Love Exposed In Ayn Rand's Anthem

​In the society of Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem, it is a crime to show any individuality, and it is a reminder of how some people fear being themselves in today’s society. In the novel Equality 7-2521, the main character, knows that they are different from everyone else they know. However, they are forced to hide it because they know that they will be punished for these thoughts. When Equality 7-2521 has these thoughts, they must say to themselves, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (Rand 19). Equality 7-2521 is forced to be a follower, which I can connect to my own life. Today, it can seem like it is wrong to be a certain way or to have certain interests. Because of this, many

The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is set in a totalitarian, collectivist society in which individuality, as well as many other things, is viewed as a crime. Throughout the story, Equality 7-2521’s views on these laws change. He begins with the feeling of guilt for going against the leaders, but by the end of the story, Equality feels no regret or shame for his transgressions. The shift in Equality’s appraisal of his actions is equitable because the leaders of the society deliberately took away his individuality and withheld significant informations from him.

Being that Anthem takes place in a futuristic totalitarian world, its ideals are purely single minded. Usually, totalitarian regimes have a firm grip on every aspect of the lives of the citizens; Anthem’s society is no different. An article from Samizdata explains, “The thing that makes a place totalitarian is not the nastiness of it, or even the repulsiveness

Ayn Rand’s novel puts Equality in a great position to start his new life with his new family. Ayn Rand’s story gives hope to all who want not to be conquered by their government and to have a say in what they believe in. If your government or society doesn’t like what you have to say, then it shows you can also walk right out the door if you don’t like what is happening. When you become a collectivist, you lose your individuality and almost become a slave and or a robot to the government and society. You lose your creativity and

In her essay, “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?” Ayn Rand said, “By pronouncing moral judgment, one protects the clarity of one’s own perception and the rationality of the course one chooses to pursue”. Ayn Rand also wrote the book Anthem, which is the story of an “irrational society” (“How”) that terminated moral judgement. Equality 7-2521 slowly rediscovers judgement, and individuality. Equality was free of error in condemning the leaders of the society that he left.

An unknown person once said, “It’s not the people who change, but the mask that falls off.” In the beginning of the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand the main character Equality 7- 2521 declares that “it is a sin” to write about the feelings and events no others in his society experiences. He appears to change this viewpoint by the end of his journey. However, it must be argued that Equality 7- 2521’s viewpoint did not change. Equality was only pretending in order to fit in until

A captivating novelette in which a man’s priority is to serve only for his brothers, Ayn Rand’s Anthem illustrates a society that has suffered the ghastly consequences of collectivism. She depicts an oppressive culture in which the word “I” is unheard of and men belong to the collective “We.” Men’s lives are determined through the Council of Vocations, a group that maintains a powerful dictatorship by subjugating the public from the beginning of their lives. The idea that “If you are not needed by your brother men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies” (Chapter 1) has been forced into average mindset of the vehemently maintained society. In contrast, Rand mocks the totalitarian civilization through the main

In her book, Anthem, the people of the futuristic and seemingly utopian society is united by the idea that there is no individual but instead there is the great “We,” which the people revere. The society’s strange ideology is the closest thing the people have to religion, and in this culture leaders of the society foist their ideology onto the people in order to impose the utter submersion of an individual into the social whole in order to bond the people. While the leaders are successful at seemingly unite the people under their influence, there are those individuals who are unhappy with the regime, such as the characters Equality 7-2521, Liberty 5-3000 who ran away as a result of the leaders oppressing their ability to exercise free thought and live as unique individuals. Analyzing the two characters’ reaction to how a religion is imposed onto them, it is clear to deduce that using religion to unite people is not successful as there will be individuals who would remain unhappy and

The novel Anthem is all about a collectivist society. Equality 7-2521 breaks outside of the collectivist barriers and starts to think and do things for himself. He discovers living without individuality is not really living, it’s controlling one’s life. In this society, no one knows anything about egoism or does anything for themselves. “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.” (pg. 21) This quote is the exact opposite of egoism, it states mankind lives for each other and not for themselves. Towards the end of the book, Equality 7-2521 leaves the town and moves to the

The first thing that a man has been given was his individuality. In Anthem, any concept of individuality is stripped away. In Anthem, only the word “we” is spoken when referring to oneself. Society has no acknowledgment of the word “I” because it refers to one person, instead of a brotherhood. Names are also stripped away. Names are usually replaced with

This novel depicts a future society run by a collectivist dictatorship where individuality has vanished. No one is allowed to distinguish themselves from their brothers, resulting in only the use of the word ‘We’. No one knows the real value of having a distinguished name with freedom you are born with. This society also prevents the people from having individual thoughts, forcing them to think the way everyone

Anthem / anTHem / noun 1. A rousing or uplifting song identified with a particular, body, or cause. Ayn Rand has changed and manipulated the definition of Anthem. Anthem by Ayn Rand tells the story of a street sweeper named Equality 7-2521 that discovers individualism in a collectivist society where individualism is strongly discouraged. Throughout the novel, Anthem conveys themes of governmental monopoly and the loss of individual identity.

In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality, an inquisitive, intelligent young man is forced to bottle up his potential due to the rules imposed by his oppressive, communistic society. As his curiosity gets the better of him he starts breaking laws in the name of science and innovation, though to others it seems like self-indulgence which leads to his eventual exile. Equality outwardly tries to express conformity to society’s rules as to make his differences less apparent whilst he inwardly questions the validity and morality of their rigid laws as he finds himself committing transgressions, which is met with hostility from others. This supports the idea that having your own principles that contradict the norms of society can be perceived as a threat. Living

“What is not thought by all men cannot be true” is the common belief in the totalitarian world of Anthem (73). In this post-apocalyptic and altruistic society people can only exists through the service to their brothers, and individual thoughts and actions are shunned upon. Equality 2-72521 is brilliant, using technologies he found from before the “great rebirth” to formulate new conclusions about the virtually unexplored world of his time. With individualism shunned, personal thought is prohibited as well. Idiosyncrasy of anyone is looked upon as evil because it is different from other brother men, so people are bred to be and think the same. Science and technology are advanced upon with the thought of individuals coming up with new hypothesis

“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. It is base and evil… We have broken the laws” (17). Thus begins Anthem by Ayn Rand, a novella about a future collectivist society and a man named Equality 7-2521. Though the story takes place in the future, all technology that came after candles and glass has been taken away. The word “I” has ceased to exist in anyone’s vocabulary. Every person must agree on everything and feel like everyone else. To accomplish ‘cleansing’ the evils of mankind, society lead its people to believe that nothing can be done independently. The story is told through the eyes of Equality as he purposely defies the laws