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Power Of Society In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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The Power of Society Ever heard the saying, “You are who you surround yourself with”? People are mere products of their society. Society shapes us as individuals, affecting the way we think, feel, and act. Ayn Rand conveys this in Anthem as Equality 7-2521 changes because of the society he is in. The society in Anthem brainwashes its citizens to the point of them thinking that they are sinners for breaking even the most absurd laws of the “brotherhood”. However, sometimes in life, limited freedom leads to curiosity; when you are told not to do something, it makes you want to do it even more. This is the motive that leads Equality 7-2521 to investigate what the society is hiding, which causes him to sin in the eyes of the council. In the novel …show more content…

Ever wonder why there are no guards at the prison, and why the locks on the doors are old and easy to break? The society in Anthem is prideful; this is shown when Equality is in jail, and he says, “There is no reason to have guards, for men have never defied the Councils so far as to escape from whatever place they were ordered to be” (Rand 67). So, Equality 7-2521 turning himself into the council is an example of how the citizens have been brainwashed by the society to do whatever they are told; breaking this law eats away at Equality 7-2521’s self-consciousness, leading him to turn himself into the Council. However, this is not the only reason why Equality 7-2521 admits himself to the Council; his pride and ego think …show more content…

He hopes that by turning himself into the Council, they will acknowledge his humility and instead of punishment, view his great intelligence. Equality 7-2521 expresses this feeling by saying, “Tomorrow [...] we shall take our box [...] and walk through the streets to the Home of the Scholars. [...] We shall join our hands to theirs, and we shall work together, with the power of the sky, for the glory of mankind” (67). Now may be Equality’s only chance to escape the House of Street Sweepers and get into the Council of Scholars. By finding this tunnel from the “unmentionable times”, Equality 7-2521 has unlocked a side of himself that he never knew existed; a side that viewed society in a different light. In the words of James Baldwin, “The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter [...] the way a person looks at reality, then you can change

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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.

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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.

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Throughout the Anthem, Equality 7-2521 made his own choices without the influence of other people telling him what to think or do. Equality 7-2521 also would agree that moral neutrality is not possible. That is because Equality 7-2521 believes that

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In hope of obtaining the Good Life, people often have to deal with balancing the ideas of doing what is best for society and doing what is best for the individual. Both Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” support the concept that to obtain the Good Life, a person must act for the benefit of society more than for the benefit of himself or herself. In “Antigone”, through Antigone and Kreon’s actions and the repercussions of their actions, Sophocles argues for the preservation of values of society over self-preservation and putting the beliefs of society over the beliefs of the individual. In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King argues against the individual’s tendency for passivity and idleness

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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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Upon this realization, Equality denounces the leaders of his society, the Council, on moral terms. “I” believe that his decision to do so is correct as the people in Equality’s society are stripped of their right, and intellectuals are responsible for furthering their society. Equality’s actions parallels

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To fully control a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. The leaders in Anthem seek to accomplish this tyrannical end by putting the new born generation in schools where all of there education and freedom are limited. Those who are old enough to have there own opinions are either convinced to agree with the council are are punished for opposing the council. Equality is an example of a person who gets punished for being to smart and also being taller than the others. When Equality discovered electricity he was punished for it.

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People Anthem even though though their society is based the council the council only cares about themselves. For example in the book Equality tries to give the light to the council, Equality thought that he would be cleansed of for his, “Sins” and they’ll use his discovery for the greater good. The council also did other various things to other people, for example they burned and torchered a guy that didn’t think like they the council did. Equality talked about how when he was little, he saw a man smiling at him, but this man seemed torchered. They burned him at the steak!

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The quote symbolizes that when applied to life, Equality 7­2521 has free will ­ a choice in how he lives, his own destiny and the path that he wants to follow. In Anthem, the society is one in which everyone is equal and no one is superior to anyone else. However, society comes with a price as no one is able to think or speak for themselves. When Equality 7­2521 realizes that he can think and speak for himself in his “new world” then his new reality stems from

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Equality defies the council of scholars and his government by studying and learning about the world. “How dare you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the mind of your brothers” (Rand 71). Equality goes against

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Caring more for one person than another is called the Transgression of Preference, which no one is allowed to commit to in the society. When any of the laws of Anthem are violated, then they have consequences. When Equality 7-2521 was at the age of ten, people in the society gathered at the square so they could watch a man, the Transgressor, be burned at stake and had his tongue cut out so he could not speak the “Unspeakable Word”. Equality 7-2521 was one of the men to see it with his own eyes. So when they go against the World Council they can get injured or could have a death penalty.

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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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Yet, no one dares to rebel against the government and their crude form of control. There is minor opposition to the authority in this society because people are born with the ideas dictated into their minds and harsh penalties come with the actions. The way people were raised and taught by the Councils’ relentless guidelines forces them to live a life of obedience and fear. From a very young age, children were taught to

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He is refering to the council he does not want to be blamed. The advice Rand gives in her short essay Equality would agree, I think. There are some things that he would agree with. “When your impartial attitude declares, that neither the good nor the evil may expect anything from you; whom you betray and whom do you encourage?”(Rand).

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All there is in Anthem is fear, rules, and discipline. No one has ever shown them what it is to feel joy or love. They live in an unrealistic society with no emotions. 2. A.) On page 49 Equality is struggling to recapture the unspeakable word “I”.

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