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Dystopia Exposed In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is a great example of dystopian literature. The natural world is banished, independent thought is restricted and citizens live in a dehumanized state showing that Anthem is a true example of dystopia.

The uncharted forest is very mysterious to the citizens of the city and no one ever enters into the forest because there is beasts that will kill them. “The uncharted about which men must not think.” That is how Equality describes the forest before Equality enters it. When Equality is in the forest he knows he is safe from the world council because they would never go in the forest and think he is going to get killed by beasts. At first Equality thinks he is doomed to get killed by beasts as well but slowly …show more content…

That line shows how restricted their society is science and technology can never advance because everyone has to understand something if they want to use or make it. Equality's light box works but they say it is not real because not everyone does not understand or agree on it. In addition when someone says the forbidden word they get burned at the stake and everyone has to watch. “ We have seen one of such men burned alive in the square of the city.”(pg49) The forbidden word is forbidden because it is a transgression to think by oneself. Equality is struggling to find the word the whole novel and when he see “I” at the end of the book he breaks down in tears on the floor. He has this reaction because he now has a word to express himself.
Citizens of Equality's society live in a dehumanized state. When children are born they go straight to the house of the infants, they never get to see or meet their parents and the parents never know them. Kids never get the support a family would give you emotionally and physically. Plus parents get matched with random people to have a kid with and Equality describes it as a messy and shameful. Another way they are dehumanized is making them wear the same white robes as everyone else all the time. They can not express any individuality or

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Daisy Pham Language Arts Honor February 2nd, 2017 1st hour Anthem The book Anthem was written by Ayn Rand is a Science Fiction Book. This Science Fiction book would be unknown since the Author didn’t exactly give the time in the book. In the book Anthem there wasn’t any clues or hints that it took place in 1900’s or the 2000’s. Ayn Rand is a Russian-American novelist and she is known for writing books.

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Dystopia Government taking control over society for good. In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand the society is limiting everyone on what they can say and do, but there is one person named Equality that can change all of that. The Government made everyone equal by having everyone learn one thing if one person couldn’t learn it, they would stop teaching it. Ayn Rand made her book a dystopian society by using the literary element man vs. world.

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The book “Anthem” is a written by Ayn Rand. The genre of the book is Science Fiction. It as if the book is in a utopian world and certain people rule this world. The society of the people in this book is planned out by the high level of rulers. “Anthem” takes place in the future in a place unknown.

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This made Equality find out who he is and gave him the chance to be an individual. Equality’s views and mindset changes through out the book. He was born in a society where people are named by numbers. A world where people are used as machines. In this world the word “I” is out of existence.

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As the novella progresses Equality transforms into an individual who isn’t afraid to flaunt his individuality. “When I shall have read all the books and learned my new way, when my home will be ready and my earth tilled, I shall steal one day, for the last time into the cursed City of my birth.” (Rand 101). Thus doing so Equality wants to educate himself and bring the others to his new home in order to create his own society where people are free to be themselves. There he and the others will embrace the word “I” and be free to become

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During the novel, Anthem by Ayn Rand, the author includes many examples of communism which can relate to communist Russia. “It was not that the learning was to hard for us. It was that the learning was too easy. It is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them.”

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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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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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A dystopia is an imagined universe in which the illusion of a perfect society is maintained through oppressive control. Anthem provides multiple examples that present dystopian elements including; the natural world being banished and distrusted, the eradication of family, the restriction of freedom, information, and independent thought, and lastly the idea that citizens must conform to uniform expectations because individuality is bad. The first element that proves Anthem is a dystopia is demonstrated through the bureaucratic control of the World Council by demoting the natural world and banishing it from the society. “They refer to the past as the unmentionable times, as well as anything outside their society is known as the uncharted forest in which no one goes.”

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In the novel Anthem the author, Ayn Rand discusses the ways Equality 7-2521’s world is a dystopia because independent thought, information and freedom are restricted, the natural world was banished and distressed, a concept is worshipped by the citizens and the society is an illusion of a perfect , utopian world. To begin with, Ayn Rand explains how the Equality 7-2521’s world is a dystopian society because the freedom of think and do anything for yourself is restricted. Equality states “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see... It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own.

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With all of his experience that nobody has known in at least a century he is extremely capable of deciding whether of his choices are right. His personality keeps him from giving up hope and giving up on his society and his companion but keeps him curious enough to keep searching for something better in life. Equality has aged to the point where he thinks he needs to change the world and will try to do so. Most would believe that Equality’s actions were righteous and could not contemplate that his actions were

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In the final chapters of the book, after Equality and The Golden One have discovered their new house and proposed to build a new life, they read books in its intact library and so discover the forbidden word, “I” (94). This discovery prompts Equality to radically overhaul his entire way of going through life, aligning it to Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. His focus on himself, illustrated through his obsession with the word I is show in the last two chapters of the book, where he latches on to the idea that devoting one’s life to only oneself is the only appropriate way to live life. Rand shows this with statements from Equality such as, “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them”(96). Equality is proclaiming that his life will be best lived in a purely selfish manner, where he will not take care of anyone else, but will not ask anyone to take care of him either.

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In the beginning, Equality was devoted to the Council and their reasons behind the social structure. Equality begins to experience emotions that separates himself from his brothers and he

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Ayn Rand was born into a wealthy family in Russia. Life was impressive until the Soviets came into power and took away all her family's wealth. She went from living a happy, comfortable life to struggling and almost starving to death. Ayn Rand had the perspective of seeing both capitalism and communism first hand. Communism destroyed her comfortable way of life and inspired her to write the book Anthem.

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Equality’s main goal was to escape the ordinary, but that ordinary was filled with high amounts of boundaries and restrictions limits. However, any type of society without any basic foundations of principle and law would be in some sort of turmoil. This basic necessity of order in the society is made possible through the use of selective rules. This is understood by Equality, as I truly believe, he will be using essential rules in his society. Those rules would keep the law and order within the community.

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