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Creativity In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Anthem is a novella by Ayn Rand, telling a story of a futuristic and collective society, where there are no individuals. In this society, there is little to no technology of any sorts. Even less than there was when this novella was written in the late 1930’s. Candles are their main source of light, and there is no electricity. All because there is no freedom for people to seek out new information and discover new things. This ties into the idea that technology can’t advance without individualism and freedom. Creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. In somewhat simpler terms, creativity is using your mind to create new ideas as well as to come up with different ways of solving …show more content…

Only the very occasional rogue person will have a drive within them to do something different than everybody else, and as exemplified in the novella “Anthem,” anyone to do so will be reprimanded for any action they may take to carry forth their individual ideas. There are a couple different specific examples of these negative consequence. One example is the nicknamed St. of the Pyre being publicly burned at the stake for daring to speak the Unspeakable Word, which Equality 7-2521 witnesses as a young boy. While the St. was burning, he smiled as if he was happy. Equality saw this, and later looked back on the memory for inspiration and guidance. Another example of a negative repercussion happening when an individual attempts to break free from the bonds of collectivism is Equality sneaking off during the daily social hours to attempt to learn off of stolen manuscripts and experiments. When he is caught after staying in his tunnel too long, he is brought to the Palace of Corrective Detention, where he is whipped repeatedly. However, this punishment was purely for not telling the officials why he was out after hours and where he was. After escaping to the World Council meeting and showing them his discovery, electricity, the Council was outraged and wanted to lash Equality severely as well as destroy the box of electricity he created. With these types of

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In Anthem by Ayn Rand International 4-8818 agrees to keep Equality 7-2521’s secret of the tunnel under the ground because much like Equality 7-2521, International 4-8818 is different than the rest of the people in the place they live in. This is because while Equality 7-2521 explains how he found the hole that led to the tunnel he talks about International 4-8818 and explains that, “they are a tall, strong youth and their eyes are like fireflies, for there is laughter in their eyes. We cannot look upon International 4-8818 and not smile in answer. For this they were not liked in the Home of the Students, as it is not proper to smile without reason. And also they were not liked because they took pieces of coal and they drew pictures upon the

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204 Words | 1 Pages

In the book Anthem their society is way different from ours. They are not allowed to be individual or say the word “I”. They can’t have names, instead they are in groups and have group names. They all have a part in society like their jobs and things they do. For example the equality group belong to the street sweepers.

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1196 Words | 5 Pages

Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an affliction to be born with powerful intellectual capacity and ambition in Ayn Rand’s apocalyptic, nameless society in Anthem. Collectivism is ostensibly the moral guidepost for humanity, and any perceived threat to the inflexible, authoritarian regime is met with severe punishment. The attack on mankind’s free will and reason is most evident in the cold marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). Societal norms force homogeneity and sacrifice among all people.

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1193 Words | 5 Pages

This god, this one word: ‘I.’” (Rand, Anthem 97). Equality is proclaiming that he no longer believes in having an entire society equal. Everyone in a society needs to be different by being themselves and protecting their rights and morals. By doing this everyone can find freedom from a society. Rand’s statement, “Nothing can corrupt and disintegrate a culture or a man’s character as thoroughly as does the precept of moral agnosticism, the idea that one must never pass moral judgement on others, that one must be morally tolerant of anything, that the good consists of never distinguishing good from evil” shows that if citizens want to find freedom it is competent to judge because then one is emphasizing the differences between citizens (Rand, “How” 82).

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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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1128 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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458 Words | 2 Pages

Ayn Rand manipulates the vocabulary in Anthem to express a great earnestness in the story. While establishing the setting, she describes the sky above “like a black sieve pierced by silver drops that tremble, ready to burst through” (Rand 28). This illustration of the expanse above uses both a simile and potential symbolism to represent an individual, the silver, trying to force his way out of his collectivist society, the sieve. By employing figurative language, Rand arranges a

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1440 Words | 6 Pages

Equality 7-2521 says on the day that the council chooses the young boys’ line of work, “We were guilty and we confess it here: we were guilty of the great Transgression of Preference. We prefered some work and some lessons to the others.” (Rand 22). Equality 7-2521 is different, and he is punished for this. When Equality 7-2521 breaks the law by being alone, he discovers electricity all over again, but the Council rejects his ideas because he worked alone on them.

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530 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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419 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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Another example can be seen when Equality says, “We were guilty and we confess it here. We preferred some work and some lessons to others” to express the idea that taking different paths in life rather than society’s way makes a person seen as committing an act of omission (Rand 8). This can be seen in the quote when Rand uses words like “preferred some work and some lessons to others” to convey that Equality's uniqueness in ways of thinking that is different from his society’s way leads Equality to think that his morals are wrongful and should be avoided. This is shown when Equality himself says, “We were guilty and we confess it,” to prove that his way of thinking is affected by his society. Although Equality is pressured by his society,

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1219 Words | 5 Pages

Victory Over Collectivism “I”, one of the only one-letter words in the English language. Yet its power and meaning do not match its quantitative value. In the collectivist dictatorship found the in the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, this word has disappeared and consequently, society has fallen into a dark age, all because of the loss of a single-lettered word. However, the hero of this time, Equality 7-2521, breaks down the barrier of the collectivist society and allows him to make advances that show him the power of the word “I” and the idea of individualism in government and in society. Although the word “I” has vanished from society, Equality is able to free himself from the collectivist government through the use of science and free thought,

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

Everyone is born with independence, but imagine a society where this virtue is ceased. In the novel “Anthem” written by Ayn Rand, she describes a society in which everyone is the exact same. Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 are two characters that live under a strict and controlling rule, in which they make decisions for you. As they story goes on, the two characters discover love, freedom, liberty, and independence. To Equality, being similar to his brothers was not equal, he believes that the meaning of “I” celebrates joy and peace within a society.

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1915 Words | 8 Pages

Introduction: How'd He Do That? Recognizing the memory, symbol, and pattern of literature is what separates a professional reader from the rest of the crowd. Memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature by allowing the reader to think deeper into the piece of work. For example, in the book, it states that professors when they read they are "cursed with memory.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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