, and

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With Ayn Rand’s story starting off with the world building through the main characters' eyes. This said main character's name is Equality 7-2521, he introduces us to how he lives in this dystopian world. As Equality 7-2521 describes how he lives, we see many errors about what is wrong in this dystopian world. We also see how much he breaks the rules just so he can actually experience true happiness. As Equality 7-2521 breaks rules he understands that he is and so do others like Liberty 5-3000 when she states “Such thoughts as these are forbidden, Golden one” (Rand 56).

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Collectivism and Selfishness in Anthem Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon.

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Moral Assessment of Anthem In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem, Equality lives in a communist society that believes everyone must work for and be exactly like one another. For much of the novel, he believes what the Council of Vocations tells him, despite his intelligence and independence. By the end of the book, he realizes that the idea that everyone is the same and must work for each other is flawed. He deserves to live his own life and enjoy himself.

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Placing “Me” before “We” in Anthem During the 20th Century, communism was the main source of government in Russia. Ayn Rand opposed everything that Communists stood for. She believed in individualism and wanted to express her own thoughts. She based her book, Anthem, on her life in Russia and the struggles she endured.

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After the concluding paragraph of this essay, you will understand the void between individualism and Collectivism, and appreciate the depth of the severe scenarios Ayn Rand composed. Ayn Rand was justified when she authored Anthem and included extreme scenarios for the reasons of her personal opinion, the understanding of readers, and the effect of proving a point. Like stated above, Ayn Rand grew up in Russia, at a time of civil unrest, and was in the right when she penned the book Anthem using extreme scenarios; justified because of her opinion. Ayn Rand shared the same views as the lead character in Anthem about Individualism,

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"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’”(Rand 19). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are trained from birth to think only in the plural, to the point where they cannot even conceive of individuals, but only see each other as part of the whole group. Rand’s protagonist, Equality 72521, begins the novel as a street-sweeper who is devoted to the group, but begins to move towards individuality as he progresses towards pure selfishness, as Rand believes we all should. Rand uses the words “we” and “I” to represent Equality’s journey from being dependent on the group, to being utterly independent of everyone.

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