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Ayn rand anthem individualism
Strutural elements in Ayn Rand Anthem
Essay on individualism in "anthem" by ayn rand
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Imagine a world that has lacked in society and acted as if no one should be given freedom or opportunities. Placed in the future, is a community full of people who have been beaten by the word “we”, has been taught as if freedom does not exist, and has been stuck in the ways of the past. The place with such limited amount of imagination is Anthem. Anthem has many rules to follow and to obey, such as to not favor one person over another, and those who dare to disobey any of the rules will be beaten or sent to Palace of Corrective Detention. The people are to wear a bracelet that has their name carved on it and are to call themselves we instead of I.
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.
How does a naive act of surrendering to a marshmallow affect the way a child succeeds? How does advancement in technology lead a person in jail? How does one live life normally after being abnormal his entire life? For example, Equality, in the dystopian fiction novelette Anthem by Ayn Rand, breaks rules of the totalitarian government by having individual thoughts and later eludes into another world of freedom and independence where he finds egoism and individualism. Similarly, in the non-fiction article “Who Holds the Clicker?” by Lauren Slater, Mario Grotta, an OCD patient has a clicker implanted into his brain which results in a normal life, finding his true self.
The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is set in a dystopian society where the idea of collectivism is prevalent. Collectivism is the idea of a group having more priority than any of the individuals in it. Throughout the novel, the characters refer to themselves as “we” instead of “I” and refer to each other as their brother men. Equality 7-2521 tells the reader that whenever they feel tempted, they are to repeat the phrase “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great, WE, One, indivisible and forever.”
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a collectivist society. Ayn Rand lived through communism and she saw nazisim,in her book she gives an example of a collectivist society, she uses this novel to warn people about what could happen if we lived in a society like that. Ayn Rand uses her novela ANTHEM to explore the theme of individualism by having Equality discover light, by defing society, and discovering that ones self respect is the most important thing in the universe.
Ayn Rand in her novel Anthem exhibits a society where people only purpose is to serve and better the community. Rand was writing Anthem, while World War 2 was emerging and she was watching countries change their views on society and the citizens in it. Some of these countries started to force their citizens into a mold. Thinking that society would be benefit if everyone was like-minded. Rand wanted to show these views in an extreme situation to demonstrate what could happen in the future if countries continued to do this.
Anthem is a battle between a man’s longing for independence and the controlling society he lives in. In Ayn Rand’s 1937 novel Anthem, we are introduced to a dystopian society based in the future in a city in an undefined location. Ayn Rand wrote this novel after living in Russia during the communist era during the 1920s. She escaped this society in 1926 and became a writer in America. Her battle against communism affected her as an author and inspired her writing in Anthem.
Ayn Rand, in her critically acclaimed novel Anthem, creates the image of a society driven by a perverse need for the common good. She uses this society, and her character, Equality 7-2521, to illustrate her point that selfishness is not always an inferior value to altruism, and can even be used for good. Pope Francis, on the other hand, shares a different point of view in his speech to a joint session of Congress; he believes that all people have a common responsibility to their country or continent of origin, a responsibility to the ideals of community and working for the common good. I personally fall in the gray area between the two most extreme versions of their beliefs, because I believe that, above all others, one has a responsibility to themselves; however, I also believe
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Sin is “a breaking of a moral or legal code.” Today moral codes could be religious or dictated by the laws of the government. In Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, Equality’s life contains of two completely different legal codes in his life. At the beginning of Equality’s life he lives a collectivist lifestyle, just as Rand did, and once he makes his way to The Uncharted Forest he lives in his free society. Anthem was not written to illustrate Rand’s past, but more to prove being free is a blessing.
In the dystopian novella Anthem written by Ayn Rand, Prometheus is used to show why collectivism is harmful, how egoism affects society so much, and how it contributed to the society of Prometheus. One of the firstthings we notice about the society in Ayn Rand’s Anthem is “We are one in all and all in one There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.”(Rand 19) .This proves that we also learn that the collectivist that society presented in the novella or story and contributions any who as on alone one and with the thoughts of one and not of the many” ( Rand 72). Throughout this novella that explains how Equality 7-2521 Prometheus displays many which directly oppose the standards of the society that Prometheus goes
The story Anthem by Ayn Rand, takes place in a futuristic society where no one has rights; they only serve their society. Equality 7-2521, is a brilliant young man who becomes a scientist, but is forced to be a Street Sweeper by a council that fears individualism. The word “I” makes one an individual, but the individual cannot survive in this
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn said, “The secret of living in peace with all people lies in the art of understanding each one by his own individuality.” To find peace and live in harmony, people need to know and embrace each person’s individuality. Although the people in Anthem are supposed to be happy and peaceful, they are not permitted to have a sense of individualism. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem illustrates the importance of each person in society having an individual identity to true peace and happiness. Rand expresses this philosophy through the main character Equality who discovers freedom and self-worth for himself.
Victory Over Collectivism “I”, one of the only one-letter words in the English language. Yet its power and meaning do not match its quantitative value. In the collectivist dictatorship found the in the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, this word has disappeared and consequently, society has fallen into a dark age, all because of the loss of a single-lettered word. However, the hero of this time, Equality 7-2521, breaks down the barrier of the collectivist society and allows him to make advances that show him the power of the word “I” and the idea of individualism in government and in society. Although the word “I” has vanished from society, Equality is able to free himself from the collectivist government through the use of science and free thought,
Ayn Rand thinks that in order to be truly free, an individual must think only for themself and no one else. Moreover, Rand uses symbolism to narrate her ideas about freedom. According to Mistersato411, a symbol is “a thing that represents something else.” Rand used the characters names as symbols in this book.
Critical Analysis of Anthem The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is an exceptional piece of literature showing the importance of a person’s identity. By combining a unique writing style with a fictional communist society Rand shows the relevance that Objectivism should always play in societies. Anthem by Ayn Rand serves as a literary interpretation of the power collectivist societies could have over citizens. The story is about a man named Equality 7-2521 living in a society where absolutely all power belongs to the government.
