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Ayn rand, individualism collectivism
Anthem ayn rand essay on individualism
Example of individualism in anthem by ayn rand
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At the beginning of Anthem Equality has changed his mind about a lot of things in the beginning of the story. Equality got picked to be a street sweeper by the government, but he really wanted to be a scholar but couldn’t because of the government. Equality had a rough life. Well he was a street sweeper but he was smart enough to be a scholar the government did not think he was. In the book anthem by ayn rand Equality was not good for any body or anything at the beginning he had a rough start to his life.
The word contentious means tending to argue or strife; quarrelsome. This connects to what the chapter is portrayed in many ways. In this chapter, Equality 7-2521/ Prometheus go to the council to discuss the light box and all of their discretions. I think that this chapter title is exactly what is going on in this chapter because they spend most of the chapter arguing with Equality. On the second page, Equality tells the council that they are street sweepers.
The book Anthem by Ayn Rand is a very interesting book. At first it is confusing to the reader because of the use of the words we and us instead of I. The main character, Equality 7-2521 introduces himself in the plural form. The reader takes a while to figure this out. The era that Equality is in, is after the Great Rebirth.
Equality is willing to oppose his leaders to enunciate everything that he believes in; being oneself and staying true to all one’s rights and morals. He is unequivocally denouncing his leaders by going against everything that his society believes in, like creating inventions as a whole and not by oneself. Rand’s statement, “But in no case and in no situation may one permit one’s own values to be attacked or denounced, and keep silent,” substantiates Equality’s actions in trying to defend all of his rights (Rand, “How” 84). Both Rand and Equality are elucidating that people have to fortify everything that they believe in or it can all be appropriated. Equality and Ayn adage that if people don’t protect their rights then someone will come along that will confiscate people of all virtues and standards.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.” Throughout the story, Equality’s views and mindset changes, he realizes that he is different from his brothers and its ok to be different. He discovers that if something is legal it is not certainly right. His eager for knowledge taught him the word “I” abandoning the word “We”.
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.”
In our society, people are motivated in lots of different ways. This can create both positives, such as putting a man on the moon, and negatives, such as war and starving people. Anthem is a story about a man who is going against his collectivist society in his search for individuality. Equality’s main motivation is to discover new things and new ideas in the world around him, as well as to try to figure out who he is as an individual. His motivation is correct because he enables the thought of free will, and the world could become a better place if everyone was motivated like Equality.
In the story of Anthem, Ayn Rand intended the book to be a depiction of a possible future for multiple reasons, even though it doesn't make sense of how it could be a possible future. Like how the word “I” has been removed from the entire language and is a sin as well as an illegal word to even say. Rand wants people to see in the story how it would be if the whole world was basically taken over by collectivism and to show a world that bans forms of individualism. Rand showed many examples in the book of how Anthem is a depiction of a possible future. To begin, in the Society of Equality “ In the Home of Infants; the children were born not knowing who their parents are.
Equality 7-2521 can free himself from collectivism because he was independent. In the novel Anthem Ayn Rand makes us comprehend that Equality had and inner struggle and
¨We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-300. We do not know why we think of them” (Rand 41). In Ayn Randś dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are forced to think that they cannot have any preference, this includes liking someone more than others. Randś protagonist, Equality 7-2521, started the book falling in love with the Golden One, but as he moves toward individuality he begins to be in “love” less as he realizes there’s more than just being in a group.
Anthem is a book that makes oneself contemplate the future and what evils are bestowed upon it. In this novel, the reader is caught in the life of Equality. Equality’s life is placed in the future, where the feared reality of communism has conquered all but the souls of few weary men. Equality is one of those few men who have a light that is invulnerable to a ravaging wind. Equality’s time captive before his extraordinary escape has taken a toll on his body and mind and now at the end of his journey forces him to question whether the decisions he’s made are full of sin or teeming with righteousness.
In the final chapters of the book, after Equality and The Golden One have discovered their new house and proposed to build a new life, they read books in its intact library and so discover the forbidden word, “I” (94). This discovery prompts Equality to radically overhaul his entire way of going through life, aligning it to Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. His focus on himself, illustrated through his obsession with the word I is show in the last two chapters of the book, where he latches on to the idea that devoting one’s life to only oneself is the only appropriate way to live life. Rand shows this with statements from Equality such as, “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them”(96). Equality is proclaiming that his life will be best lived in a purely selfish manner, where he will not take care of anyone else, but will not ask anyone to take care of him either.
Everyone is born with independence, but imagine a society where this virtue is ceased. In the novel “Anthem” written by Ayn Rand, she describes a society in which everyone is the exact same. Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 are two characters that live under a strict and controlling rule, in which they make decisions for you. As they story goes on, the two characters discover love, freedom, liberty, and independence. To Equality, being similar to his brothers was not equal, he believes that the meaning of “I” celebrates joy and peace within a society.
Equality has changed from a collective to an individual having the knowledge of realizing what he can do to change himself in the environment. Anthem has shown how the society works. The main character Equality has proven the allegory when he realizes there's more than just a collectivism society. From start of the novel Equality has been able to grow from a part of a collectivism to learning about individualism to becoming an individual. Equality conquers the battle of collectivism and individualism for
Shinto has made a huge impact on Japanese people and culture. Throughout history Shinto has shared a spiritual, cultural and political roles with Buddhism and Confucianism. Majority of the japanese people have a deep affection for beauty of their nature. I feel like the Shinto religion is what brought majority of the Japanese people together because long ago the Japanese people lived very close to nature. From what i know the Japanese people would believe that the natural features like waterfalls, mountains and forest had their own souls.
