ipl-logo

'Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem'

518 Words3 Pages

Austin Xu
Ms. Thixton
English Pre-Ap
10/5/17
Individualism Is a Right Equality 7-2521 lives in a collective society where individuals only exist as part of a group and the rights to be an individual in the city is forbidden. In the novel, Anthem, Any Rand employs significant symbolism and artistic imagery in order to passionately display that individualism is a human right. Ayn Rand uses symbolism to display the importance of individualism to humanity. Equality “discovered a new power of nature… and have discovered it alone” and created the light bulb which is a symbol for his individualistic spark (Rand). The collective government, where the basic right to think and work as an individual is neglected and everyone must work and be represented …show more content…

The sleeping halls where the students of the city sleep in “are white and clean and bare of all things save one hundred beds” (Rand). The World Council has the power to control everything that happens in the city including the decoration of the sleeping halls. The lack of and individual’s creativeness in the sleeping halls show the lack of individualism in the collective society. Equality broke the schedule that was set by his House and was taken to the Palace of Corrective Detention where they beat “our chin up, and we saw the red froth of our mouth on the withered fingers” in order to find out his doings (Rand). Everyone in the city follows the schedule from their House and are punished when they fail to follow their schedule. The city’s strict schedules prevent the people their freedom to be in charge of themselves. The Saint of the Pyre had “a thin thread of blood running from the corner of their mouth” when being punished to death for speaking the Unspeakable Word (Rand). In the city a word spoken gave a man his death showing that the collective government controls the people’s choice of words and prevents the people of the city to speak freely. Ayn Rand’s use of imagery portrays the fact that individualism is a right that all humans should have. The lack of individualism in the city is immoral to men where the right to identify oneself as a unique individual

Show More
Related
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.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

Any Rand’s novella Anthem is relatable to James Hurst’s short story The Scarlet Ibis, given that Equality 7-2125 partakes similar actions as the older brother in this short story. Both of these male figures worries were foreshadowed continuously what’s to come. Each attempts changing the idea of a community or a specific person. Such as The Scarlet Ibis showing a perfect example of the older brother ashamed of Doodle because he does not desire to be made into an amusement.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

Ayn Rand says, “God…a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man’s power to conceive.” When one can’t think for their self, how can one be set free? The citizens of society conform to the belief that as a group they are the great WE. The word “I” is not in the vocabulary of men. Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem portrays examples of a dystopian text because the protagonist questions the social and political systems, citizens conform to uniform expectations, and the protagonist is struggling to escape.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.” Throughout the story, Equality’s views and mindset changes, he realizes that he is different from his brothers and its ok to be different. He discovers that if something is legal it is not certainly right. His eager for knowledge taught him the word “I” abandoning the word “We”.

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Equality-72521. With an inquisitive nature, an innovative mind, and latent desire, Equality withholds the traits of a visionary who advocates for individuality. Every step Equality takes, is one away from the public-spirited system. Another towards personal identity. Each step is an internal struggle, due to the communist machine’s brainwash and eloquent reprogram of Equality’s instinctive mind.

Read More
1278 Words | 6 Pages

Mankind is all about us. By all the grace of our brothers, we are allowed to live our lives. We exist through, by and for our brother, we are the state. Amen.” (Ayn Rand 21) Instead, they are expected to conform to the power of collectivism, as it is considered a grave offense to think or act independently.

Read More
460 Words | 2 Pages

Every night they repeat, “We are nothing. Mankind is all," (Rand 21). When the citizens repeat this mindlessly every night they are giving the government what they want; power. And with this power the government can make these individuals do whatever they please. This can be seen when Equality says, "and each of the men have one of the women assigned to them by the Council of Eugenics," (Rand 41).

Read More
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.

Read More
594 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

Moral Assessment of Anthem In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem, Equality lives in a communist society that believes everyone must work for and be exactly like one another. For much of the novel, he believes what the Council of Vocations tells him, despite his intelligence and independence. By the end of the book, he realizes that the idea that everyone is the same and must work for each other is flawed. He deserves to live his own life and enjoy himself.

Read More
1242 Words | 5 Pages

Placing “Me” before “We” in Anthem During the 20th Century, communism was the main source of government in Russia. Ayn Rand opposed everything that Communists stood for. She believed in individualism and wanted to express her own thoughts. She based her book, Anthem, on her life in Russia and the struggles she endured.

Read More
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,

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

The theologian Paul Tillich once declared, “Individualism is the self-affirmation of the individual self as individual self without regard to its participation in its world.” In Anthem, a fictional novella by Ayn Rand, we see the theme of individualism play out, and it gradually becomes an anthem for the story’s hero. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives in a society that teaches citizens that collectivism is the only option for humanity to thrive. Equality quickly learns this way of life is not ideal and coins his anthem: “I shall live my own truth,” (Rand 48). By wishing to live out his own truth, Equality realizes the significance of individualism and the change it can bring.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

“And we wish to be hungry again and soon that we might know again this strange new pride in eating”(79). Individualism is important because Equality makes a discovery of the word I. “I AM. I THINK. I WILL” (94). I, is individualism because I means by oneself.

Read More

More about 'Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem'

Related Topics

Open Document