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Dystopian Society Exposed In Anthem, By Ayn Rand

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Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is dystopic literature. To be dystopic literature, the protagonist feels that something is wrong with the society. The society is supposed to be a Utopia when in reality there is a problem with the society, the people are made to believe certain things that aren’t true. In Anthem, there are many characteristics of dystopian literature present. The whole society is programmed to worship the Great “We”. Independent thought has been outlawed, “..it is a sin to think differently than other men” (4) They all fear the outside world also known as the Uncharted Forest, and nobody that has gone to this forest has ever come back. To think differently is a great transgression or a sin. It is against the rules because every man is supposed to agree on everything as a Great We. In this novel …show more content…

They are often different than everybody else and they have trouble conforming to society. Equality 7-2521 is taller, stronger, smarter, and more handsome than the rest of his brethren. He has such a problem conforming because he is so much smarter than the rest of his peers. He can’t help being smarter than the rest and striving for knowledge. He starts to break the law, but when he does he realizes he feels no guilt. He knows that he is breaking the law, but he doesn’t see it as wrong. He is at peace with breaking the law. When Equality 7-2521 goes against the society and shows the Council what he has done by breaking the law, they turn him down. Even though his invention could change their world for the better. He says “The Council is blind” (52). They are all acting on a rule that is meant to make the society perfect, but really it just keeps them from making any evolutionary progress. Equality 7-2521 eventually escapes to the Uncharted Forest where he can be independent and starts his own society of smart and different

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529 Words | 3 Pages

The council did everything to make him less of a danger to their society, such as leaving him Street Sweeper that requires no knowledge. As a Street Sweeper, Equality 7-2521 is restricted the resources needed in order to reach his goal of learning. The council also turned away Equality’s glass box because it is “dangerous” to the society. The council is Equality 7-2521’s biggest nemesis resorting in him escaping the

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743 Words | 3 Pages

Both the manuscripts by the title of Anthem and Harrison Bergeron deal with the events that take place in a dystopian society where it seems that human nature has completely flown out of the window. These two accounts are two very similar stories and yet they differ in so many ways and like all stories they have a message to be conveyed, however each lesson is never the same. However, this Literal Analysis will be only be discussing the settings, societies and characters of each book. Each society is formed off of the author’s ideas and imaginations, and because everyone is different, each time a book like this is written, it will take place in a different setting and different time zone. In Harrison Bergeron the very beginning states that

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957 Words | 4 Pages

“We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no power or will in us to stop it” (18). Equality 7-2521 is born into a society in which individuality is a crime.

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Not fitting in for Equality 7-2521 meant that his differences ranged from his above-average height of six feet to his overly advanced intelligence level. Although, I don’t think that Equality 7-2521 being assigned the job of a Street Sweeper was meant to come off as a punishment, but rather as a way to make things equal. The Council of Vocations might have wanted Equality 7-2521 to realize that he wasn’t “better” than anyone else in the society. I think that the Council of Vocations just wanted to give Equality 7-2521 a job that people wouldn’t enjoy because they already knew Equality 7-2521 had the gift of being extra smart, and most people in the society didn’t have the qualities of Equality

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775 Words | 4 Pages

The First chapter of the book, Anthem 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 base and evil.” In the collectivist society Equality 7-2521 lives in, there are many rules put into place. In this society all must live as one and one must function as all.

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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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1008 Words | 5 Pages

A Dystopian society between the real word and the book “Anthem” have a unique set of differences and similarities. In North Korea it’s structure is known as SongBun, a society as to which their ruler is the person they must worship and make all living sacrifices to please their “God”, however in the book “Anthem”, by Ayn Rand, they must live in a society where they must love all brothers as one and only one whole. In one law that’s unique in their own that they share is that they must obey or be given death as punishment. Nor shall they question what they are given as their career. The people in the society between them are different, yet the amount of love they believe is the “right belief” is equal.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

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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Caring more for one person than another is called the Transgression of Preference, which no one is allowed to commit to in the society. When any of the laws of Anthem are violated, then they have consequences. When Equality 7-2521 was at the age of ten, people in the society gathered at the square so they could watch a man, the Transgressor, be burned at stake and had his tongue cut out so he could not speak the “Unspeakable Word”. Equality 7-2521 was one of the men to see it with his own eyes. So when they go against the World Council they can get injured or could have a death penalty.

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734 Words | 3 Pages

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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851 Words | 4 Pages

Does a dystopian society only exist in books or is it a real life problem? A dystopia is the vision of a society in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, and violence. The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is set in a dystopian society where there is no free will and everyone is forced to think alike. Dystopian societies are said to only be in novels and nothing more than fiction, but what if that wasn't completely true? North Korea is completely excluded from the outside world and controlled by their government.

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517 Words | 3 Pages

Anthem is a science fiction which is written by Ayn Rand. It tells the shoking future were people have no freedom of speech,act or do watever they want to do there is one guy who’s name was equality he is a street sweeper and very smart. Who had great pation to be a scholar (scientist) in those times but most of them didn’t want him to become a scholar because his teachers thing he is so smart kind of our opposite world now and they think we are unmentionable time which was very dangerous to them they always thought what we left behind was dangerous but equality thinks opposite he thougt the stuff we left behind can help there world so he go inside a tunnel and so some bulb and wire he connected the wire and at last it lit up and he made it ready for showing this invention to scholar

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753 Words | 4 Pages

Anthem There are many reasons why dystopian story draw young adults attention. Many young adults compare the books/stories to their life. Adults don’t give them any freedom. They are told to do everything. they have too many rules for life, they can never have fun.

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810 Words | 4 Pages

One of Equality’s primary flaws is his complete disregard for societal rules by letting

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1075 Words | 5 Pages

Ayn Rand’s Anthem is the story of a man’s personal growth and quest for freedom from the rules and regulations in the society, which he lived. As the novel’s protagonist, Prometheus struggles to find meaning in his life and to understand his own unique nature. As he gains independence and freedom, Prometheus also discovers the beauty of his soul and the power of his mind. By the end of the novel, Prometheus has become a true man, proud, fearless, exuberant, and independent. He has also learned the evils of his society and in addition to rejecting them; he has begun a war against them.

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