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Individualism And Collectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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In the novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand there was a theme about individualism and collectivism which tied up together. No matter how harsh and depersonalizing conditions are being inflicted on mankind, the power of one’s ego will always triumph one way or another is the theme that ties to individualism. The theme that is presented in their society would be that of collectivism which is the belief that all humans must depend on one another. The theme that I could connect with the most would be that of individualism because I believe that all of us have an ego whether it’s big or small which makes us think of our self-importance or brings out our self-esteem. Just like Equality overcame obstacles and found his self-confidence, I can overcome …show more content…

“The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched, and their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight” (Rand 46). This quote gives the idea that they feel some sort of fear or uneasiness but can’t seem to express their feelings because it’s against the law. That feeling is felt throughout the entire book except the ending when Equality finds the meaning of life which is one’s self. Me and my partnered both assumed that when Equality escaped, they didn’t decide to go after him as punishment, because they probably thought he wouldn’t last and would die. We also saw the reference to the Saint of the Pyre a few times which ties back to the man burned at stake for saying the unmentionable word. This book made me and my partner question a lot of things with the society within it because they were going back in time with the technology they had such as a candle instead of advancing. We questioned the society and how it came to be based on collectivism when it used to be based on individualism. Overall, me and my partner really enjoyed this book because it made us think about our society and the social relationships we

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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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A Collectivist World like in the novel Anthem written by Ayn Rand have an effect into the Government has Authority for everybody and everything, Restriction on choices for the Individual, and Desire to create or innovate is forgotten. Although, a Collectivist Government is capable for equality, no matter what their position is in the society. However, the individual does not have the capability to make decision in their life without a supervision decides on what the person will do for living in that society. In History, there are examples of a collectivist society, such as China and Japan have their standards for everybody is to working as a group, and everybody thinks the same way as a group. The Author Ayn Rand had to deal with living in

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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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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.

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Throughout the book Equality 7-2521 challenges the idea that everyone is and must be the same. Instead he acts on his own. In the book everyone is supposed to be equal alongside their brothers. That means that no one is more important, intelligent, and so on than their brothers and by being so it is an evil in the world.

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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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Throughout the book Equality slowly morphs into an individual due to different things that left an impact on him along the process of his story. This is all because writing is a sin in Equality’s society because writing can lead to self exploration, the society’s desired effect is for there to be zero individuals and accomplishes this goal by physically and mentally changing everyone. But Equality's final assessment of his so called sin is correct, in the terms of moral assessment which by definition is “the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual”. Therefore Equality discovers that he has done no sin at all, reaching individuality Equality finds out is not a sin, but is simply the path of truly finding what is actually

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From this quote, Equality recognized the freedoms he didn’t have, creating a turning point for the story to unfold. “The sacred word: EGO”(105) is represented as a word for greed, glory and the reason for living throughout the story. The term “ego” doesn’t always mean pride, it means

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The end of the book says, through Equality’s thoughts, that they will fight for the freedom of Man (Rand, Anthem 104). This shows how he wants to get away from what the society says by making life for how each man wants for himself. The novel mentions that Equality wants freedom from other men and give freedom to other men (Rand, Anthem 101-102). This shows how Equality wanted to be able to choose what he thinks of right and wrong for himself, by wanting to be free from the rules of society. The book shows Equality’s ethics of choosing what is right or wrong for yourself being very important.

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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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Equality asserts, “But the following day, when we came to the road, they smiled. They smiled to us and for us. And we smiled in answer. Their head fell back, and their arms fell, as if their arms and their thin white neck were stricken suddenly with a great lassitude. They were not long looking upon us, but upon the sky.

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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.

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Objectivism in Ayn Rand’s Anthem Ayn Rand established her philosophy of objectivism in order to eliminate the traditions she experienced while she was growing up under collective governments, and to emphasize the importance of the individual over the collective group. It can be defined as a philosophy for living stating that man himself is the greatest power, and man must decide what is best for himself based on reason. The four basic tenets of objectivism are reality exists as an objective absolute, reason is man’s only method of interpreting his surroundings, man must exist as an individual in order to pursue his own interests, with the ultimate goal being happiness, and the economy of an objectivist society should be laissez-faire capitalism,

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Collectivism is when there’s total social and environmental control in a society and no one is allowed chose for them self. Individualism is when one has to chose to do something by him or herself. Throughout the novel Anthem, the allegory of the battle between collectivism and individualism is a huge part of Equality’s life. Collectivism is a part of the novel Anthem based on how humans interact with one another and the

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Equality is just learning about how life works and he gets to experience it with Liberty, the love of his life, but in the City, men and women are forbidden to talk to each other, where Liberty and Equality felt it was a terrible thing to

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