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Ayn Rand's Anthem: Rules And Controls

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Anthem Rules and Controls Are you currently bombarded with rules set by your parents or boss’? Imagine all the rules you currently have and then times them by ten! It might seem like it’s hard to imagine, but the book Anthem by Ayn Rand takes place in a very controlling city. In the city of Anthem, they have a numerous amount of rules and controls placed on the city and the people. Anthem has put multiple rules into action so that everyone is “equal” and there are “less” problems. What the society doesn’t know is that there are problems in Anthem. Equality sees these problems and will not implement them in the world that he envisions. Rules, regulations, and controls all have a purpose and a reason as to why they exist. No matter how outrageous …show more content…

He didn’t fit in the society as well as his brothers, which made him strongly disliked. He stood out in the crowd which showed that he was extremely different and Anthem didn’t like different. One thing that made him stand out was that he was built differently than his brothers. “Ever have the teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said ‘There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers.” (Rand 18). Equality was also highly intelligent, smarter than his brothers, and he had potential to be an amazing member of the city, but he was never given the chance to be great. He was downgraded and placed as a street sweeper because he preferred to be a Scholar. Equality tried very hard to fit in a be like his brothers. It states, “We looked upon Union 5-3992, who were a pale boy with only half a brain, and we tried to say and do as they did, that we might be like them, like Union 5-3992, but somehow the Teachers knew that we were not.” (Rand 21). All the rules and controls that were placed over the city seemed great to everyone else but they restricted Equality. He wasn’t allowed to be himself, be who he wanted, and more. Not being able to be who he wanted was one thing that pushed him to envision his own

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with Equality’s reputation. The author tries to grasp the reader’s attention using this technique, to help the reader to finish the book until the end. Above all, in Anthem there is many different thoughts that can determine your reputation, and with those thoughts come actions. Equality chooses to make the wrong actions determined by his thoughts and it causes him to think the society’s rules are not how Equality thinks that they should be.

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529 Words | 3 Pages

“We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (Rand 19). How can an individual be a hero in a collectivist society? In The Anthem, a novella by Ayn Rand, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521 is portrayed as an archetypal epic hero. Equality 7-2521 exhibits the characteristics of an epic hero because he is capable of great deeds, he has a nemesis, and he experiences an event that leads to a quest.

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1004 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand explains that the way societies have their rules set up are only to make their society the way they want it. Anthem takes place in a society that is in the future where no one has their own rights. In this society there lives a very powerful man, Equality 7-2521 that wants to make a difference in the society. He starts out as a Street Sweeper chosen by on of the Council men but later on discovers something new. In Anthem they never speak of the unmentionable times.

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1042 Words | 5 Pages

Could you imagine living in a world where you were not your own individual? In the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, everyone is the same and no one can be “better” or more intelligent than each other. In this book, the characters can not even speak the word “I” without getting executed. Think about having rules that restrict individuals from having their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions. In the book Anthem, the readers will discover that these rules and restrictions become a reality.

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961 Words | 4 Pages

Differing to the societies of these ongoing “Unmentionable Times”, the world at large in the City’s time has constricting laws and controls that “bettered” the society. The inanity of the people in Ayn Rand’s Anthem shows how the whole of the laws and the controls of the City allow for the abolishment of the intellectual and psychological distinctiveness of the citizens and to replace it with a draconian net of collectivism and altruism. Throughout the story, a man named Equality 7-2521 becomes conscious of how the laws are turned against the progression that he wants. Equality grasps that loneliness is not the evil in society, but the never-ending nearness to everybody is the flaw of the society.

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674 Words | 3 Pages

He writes, “Our discovery is too great for us to waste our time in sweeping the streets” (Rand 60). Equality knows he is worth more than he is perceived. As he writes more he starts to realize his real motivation for telling the Scholars about his discovery: possibly getting himself out of the Home of the Street Sweepers and into the Home of the Scholars. He doesn't confirm it with himself until after he goes through with showing the Scholars and being rejected. “We have not built this box for the good of our brothers.

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959 Words | 4 Pages

In our society, people are motivated in lots of different ways. This can create both positives, such as putting a man on the moon, and negatives, such as war and starving people. Anthem is a story about a man who is going against his collectivist society in his search for individuality. Equality’s main motivation is to discover new things and new ideas in the world around him, as well as to try to figure out who he is as an individual. His motivation is correct because he enables the thought of free will, and the world could become a better place if everyone was motivated like Equality.

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459 Words | 2 Pages

Anthem Essay “The secrets of this earth is not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them,”(52). Equality 7-2521 leaves for his own sake. He was told many things about the unmentionable times, not to go into the uncharted forest, and not to speak the unspeakable word,”I”. He grew up with his brothers as one and referred each other as “we”.

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Anthem is an Anti-Utopia and Ayn Rand describes what a world would be without individualism. In Anthem, Equality’s major decisions lead him to freedom from his brothers, being able to be independent, and the right to make his own choices. During his time in his hometown of Anthem, Equality and his brothers were not free, but only Equality knew it. Equality mentioned that everything smelt of fear except for his tunnel which was cleansed.

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116 Words | 1 Pages

I believe that the author of Anthem, Ayn Rand, thinks that it is important to know that conformity can be used for not only good but for evil. For example, conformity may be good if a criminal conforms to the law and changes his ways. The society in which Equality 7-2521 is an example of a bad form of conformity. People have changed everything about them to fit in with everyone else that they are no longer their own person. They are just like everyone else, they share interests, character traits, behavioral reactions, etc.

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723 Words | 3 Pages

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand takes place in the future at an unspecified date and place. The humans in Anthem live in a dystopian society where the word I is erased entirely. The current government they live under has a number of rules and regulations that if broken can get you killed in many ways. However why do these rules exist, What is their purpose and does the society that Equality envisions created at the end of the story would include any of these rules and controls?

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792 Words | 4 Pages

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

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559 Words | 3 Pages

Equality was first physically punished than he was rather than being assigned to the house of scholars he was put into the house of street sweepers. This set set him on his track to find out who he really is and what the society he was born into is really about. Equality is not old to today

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1067 Words | 5 Pages

"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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785 Words | 4 Pages

In Equality's society rules are supposed to provide structure and balance, but at some point these rules just become a method of complete control. The house of council suppresses the individuality of all the people by creating laws and regulations to hold everyone equal. The house of council holds them under such a tight guard that the people do not know any better. The laws presented in Anthem are occurring in today's society; people are allowing it to continue until someone like Equality revolts against the government, and puts an end to the unjust ways of the governing body.

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