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What does ayn rand want to tell us about society by choosing the name equality
What does ayn rand want to tell us about society by choosing the name equality
What does ayn rand want to tell us about society by choosing the name equality
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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.
In the opening pages of Anthem, Equality 7-2521 gives much background knowledge of the society he lives and the horrible details of the laws and regulations they have created. Along with that he explains that he has committed a grave sin already which is writing and that in doing so it doesn’t allow him to live, tagged with other misdeeds in which is labeled as “transgressions.” Being categorized as a Street Sweeper he has unwinded the discovery of a hidden tunnel that once existed during the Unmentionable Times. "Since the Council does not know of this hole, there can be no law permitting to enter it.
At the beginning of Anthem Equality has changed his mind about a lot of things in the beginning of the story. Equality got picked to be a street sweeper by the government, but he really wanted to be a scholar but couldn’t because of the government. Equality had a rough life. Well he was a street sweeper but he was smart enough to be a scholar the government did not think he was. In the book anthem by ayn rand Equality was not good for any body or anything at the beginning he had a rough start to his life.
In Ayn Rand's story Anthem, the protagonist Equality 7-2521 has a power unlike no other within their collectivist society. One day when Equality was working as a street sweeper, he finds an old abandoned underground railroad tunnel from the Unmentionable Times long ago. This is where he conducts his experiments that fill him with pride and joy. Equality dreams how his new invention that he brought into existence can change the world, but helping mankind is not his true motivation behind his passion to create. Throughout the story, Equality's true motivation is him trying to find his inner self and his identity as an individual.
This essay will be discussing whether or not the character Equality 7-2521’s assessment of his sins towards throughout of the book he’s from, Anthem. His assessment (that he doesn’t care about his sin, as it was decided a sin by a government he sees as immoral and corrupt) is in my opinion, correct. This thought stems mainly from the fact he documented his thoughts throughout the book, and the documents could potentially inspire other people to do the same thing he did, which Equality would probably like. At the beginning of Anthem, Equality feels ashamed with many actions of his, specifically calling many of them evil, sinful, or a “transgression”.
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.
Equality 7-2521 is very proud as to what he invented, so Equality 7-2521 decides Equality 7-2521 wants to come clean and admit to the crimes Equality 7-2521 did. Equality 7-2521 was motivated because he wanted to become one of the smart people. Equality 7-2521 would also have more independence if he joined the World Council of Scholars. Equality 7-2521 is motivated because he has always wanted to try and find his inner self and his identity as an individual. In chapter 7 of the novel Anthem it shows that Equality 7-2521 feels unimportant to everyone around him and that he is just another person just like everyone else.
The society's rules and standards acts as a nemesis toward Equality 7-2521: “We asked many questions and the teacher forbade it” (Rand 23). The society has regulations to keep Equality 7-2521 from learning more than he already knew. In the story Equality 7-2521 tests the rules of the community to explore the unknown. The Council is the protagonist most powerful nemesis because they constantly attempt to make a Equality 7-2521 feel like a threat to the society: “We knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it” (Rand 27). The council placed Equality 7-2521 in grades lowered to make him feel like a sin.
In the dystopian novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the author uses the Council as an example of those who possess complete knowledge. They lead the community with their wisdom and are always right in their conviction, which is how they manipulate the City. The character Equality 7-2521 is introduced as one who believes that despite the requirements of the Council to obey, he cannot compromise the morals that are significant to him, so he wrote, which he believes “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 will see. It is base and evil.”(Rand
Would you break the rules of society if you believed they were wrong? Even if there was a possibility of punishment and backlash? An individual, one and only-alone, can change the world. Two individuals, Equality 7-2521 and Victoria Woodhull broke the glass ceiling with their fists raised towards change. In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, standing alone by oneself is illegal and having thoughts that are your own is something you could get lashed or burned at the stake for.
In the dystopian society that Equality 7-2521 lives in he could be punished for thinking for himself. He wanted to leave the society to find his happiness. His two friends wanted the best for him, and objectivism not being selfish. In the society Equality 7-2521 faced the troubles of not being able to to think for himself and have independence. While he is trying to find his own happiness he meets two people who are just like him.
Smarter than any of his other brothers, Equality rapidly starts to realize what his cities council is trying to do to take away his rights as a human being. This short novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, a man by the name of Equality 7-2521 was a more intelligent than his other brothers in the community, and he was not content with sitting around letting the council try to brainwash everyone else, so he breaks several laws in the process of trying to discover new things that the council is trying to hide from him and his brothers. The council was not aware of these things and they were not going to let him try to do anything against them. To try to prevent anything detrimental from happening, they assigned him the job as a street sweeper where he couldn’t use any of his quick-witted mind against them
Equality was a creator his mind had driven him to science he had his own mind, his own strength, and his own courage he was independent, he was brighter than the rest. Standing alone in a modern world ruled by the suppressed government he faced the world alone. In a world where being intellectual was a severe sin he possessed gifts unlike no other that were despised by the government: intellectual and psychological strength. In a world where free will was not allowed and any form of diversity was punished by the authorities. Here we find Equality on a path of self-discovery and independence.
¨We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-300. We do not know why we think of them” (Rand 41). In Ayn Randś dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are forced to think that they cannot have any preference, this includes liking someone more than others. Randś protagonist, Equality 7-2521, started the book falling in love with the Golden One, but as he moves toward individuality he begins to be in “love” less as he realizes there’s more than just being in a group.
With quotes such as: “ ...the supreme degree of being and the supreme degree of life are one and the same thing. You [God] are being in a supreme degree and are immutable,” it is to no surprise that most readers interpret God as Saint Augustine’s divide ruler (8). To further their position, these same readers may present evidence as in chapter VIII of the Confessions when Augustine converts to Christianity and accepts God as his “helper and redeemer” (155). They may even argue that the whole point of the memoir is to give his thanks and praise to his Lord and Savior. However, I do not believe that is the Lord who Augustine follows.
