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The Pressure Of Conformity In Ayn Rand's Anthem: Equality

520 Words3 Pages

The heroes, leaders, doctors, writers, teachers, inventors and everyone virtuous in our world exist with an ego allowing for their creation and achievement. Yet, those who are vain and take pride in themselves are shunned in modern day society. To be fully humble and willing to serve others at the drop of a dime is nearly impossible, nor desirable. So why does society have the tendency to teach selfless behaviours, when everything good on earth has come out of pride? Thomas Edison created the light bulb with dignity, knowing his invention would better mankind, exactly as Equality from Anthem did. Furthermore, Ray Land creates all of her characters this way, portraying her bias towards the greatness of objectivism. Her novels indicate how vital self-centered people are to our world for their own success and everyone else’s. The pressures of conformity in …show more content…

The extreme collectivist community potrayed shows the polar opposite of egoism. Equality immediately gets set appart by his intellectual abilities leading to his substantial discoveries. Evidently his ideas are rejected and he’s shunned for his intelligence and creativity. Nevertheless, this is for the better, for it is then that he perhaps has his greatest thought: “To be free a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. This is nothing else.” (Rand, 101) All along he knew his happiness came from being alone, yet it wasn’t till now he realized the great burden of constantly serving others. His great epiphany derived the question, “What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and obey?” (Rand, 97) At this point he realizes his curse of exising as inquisive is actually his “greatest virtue.” (Rand) The thought of existing for others becomes repelling and Equality instead makes his goal to fight for the freedom on man and for the welfare that comes from

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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). How can an individual be a hero in a collectivist society? In The Anthem, a novella by Ayn Rand, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521 is portrayed as an archetypal epic hero. Equality 7-2521 exhibits the characteristics of an epic hero because he is capable of great deeds, he has a nemesis, and he experiences an event that leads to a quest.

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Equality finds a tunnel that he thinks is from the “unmentionable times” is his society while he was street sweeping. He goes down in it and finds smooth hard surfaces which I inferred to be glass, in Anthem all objects are raw materials so it is not possible for there to be glass unless the council was hiding the tunnel so no one could find it. He returns to the house of street sweepers late and the council asks where he has been. He refuses to tell them so he gets taken somewhere by the council and they try to whip the information out of him. “ A grill, a grill, a grill” Equality says.

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In Anthem by Ayn Rand we follow Equality 7-2521 as he goes against social customs to rediscover electricity. He knows that this is a sin because he is merely a street sweeper and isn’t worthy of being a scholar. Equality 7-2521 commits other sins as well, he shows favor towards International 4-8818 and Liberty 5-3000 even naming her the Golden One. After showing his rediscover to the World Council, Equality 7-2521 is disregarded for only the scholars are worthy of innovation. Before he can be fatally punished Equality 7-2521 flees into the Uncharted Forest, and is saddened because he knows that he will never see the Golden One again but also thankful for she deserves better than the Damned.

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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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There was one time a teenage boy with the name of juan , juan ever since he was young he would the right thing but once the got to college he got really scared and he started to think if he should go or not . At the end he decided not to go and started to work with his father in the family business. But at time people would ask him why he decided not to go to college and he would say because i was scared. His cousins one day tell him that being scared of new things is normal but at least try and fail but at least you try , you will just need to get better for next time.

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How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family. The Anthem society in forcing of strict laws made it easy for everyone to lose their individuality.

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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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Furthermore, he tries to conform but simply cannot. He then realizes that it's okay and even good to be your own person. He wants to show people how to think for themselves and fight for what they believe in. In his society they will be able to do the job they want and create things. These are a few of the big rules in his old society, all of which he is

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But while Equality's outlooks aren't necessarily bad, there still needs to be balance. If everyone thought only about themselves, society would crumble. People have to rely on each other to an extent, and total selfishness would prevent this. That being said, someone can have selfish moments while still being a good person and caring for others. There doesn't have to be polar opposites when it comes to selfishness versus selflessness.

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“Men are forbidden to take notice of women...but we think of one among women, they whose name is Liberty 5-300…” ( 38).In Ayn Rand’s dystopic novel, Anthem, civilization there this no individuality and they all think of themselves as we. Men and women must not have a relationship yet Equally chose to break this law and fall in love with Liberty (Golden One).Rand uses the relationship between Equality and Liberty(Golden One)to show that as he becomes for individually he takes less notice of the Golden One and and only cares about himself.

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1094 Words | 5 Pages

Since 1848 when The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx was published growing questions about whether a communist or globalist society could work were asked. With many theories and attempts to make a perfect society, it has never been done ,but in fiction it has worked out such as in the television series Star Trek. Likewise communism does not always work well in fiction leaving the people poor or mistreated. Such as in the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand which tells the tale of an oppressive communist society that uses its government to keep everyone equal. The society in Anthem has all its rules and controls for the purpose of keeping an artificial sense of true equality ,and by the end of the story Equality would go the opposite route in not having

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Growing up in the early 1900’s Ayn Rand had to deal with social conformity from a young age. At 12 years old the communist revolution began in Russia. Her family's business was raided and the once hard working prosperous Rosenbaum family was stripped down to be just like everyone else. In Ayn Rand's 1938 “Anthem” she depicts when social conformity goes far by letting us inside the mind of young and rebellious Equality 7-2521 opposing his corrupted and distorted society.

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We alone. Our hands. Our mind. Ours alone and only ours” (59) In this statement Equality takes all the credit for his new invention and says that the invention was made alone.

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Equality is finally free from his oppressive collectivist society, and he wants to make his own. What will his society be like and why was the city’s society so controlling and strict? The fictional novel Anthem by Ayn Rand gives evidence to how equality will be making his society from experience in his old city. He will not make a society as oppressive as the city but will understand that some control is necessary.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the many American poets and essayists of the 19th century. Known for such essays as “Nature” and “The American Scholar”, in which Emerson retorts the social and religious beliefs that were so widely upheld at the time. One of Emerson’s more well-known essays is titled “Self-Reliance”, in which Emerson delves into the idea of man’s sole reliance on oneself instead of social and spiritual constructs. Emerson’s goal in writing “Self-Reliance” and many of his other essays was to inspire “his colleagues to look into themselves, into nature, into art, and through work for answers to life's most perplexing questions.” (Ushistory.org)

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