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Summary Of Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Freedom A collective is defined as a group of individuals. In Anthem, the collective refers to a group of people who have surrendered their individuality completely. The people within the society depicted cannot be, or believe themselves to be, better than their brothers, nor can they think thoughts which are not also shared with all others. This attempt at total fairness ties the entire society to the lowest among them, hindering any innovation that might be made. When Equality 7-2125 says “To be free, a man must be free from his brothers,” he means a person who is a member of a collective before they are an individual can never be free. Equality 7-2521 considers himself to be more able than his brothers in a few ways. He is better at school work and has a natural curiosity for the ways of the world. Within his society, this is a crime. “It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them” (Rand 21). Equality cannot prevent himself from having certain abilities, but he is punished for them, even where these abilities could benefit the collective. Equality does not have the freedom to be his best self. …show more content…

It is a crime for people to prefer any one person over another. “International 4-8818 and we are friends. This is an evil thing to say, for it is a transgression… to love any among men better than the others, since we must love all men and all men are our friends” (Rand 30). All members of the collective should be appreciated equally by all other members, whether they earn it or not. People are not able to choose what qualities they prefer or who they most enjoy interacting with. Because people are unable to show preference, they lose the freedom surround themselves with people who will better

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In Anthem by Ayn Rand International 4-8818 agrees to keep Equality 7-2521’s secret of the tunnel under the ground because much like Equality 7-2521, International 4-8818 is different than the rest of the people in the place they live in. This is because while Equality 7-2521 explains how he found the hole that led to the tunnel he talks about International 4-8818 and explains that, “they are a tall, strong youth and their eyes are like fireflies, for there is laughter in their eyes. We cannot look upon International 4-8818 and not smile in answer. For this they were not liked in the Home of the Students, as it is not proper to smile without reason. And also they were not liked because they took pieces of coal and they drew pictures upon the

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In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, she characterizes Equality 7-2521 as a brother living in a Dystopian society. Equality shares his traits and his belief on the transgression that he holds. Collectivism makes him portray a different way towards the rest of the society. He exhibits curiosity, intelligence and loneliness so the reader can identify Equality as a symbolic figure in the novel. This is what outcasts him from the rest of his brothers mentally and physically.

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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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Equality 7-2521 learns through his journey in Anthem, to be able to be free, everyone needs to be an advocator of the protection of rights and to be themselves, not conforming to society, so

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“We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no power or will in us to stop it” (18). Equality 7-2521 is born into a society in which individuality is a crime.

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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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Equality lives in a collectivist society, which is a society that believes, “that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called “the common good.” Therefore, Equality being the person he is, struggles with being an individual. He knows it is against the law but he enjoys knowledge so much, it confuses him. He states, “And in our heart-strange are the ways of evil! - and in our heart there is the first peace we have known in 20 years.”

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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 has the right to change his mind about the law because it isn 't a far law to everybody. It 's ironic that Ayn Rand called equality 7-2521 because he actually never really finds equality. From the being, he never understood why he was different and why he always got in trouble. He changes his mind about how society is wrong because at the end he learns in self-rights, much more technology, and the meaning of life should be. When equality was assigned with street sweeper he figured it was from his sins.

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Equality is often seen as an immense privilege that most don't get to experience. After acquiring the most basic rights of equality, the question of true equality comes into place. Although the idea of it seems quite pleasant, and something to be achieved, this turns out to be false. Total equality is full of many troubles that consists of the manipulation of others, as shown in “Harrison Bergeron”, leads to the apparent decline in ambition, and minimizes the success of people in favor of appeasing feelings. Furthermore, the manipulation of others is required in order to achieve true.

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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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Who you are supposed to fight for. Who you are supposed to fall in love with. In this world, it is not up to you. In this world, you have the choice to let it define you, strengthen you or destroy you. Most of the time, you will be judged for being different.

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Equality can only think of himself, at the beginning

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From the very beginning, Equality had known that he was different, he had an inimitable mentality from his brothers. As long as he could have remembered, Equality was shunned for being unequal from his brothers, when asking questions or wanting to discover new things. “Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers neither hope not fire. Your mouth is cut out of granite, but out brothers are soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers cringe.

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Equality has changed his views on the society and leaders by the end of the story. Where he is critical of the leaders and denouncing them in moral terms. He started to be critical because they would tell them they are nothing, hiding things from the “Unmentionable times”, their moral terms. Equality 7-2521 has changed his mind and become very critical of the leaders of his society, denouncing them in moral terms. I think Equality was correct to do so because the leaders or teachers were telling the society that they are nothing and mankind is all.

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