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.
In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, mankind is a philanthropic machine. The brotherhood nobly works together to achieve a common goal. In doing so, each man is asked to disregard his own personal means and goals. For every decision must be a collective thought and every advancement, a joint action. However, one man in this machine malfunctions.
But what is objectivism? Ayn Rand described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute" (ARCE). In short, your happiness is your own goal, not the collective, follow your head and take your feelings, or your heart, out of decisions, and if you can, strive to improve or make something of society. Ayn Rand grew up in a collective communist society. As she grew she also grew to hate being a part of the collective which is why she developed her philosophy of objectivism.
How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family. The Anthem society in forcing of strict laws made it easy for everyone to lose their individuality.
Anthem is a story written by Ayn Rand as a propaganda piece portraying the evils of communism. The book takes place in the future in a undisclosed city surrounded by forest. In this city a collectivist society dwells. The conflict of Anthem is character vs. society where one man by the name of Equality decides to go against his broken government. Equality took a stand against his broken society, he has defied the council of scholars and his government, had a relation with a women, and escaped the city to The Uncharted Forest.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a unique book. Written in 1937, Anthem is a call to individuality, completely opposed to the collectivist society that was forming in Russia, Rand’s birthplace. The novella expounds upon Rand’s philosophy of egoism, the belief that the self is above everything else. Accordingly, the main theme of her book is “the meaning of man’s ego.” Ego, in the context of her book, is Rand’s revolutionary philosophies of individualism, or egoism.
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.
A city based on stifling collectivism that is challenged by one young man who discovers freedom through individuality perfectly describes Ayn Rand’s book Anthem. Anthem depicts a society oppressed by stripping each member from any ounce of individuality. Ayn Rand is commonly known for her view points on collectivist and centralized political standpoints as her philosophies are the structure of many pieces of her writing. Her writings are a publicized way of creating controversy with her opinions. Rand’s philosophy goes entirely against the belief that the individual should be subjugated to the group and sacrificed for the common good which in turn is the main focus of Anthem.
Anthem’s society is dystopian world where all human advancements and technology are absent. Individualism is seen as a sin and is shunned by the citizens. The citizens have been stripped of any solitary rights and only live to serve their brothers around them. Equality was a City Street Sweepers that had always been told that he was different from his brothers; both mentally and physically. Nevertheless, he still worshiped the principles of his world like the people around him.
We can see their eyes, green and yellow as coals, watching us from the tree branches beyond” (84). When he was living under the protection of the City, he was unaware of how to perform these tasks. However, once he left, he had to employ cognition to determine what he should do and how he should go about doing it. This was important to his survival, as Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism states. The desire for individuals not to sacrifice themselves for others is present in
Label versus Name In her novel Anthem, Ayn Rand uses the character’s names as a symbol to push the idea that individualism among a collective society becomes absent, causing a self-sufficient, creative, and powerful person within the society to be destructed. In this society, the force in control utilizes the character’s names as a way to illustrate a lack of individuality. In the beginning of the story, the character’s names represent an idea of collectivism.
He is tall, gaunt, and angular, with gray eyes and distinctive orange hair. He is a brilliant, innovative genius, but his designs are often rejected by clients who want them to conform to traditional standards. Roark’s refusal to compromise causes him to lose many commissions. While Roark struggles, PETER KEATING, his rival, rises to the top of the architectural profession.
The contrast between Howard Roark´s and Peter Keating´s core beliefs emphasizes The Fountainhead´s message about Individualism, or the belief that focusing solely on one's happiness can lead that person to their most fulfilling life, and how often by pursuing individualistic liberation people often come face to face with judgment, ridicule, and oppression by society, as a result. Howards and Peters differanting choices, often to the same problem, strengthens the belief that living a life not your own, or living your life selfishly, eventually leads to a life empty of all joy. Roark, as a person, is best known throughout the novel for his unwavering conviction towards his own thinking and judgment. He's fiercely independent and in spite of what he learns throughout The Fountain his fundamental beliefs remain unblemished.
Naomi In today’s generation, we have learned about collectivism in history classes. In the Holocaust the majority of the people didn’t have a say about anything. In today's generation, we have individualism in our society today. Everyone has the right to make their own choices, such as, if one wants an education or not.
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand serves to contradict the conventional idea that practical success and moral integrity are dichotomous. This warped view stems from the hypocritical standards society projects to the people. While moral integrity is said to be one of the most important characteristics of a person, it will not serve to advance a person in life. In a similar way success can only be achieved by relinquishing one's ethics. These contradicting notions suggest that to be moral is right and to be successful is good, but one cannot exist with the other, they are mutually exclusive.
