What Is The Use Of Eugenics In Anthem By Ayn Rand

Without the power to make decisions, the world would be different. People would be disposed if necessary and would not get to choose their jobs. Parents would never get to see their children and would not choose their spouses. This world is a reality for Equality 7-2521 in Anthem, written by Ayn Rand. Equality lives in a world where the government controls all aspects of life, including assigning jobs and controlling the mating of people. Equality successfully escapes the world the government controls and learns what it means to be truly free from all control. Eugenics is used in Anthem, by Ayn Rand, to control the population by preventing the knowledgeable from gaining power and reducing the amount of knowledgeable people. Eugenics, according

People are "prescribe[d]" jobs from the Council of Vocations and have no say in choosing their jobs (Rand, Anthem 22). There are many different jobs, each with a different level of skill and education needed, ranging from "Street Sweeper" to "Leader" (Rand, Anthem 25-26). Assigning someone to be a leader allows them to gain knowledge by studying for a few more years than most other people, and empowers them by giving them the chance to go to the "World Council" and vote on the most important decisions (Rand, Anthem 25) However, jobs like Street Sweeper do not requiring much mental work or education, mostly relying on simple labor. As said by Keveles, eugenics is attempting to "improve human stock" by giving certain people "a better chance" to live "over the less suitable" (qtd. in Post 848). This is what the Council of Vocations is doing. They are selectivity giving people jobs that determine the amount of success and power they have. Equality thinks "learning [is] too easy," and the Teachers know this, as he is "lashed more often than all the other children" (Rand, Anthem 19-20). Equality does not get reduced opportunities because of chance, but because the Council does not want Equality, who is considered knowledgeable, and therefore undesirable to control, to gain much power. Equality is not just a special case, as International is also eugenically picked to

The Council of Eugenics do not want people to choose who they want to mate, but instead want to control who mates with who. As stated by Daniel J. Keules and Leroy Hood, "[e]ugenics profits from authoritarianism-indeed, almost requires it" (qtd. in Levine 367). People are forbidden "to love any among men better than the other," and are not allowed to take notice of anyone of the opposite gender (Rand, Anthem 30, 38). The fact that people are not allowed to choose their mates means the government takes control of which people are matched with each other. This allows to them to prevent certain types of children being born, so called "undesirable" children. When a child is born, parents "never see their children," and "children never know their parents" (Rand, Anthem 41). This reduces the flow of communication, allowing the Council of Eugenics manipulate the children born, free from outside influences. If Equality is allowed to talk to his children, he might teach his children about independence or inspire revolutionary acts in them. Because the Council wants to control the population and prevent a rebellion, they try to limit the ability of parents to change their children's lives. The Council of Eugenics can then condition the children to behave in certain ways and think in certain