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Use Of Collectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Novelist, philosopher, individualist, playwright and screenwriter. This is Ayn Rand. Someone who views the world as something that is full of ideas that feel they need to be as one. Ideas that must be agreed on in order to be true, to be right. This life, in Ayn Rand’s eyes is collectivism. Ayn Rand was able to demonstrate and make evident this idea with her many books. Namely, one of her most famous, Anthem. For the typical reader, Anthem correctly displayed views on individualism because of the use of ‘we’, how Equality 7-2521’s life is portrayed, and the lack of freedom.

We. A word that symbolises collectivism. This word, along with us, them, and they, express a group as one. There is no individuality represented by these words. In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, she demonstrates a world where it is forbidden to use ‘I’. “Unspeakable Word the word "I," outlawed in this society under threat of death. The political rulers, in seeking to forbid all aspects of individualism, recognize …show more content…

He is an individualist in a world of collectivism. He is a very intelligent and curious individual who rejects the collectivist society. In the story, Equality 7-2521 is shown to have found his individuality and what the meaning of ‘I’ is. “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see.” (Book 17) He has sinned by writing in his own personal journal and has gone out on his own to find a tunnel in which he rediscovers electricity. This is a sin, for it is wrong to be alone or to think alone. “In the process, he realizes the dangers of collectivism” (Jill). Equality-72521 knows that this collectivism is making matters worse. One of Rand’s quotes, “Don’t hesitate to sacrifice” (Ayn), is very well shown by Equality 7-2521. Ayn Rand beautifully expressed this idea of collectivism versus individualism in Anthem with her character Equality

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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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Individuality allows every person to be themselves and be different from each other. However, In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Rand describes a society where the people were not allowed to openly be themselves, or else they would be punished for being different. The main character, Equality, notices he is different slowly throughout the novella, but kept continuing to be like everyone else for awhile. These rules exist in this society to strip human individuality in order to achieve total equality.

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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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In Ayn Rand’s book Anthem, the main character Equality finally learns the word “I.” He finally begins to think for himself after years of living in a society where the word “I” was banned. The people in the society that Equality lived in could never think of themselves, but could only think of what would benefit everyone. In an excerpt of a novel titled The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, she talks about individualism versus collectivism. Anthem deals with this topic as well.

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But what is objectivism? Ayn Rand described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute" (ARCE). In short, your happiness is your own goal, not the collective, follow your head and take your feelings, or your heart, out of decisions, and if you can, strive to improve or make something of society. Ayn Rand grew up in a collective communist society. As she grew she also grew to hate being a part of the collective which is why she developed her philosophy of objectivism.

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In Ayn Rand's novella "Anthem," the story unfolds in a future society known as the "dark ages of the future. " In this world, individuality is buried in favor of collective identity. The characters are taught not to think for themselves and not to pursue their own thoughts, goals, and values. “We are nothing” – we are nothing.

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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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(Rand, p.71). Similarly, in communism and collectivism, people are expected do things for the group rather than themselves. Just as Equality’s invention of light was rejected, Rand’s novel The Fountainhead was also rejected by many publishing

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We cannot stop now, even though it frightens us that we are alone in our knowledge (54).” Likewise, the book also reads, “so long a road lies before us, and what care we if we must travel it alone! (54)” Why is it that being a part of collectivism is viewed as a higher rank in society when it is really not? Ayn Rand is a person

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Ayn Rand defines egoism as, “concern with one's own interest.” Although this may sound negative and selfish, it is the complete opposite in many cases. Ayn Rand is the author of the science fiction novel Anthem. The story is narrated by a young man who is given the name Equality 7-2521 by the council who have reformed the world into a collectivist society. In this society, they are taught that being an individual is bad, and because of this they must only live for their fellow men and never think for themselves.

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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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The ideal person to Ayn Rand, author of “The Fountainhead,” is someone that does not allow their decisions in life to be affected by external sources, and is able to deal with the struggle of staying an individual in a collectivist world. However, unless this person lives in complete isolation, that is nearly impossible. Peter and Toohey are both affected by the events in their past, meanwhile Roark is unchanged throughout the entire book. Staying an individualist requires one to deal with the conflict of staying independent by not letting outside ideas change their thinking merely because everyone else thinks it.

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We can see their eyes, green and yellow as coals, watching us from the tree branches beyond” (84). When he was living under the protection of the City, he was unaware of how to perform these tasks. However, once he left, he had to employ cognition to determine what he should do and how he should go about doing it. This was important to his survival, as Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism states. The desire for individuals not to sacrifice themselves for others is present in

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1219 Words | 5 Pages

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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The philosopher Ayn Rand believed that an individual’s life is of the utmost importance, as is her well-being. She knew that altruistic ethics require individuals to sacrifice their own wellbeing and lives for the sake of others. With ethical egoism, and will value their own wellbeing above all others. So, she was for ethical egoism. Ayn Rand also had an argument against ethical egoism believing it is a mistake to treat the interest of some individuals as being less important than the interest of others.

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