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Metagrobolized Morals In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Metagrobolized Morals J.J Watt was awarded the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for raising 37 million dollars for Hurricane Harvey relief. Periodically I receive mail from Operation Smile asking for donations. Although Watt’s award is considered a great honor by society, and donating to charities is very common today, Ayn Rand would disagree with all this. In the excerpts from The Virtue of Selfishness and For the New Intellectual, and in her novel Anthem, Rand lays out her morals. In Anthem Equality’s view of morality strongly coincides with Ayn Rand’s views in the excerpts from her other writings, but is very different from the institutions, practices and officials from the society in which he lives. Throughout the novel, Equality comes into contact with many of the …show more content…

Equality lives out the beginning of his life in the Home of Infants. Already the idea that he was to be the same as the rest of his brothers is being pushed upon him. One of Equality’s earliest memories is that “the sleeping halls there were white and clean and bare of all things save one hundred beds” (20). Within the Home of Infants there is no opportunity to express any sort of individuality. When Equality presents his lightbox to the World Council of Scholars, they show that they are extremely against individual creativity. Despite the obvious genius of the invention, they completely disregard it. International 1-5537 tells Equality that, “‘What is not done collectively can not be good’” (73). The concept that individuality is evil is so deeply ingrained in the morality of the society that the World Council of Scholars, who should be the smartest people in the society, don’t realize how senseless it is to disregard the lightbox simply because it was created by an individual. The institutions in Anthem are so extremely devoted to altruism, that any idea of doing something for the benefit of oneself is considered morally wrong and unlawful. Although

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In the book Anthem their society is way different from ours. They are not allowed to be individual or say the word “I”. They can’t have names, instead they are in groups and have group names. They all have a part in society like their jobs and things they do. For example the equality group belong to the street sweepers.

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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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Prompt: Explain the following quote: “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” How does this quote exemplify a theme of Anthem? In the novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the main character Equality 7-2521 expresses his own individuality. Through the challenges that he was faced with, he learned many way to express himself differently.

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When he does the council is outraged with the new knowledge and declares it and him a threat to society. Although Equality sees the light as knowledge and a way to evolve and become better people, his elders see the light as a plot to separate everyone in society rather than unite them. His version of what can help the society is different from the society’s which means he has a totally different version of truth from them. In this quote the light could be seen as a form of symbolism which is a person, a place, an object, or an activity that stands for something beyond itself. The light in this text can represent the knowledge that the main character, Equality poses and how he wishes to share this knowledge with the people.

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799 Words | 4 Pages

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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999 Words | 4 Pages

Rules and Subjectivity Society is fundamentally built upon rigid structure and control using rules to attempt to maintain order amongst a society comprised of many individuals. Inherently rules put at expense the freedom of individuals to achieve personal happiness in order to build a society comprised of more equally achieving individuals. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem builds a society in which rules restrict all individual freedoms and force a more collective ideal. The rules put in place by the society are meant to make everybody collectively more happy and prevent inherent human subjectivity; however, inherent to human nature, rules can be subjectively interpreted. In contrast to the pre-existing society presented by Rand, Equality 7-2521 seeks

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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.

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This means it is possible for Equality to teach other people about being an individual and to slowly alleviate his collectivist

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Equality now believes that the word “we” is a sin and mankind need to be selfish by talking about themselves and staying true to themselves. They need to be able to think for themselves and act upon their own actions, not the actions of others. Equality’s assessment of this new concept is indeed correct because it is the way of life, unlike the way he was once

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940 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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There's so much emphasis on putting others before oneself that people often forget to look out for their own needs, as shown in this book. Ayn Rand successfully captures the negatives of an overrated ideology and presents an unorthodox perspective on the matter. In conclusion, Equality's true motives behind his work are much more selfish than they first appear to be. Equality strives to fulfil his own personal desire rather than contribute everything to society, and this isn't necessarily a negative thing.

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"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’”(Rand 19). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are trained from birth to think only in the plural, to the point where they cannot even conceive of individuals, but only see each other as part of the whole group. Rand’s protagonist, Equality 72521, begins the novel as a street-sweeper who is devoted to the group, but begins to move towards individuality as he progresses towards pure selfishness, as Rand believes we all should. Rand uses the words “we” and “I” to represent Equality’s journey from being dependent on the group, to being utterly independent of everyone.

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In the beginning, Equality was devoted to the Council and their reasons behind the social structure. Equality begins to experience emotions that separates himself from his brothers and he

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

honor is a thing to be earned.” Ayn Rand weaves her idea of objectivism and that people choose others relying on their own needs into her connection with Equality. In the beginning of Anthem Equality did not think of himself, but what the society wanted everyone to do as a whole, contrasting towards Ayn Rand’s beliefs (Rand, Anthem 96).When people come to the realization that no one is equal, it is easier to realize that neither are needs, making choices involving circumstances like relationships depend on a person’s thoughts and

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725 Words | 3 Pages

Equality discovers what individualism is and what it means, but when Equality finds out what it means it changes his view throughout the

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