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Rebirth In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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How Does One Lead a Rational Life in the Great Rebirth Ayn Rand is an illustrious writer, known for many of her works including the short novella Anthem and her short essay How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society. In Anthem, she speaks of a dystopian world set in the future with primitive technology. The Council expects everybody to look, act, and generally be the same as one another; however, Equality, the main character of Anthem, does not conform to the social norm. He rebels from the cookie-cutter system and learns to see the deep err in the way of the Council and finally realises the effects that the abusive treatment of the citizens creates. Rand’s short essay speaks simply of speaking out about evil when you see …show more content…

When the people below are told that judgment is a sin, they will never try to take those above out of their positions in power. Rand writes in How Does One Live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society that “to pronounce moral judgement is an enormous responsibility (Rand, Paragraph 4).” For as long as anybody can remember, conditions in the society presented in Anthem have always been the same. In truth, this is due to the citizens never criticising the actions of the Council. Equality would preach Rand’s essay to the masses like gospel if possible because he understands the true benefits of being opinionated and free. Equality believes wholeheartedly in individualism and the concept of preference which relates strongly to judging others’ true intents and motives. Rand’s short essay explains that, while it is not something many would like to believe of their loved ones, many times people are not simply mistaken or misinformed, but rather know the evil in their actions and proceed to carry them out regardless (Rand, Paragraph 14). While it is true that some members of the Council have been brainwashed and truly believe what they say, the original intent of the many strict laws in place were malicious. Looking in at the society from the outside provides an objective point of view that makes clear that the statutes in action are there to control the citizens and not to help or protect …show more content…

By juxtaposing her works together, her novella and her opinionated essay, correlation unfolds and similarity shows between the “evil” force of complete assimilation in Anthem and the complete disregard of wrongdoings being denoted as evil in How Does One Live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society. It does not come as a revelation that Equality would find strong personal relation and belief in the opinions of Rand. His resolution that the Council promotes practices of with which he disagrees and finds morally repulsive presents itself in a manner that is agreeable with any morally sound individual. Rand is extremely skillful in effectuating Ethos into her work, weaving together sentences with both beauty and

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This essay will be discussing whether or not the character Equality 7-2521’s assessment of his sins towards throughout of the book he’s from, Anthem. His assessment (that he doesn’t care about his sin, as it was decided a sin by a government he sees as immoral and corrupt) is in my opinion, correct. This thought stems mainly from the fact he documented his thoughts throughout the book, and the documents could potentially inspire other people to do the same thing he did, which Equality would probably like. At the beginning of Anthem, Equality feels ashamed with many actions of his, specifically calling many of them evil, sinful, or a “transgression”.

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In the book Anthem, Ayn Rand uses diction, imagery, and syntax to create a confident tone in Equality 7-2521 to show how he is changing for the better. Equality learns that individuality is ok and states “ I am done with this creed of corruption,” to emphasize that he’s “done” with how the governing body brainwashed him and that he now has his own views on society (55). Equality thought all the things the governing body wanted him to think, but as he broke off he realized that none of it was true. He did not want to live by the standards of the governing body so he broke through the standards and started to individually listen to himself. Equality grew up with the impression of everyone should have the same thought but, the individuality

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However, knowing Equality possesses talent, the Council of

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This god, this one word: ‘I.’” (Rand, Anthem 97). Equality is proclaiming that he no longer believes in having an entire society equal. Everyone in a society needs to be different by being themselves and protecting their rights and morals. By doing this everyone can find freedom from a society. Rand’s statement, “Nothing can corrupt and disintegrate a culture or a man’s character as thoroughly as does the precept of moral agnosticism, the idea that one must never pass moral judgement on others, that one must be morally tolerant of anything, that the good consists of never distinguishing good from evil” shows that if citizens want to find freedom it is competent to judge because then one is emphasizing the differences between citizens (Rand, “How” 82).

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With these points, Ayn Rand also creates a fearful and suspenseful atmosphere and tone by pointing out the law breaking of Euqality 7-2521 and their possible punishments. In this Ayn Rand states that Equality 7-2521 has “broken the laws” and that the “Council of Vocations” did not beg them to write, alongside this Equality 7-2521 also asks “may we be forgiven.” With these points, Ayn Rand conveys a sense of fear, where Equality 7-2521 has broken the laws of the council of vocations and this adds a sense of fear and suspense of what may happen to Equality 7-2521 into the overall tone of the chapter. This sense of fear and suspense continues to build into the tone from Equality 7-2521 also asking for forgiveness from the council, this proves Equality 7-2521 knows what they’re doing is wrong in their society and they may be punished for it adding onto the suspense of this chapter. Overall Ayn Rand’s elements contribute to building suspense and unease in the tone

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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.

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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.

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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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The tone of authors throughout the world varies greatly based on their intentions for writing. In the case of Anthem, author Ayn Rand invents a dystopian society in which collectivism is promoted in great favor over individualism. One character, however, pushes the boundaries and embraces a sense of independence. Rand likely desired audiences to take her views presented in her novel into consideration. Accordingly, for the purpose of creating a serious relationship with its readers, Anthem adopts a reverent tone by utilizing formal language and addressing critical subjects.

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Ayn Rand's novella "Anthem" is a dystopian tale that explores the concept of a totalitarian society in which the government seeks to control every aspect of an individual's life, including their thoughts and beliefs. The leaders in this society aim to destroy the minds of their citizens by indoctrinating them with collectivist ideology and suppressing individualism, creativity, and freedom of thought. The novel is a powerful critique of collectivism and a call to value individualism and freedom of thought. In this essay, I will explore how the leaders in "Anthem" seek to control the minds of their citizens, the insight that Rand is attempting to share with her readers, and how the readers are supposed to feel, understand, and learn from the story.

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Which in turn shows even if people and Equality know this is breaking rules it shows how prejudiced society is because you can not always control how you feel about someone, something, or a topic. Since this society is so prejudiced, it leads to many issues and fingers pointed at Equality and his fellow street sweepers. With prejudice being thrown at these characters just for their looks or action, it shows similarity to racial prejudice because the characters can be bullied just for a more tan skin or a lighter skin. In the end, Equality 7-2521 is just purely prejudice given to him for how he is and what he can not

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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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However, he fails to realize that collectivism still exists outside his tunnel of intellectual and individualistic refuge. Thus, the council is horrified by his invention using personal thought and they mock and ridicule him, even threatening to burn him at the stake. One member of the council, International 1-5537, points out the major issue with Equality’s invention, saying “what is not done collectively cannot be good” (Anthem 73). The Council fails to understand the basic idea that Rand proposes in “The Soul of an Individualist” in which she says that “no work is ever done collectively, by a major decision. Every creative job is achieved under the guidance of a single individual thought” (Rand).

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No matter what, until the Council begins to accept changes to their “Plans”, Equality’s society will outmatch theirs. The final fallacy weakening the collective state renders itself in the Council’s inability to care for the individual needs of its

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In the dystopian novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, once the main character is able to question his society’s lifestyle, he is able to see their dystopian qualities, and manages to flee. In the end of the novella, when the main character states, “I am done with the monster of ‘We’, the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame. And now I see the face of god…,” he is showing that he is free from his old ways and his crippling society. It was him criticizing his society that led to his freedom. Another example is the American Revolution.

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