ipl-logo

Lack Of Education In Ayn Rand's Anthem

539 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ayn rand anthem individualism

Utopias are Dystopias To what lengths will people go to create the “perfect” society? In the novel Anthem Equality 7-2521 (main character) lives in a society where the government controls everything from school to technology. Speaking of technology, the latest technological achievement is the candle. While the rest of the world outside of the society is way past the candle. Another weird thing about Anthem’s society is that it is totally equal…But how? The process behind total equality in Anthem’s society requires the lack of education, the enforcement of laws, and the lack of individualism. In this paragraph, the lack of education will be the topic. The lack of education in Anthem’s society is a big step in total equality. Anthem’s schools were not the best. Which was purposely done by the government. …show more content…

The laws the government had in Anthem helped achieve total equality. There’s this one word that you cannot say in the society: “there is no crime punished by death in this world, save this one crime of speaking the unspeakable word.” (Rand, 49). Anthem’s society has a law that will get you killed for saying one word. With laws like these everyone will be too scared to do anything wrong keeping the society equal behavior wise. The lack of education in this society is certainly important in the process but so is the fact that the people in the society had no individuality. This paragraph is about the lack of identity in Anthem’s society. The lack of individualism is a crucial step in total equality of Anthem. Engraved in the center of the town is this: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible and forever” (Rand, 19). This illustrates that in Anthem’s society collectivism is enforced. With no individualism means no I, no ego, no opinions which allows the dystopian society to flourish. Finally, it is time to wrap this essay

Show More
Related
1457 Words | 6 Pages

The book Anthem by Ayn Rand is a very interesting book. At first it is confusing to the reader because of the use of the words we and us instead of I. The main character, Equality 7-2521 introduces himself in the plural form. The reader takes a while to figure this out. The era that Equality is in, is after the Great Rebirth.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

What the society doesn’t know is that there are problems in Anthem. Equality sees these problems and will not implement them in the world that he envisions. Rules, regulations, and controls all have a purpose and a reason as to why they exist. No matter how outrageous and unethical they might be, there is always a reason to put rules into action. There are probably many reasons or excuses as to why the city of Anthem had placed a countless number of rules over their city.

Read More
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
335 Words | 2 Pages

Anthem is writing as a journey of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in the future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, for not even knowing the word "I" and can only speak of himself as "We." Everyone lives and work in collective groups and he is assigned to a Street Sweeper of the city by the Council of Vocations. However, Equality 7-2521 try to lead himself to recreate electric light and how it can be harnessed to human benefit. He has been taught that it is a sin to harbor secret ambitions, and so he believes he is guilty. Equality 's struggle to be free and to reach an individual life/ When he presents his discovery to the Council of Scholars, they punish him for daring to act as an individual and threaten to destroy his creation.

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

Oppression The society in Anthem, by Ayn Rand has many oppressive rules that control the people living in it. These rules exist to repress people from feeling anything special for someone else, to cover up the past world, and to keep everyone completely equal. These horrible rules would certainly not exist in the world that Equality envisions creating at the end of the story. Clearly the rules put in place by The Council decrease the quality of life for everyone living in that society, and can give someone a new appreciation for the freedoms they have as individuals.

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
863 Words | 4 Pages

When Equality 7-2521 brings his discovery of the light bulb before the council of scholars, one of the council members exclaims, "It took fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle, and to decide upon the number needed, and to re-fit the Plans so as to make candles instead of torches. This touched upon thousands and thousands of men working in scores of states. We cannot alter the plans again so soon (Rand 74). " This totalitarian society is completely bound by everyone else.

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

Though Equality starts Anthem with no knowledge of selfishness, raised in a society that forces all to work for the good of all, he ends Anthem by wishing to liberate those oppressed by the lies of the

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

Her society gives its citizens little to no freedom with extremely harsh punishments for even the slightest acting out of line. Anthem’s depiction of a collectivist society is far more extreme than that of “Harrison Bergeron.” To quote Anthem’s protagonist, Equality “The first blow of the lash felt like our spine had been cut in two. The second blow stopped the first and for a second we felt nothing.

Read More
1027 Words | 5 Pages

The suppression of individuality in the society of Anthem is a cautionary tale that illustrates the importance of personal freedom in finding genuine happiness. By prioritizing the needs of society over the individual, the inhabitants of Anthem's society have created a society where people cannot pursue their desires or find fulfillment in their lives. The theme of individualism versus collectivism is a theme that resonates with many people today. In today's society, there is a constant pressure to conform to societal norms and expectations. This pressure often leads people to sacrifice their individuality, just like the inhabitants of Anthem's society.

Read More
993 Words | 4 Pages

Anthem Essay Anthem, by Ayn Rand, depicts a futuristic society, an alleged utopia where everyone was created the same, no exceptions. Men in this novel are taught that it is a virtue to agree and be agreed with, when no one praises the creator, the egoist. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, struggled his whole life to separate and free himself from collectivism, and develop an ego, obtaining victory at last. From a young age, Equality 7-2521 has differed from his ¨brothers¨. He was more knowledgeable when he was younger, more curious in his teenage years, and more futuristic in his twenties than his peers. First, Equality 7-2521 was superior in the way of knowledge, not to mention everything else, to his brothers in school.

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
909 Words | 4 Pages

Intelligence Over Power The word “I” is a symbol that represents someone being an individual. In Ayn Rand’s Anthem the word “I” is lost and there are no individuals. Just the collective people working for the same goal. The individual cannot survive in this world because it is a sin to set yourself apart as an individual and constantly have to obey the arduous guidelines of the society, therefore it is fair for Equality to denounce his leaders.

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

Anthem is a society full of brothers, therefore everyone is family. Well that is what they call it. In reality their family is more of a comrade society. Equality feels romance love for the first time as he meets Liberty. He says, “‘Our dearest one’, we whispered.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

Equality has changed from a collective to an individual having the knowledge of realizing what he can do to change himself in the environment. Anthem has shown how the society works. The main character Equality has proven the allegory when he realizes there's more than just a collectivism society. From start of the novel Equality has been able to grow from a part of a collectivism to learning about individualism to becoming an individual. Equality conquers the battle of collectivism and individualism for

Read More

More about Lack Of Education In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Related Topics

Open Document