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. Equality’s beliefs on happiness - “It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose” (95) - is correct. This is because the Council tries to eradicate human nature and replace it with a basic persona for everyone, which results in a limited mindset that does not allow them to see a logical point of view nor achieve happiness. The Council is constantly attempting to stop human nature. This does not work because you cannot eliminate instinct. For example, Equality informs us that “Men never see their own faces …show more content…
When speaking of Equality’s invention, a Scholar declares “And if this should lighten the toil of men...then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men” (74). The purpose of technology is to make lives easier, so if the government removes technology, they’re also saying that the purpose of living is to suffer. If they want as much work to be done for the people as possible, then they need to accept the fact that some changes must be made to how everyone lives. Moreover, the choice for Equality’s job does not make sense. 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