The Feeling Of Being An Outsider In Ayn Rand's Anthem

The Book “Anthem” written Ayn Rand is the tale of a man with many names “Equality-7 2521” to “The Unconquered” to “Prometheus”. He is living in a dystopian world where individualism has been eradicated. Due to the dark times technological advancement and individualism brought, in what seems to be life after an apocalypse they have been limited those to a bare minimum. It took 50 years for the candle to be approved and the word “I” has been banned and punishable by death. In a society where they try to suppress the aware and the main protagonist being exceptionally smart which generates conflict. The book “Anthem” is based off of communism in Russia where people are prison for the very simple things. No one ever tries to escape the corrective faculty because of 3 reason the prisoner never purposely betrayed the council so why would they start now. and wait to receive punishment, they are scared and the society is brainwashed into not even learning escape or other things that could define the council.

The book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, celebrates the controversial and enduring legacy of her controversial prospective. The book is written in the context of a journal, in an age that had lost all trace of science and civilization. Anthem portrays a totalitarian world of the future along with being technologically primitive. The world of Anthem does not allow the people to think for themselves, but for each other. Not having the ability to think for oneself impedes man to be self-sufficient and in this case, to progress technologically. Because of the society’s ability being hindered, it causes the society to not be able to advance, which is seen consistently throughout the novel in many events.

Individuality is not tolerated by the society because it represents inequality, which the society does not wish to be associated with. “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives.” (Rand 21). Throughout the novel, the reader starts to realize how their society is kept equal through most of the dialogue and feelings towards the other men. Another example of equality shown in the novel is that all of the people in the society are expected to follow the rules and have a part in the same activities as one another. “We are one in all and all in one… only the great WE…” (Rand 19). Here the reader starts to understand that their nation accepts the purpose of their society which is to exhibit equality by treating everyone equal to the other members. “… there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.” (Rand 17). Readers evaluate how the members of the society treat each other equal by acknowledging the transgression of individuality. Their society believes that individualism is dangerous to their community which results with everything in their life being based on plurals. For example, everyone in their society is meant to address themselves with the pronoun “we” instead of “I” because the pronoun “I” represent individuality. Everyone in this society is meant to be treated as equals and they are currently keeping that rule in

Ayn Rand’s, Anthem, is a scientific novel written as a diary about a man named Equality 7-2521, who lives in the future also referred to as the unmentionable times where people forgot all knowledge of individualism. The main character, Equality 7-2521, believed he was cursed because of the constant struggle he was having to deal with from the society but he didn’t let that keep him from finding a way out to freedom, from finding his individuality

Anthem is a novella that portrays a depiction of a possible future for humanity. Rand, who understood the quickness of social change due to her experience in the Russian Revolution, sets up a society where advancements are suppressed. She does this to illustrate just how much society would have to regress to exist as a collective society. The first example of the suppression is the historical inventions noticed in Anthem that have been forgotten by humanity.

Individualism has been a common theme in novellas of the past and of today’s morals. Individuality can be expressed by showcasing one’s talents or setting one’s self apart from a group. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality's experiments represent his desire for individualism within the collectivist society.

Don't smile! Don't grow taller than your brothers! Don't look at the female gender! All of these rules were forced upon Equality 7-2521. This society that Ayn Rand created in the book “Anthem”, focuses on equality for everyone. The society goes to extreme measures to obtain and equal society. In the book Equality, the main character, was born with a curse of being different than his brothers, he was fascinated with knowledge, and enjoyed to discover new elements and inventions. All of these things are unacceptable in his society. Throughout, the book equality learns what individuality means, with the discovery of the word I. With this knowledge he destroys the word we, this allows him to become free from his old society. Therefore, because of Equality's new belief of individuality he will create his own society that will revolve around the idea of everyone being individual.

Being “yourself” would be the biggest sin in the world of Anthem, a book by Ayn Rand, where one citizen, Equality-72521, lives as not one, but among many. By not learning the word “I” at any time in your life, including birth. Equality, however, found a spot currently unknown, and decided to do a crime worthy of death. He hid there every night, and learned all he could secretly for years. He goes to great lengths to learn much no other person really knew, such as electricity, and didn’t tell anyone else about the light bulb as to make sure he could keep on learning, and in the end risked his life to protect what he learned, independently, so he could change who he was and what he knew.

“We made it. We created it.We brought it forth from the night of the ages.We alone.” (38) In the dystopian novel called Anthem by Ayn Rand a boy named equality lives in a society in which individuality is inconceivable and he is driven by his curiosity to learn which eventually led him to individuality and solitude when he leaves his society. Ayn Rand use equality's experiments with electricity to show equality develope from group mentality to absurd individuality illustrating her point that individuality rules over groups and that everyone should be entirely and only individual.

In the beginning of The Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the main protagonist, Equality 7-2521 states, “It is a sin to write this.” What the word “this” was referring to was the story itself. However, the book ends with Equality 7-2521 completely flipping his opinion around and believing the total opposite of his actions in the beginning. His final conclusion is accurate because individuality is extremely essential to a healthy society, forcing humans to live a robotic lifestyle and compressing their feelings isn't acceptable, and writing is a profound way of expressing original thoughts. Throughout the novel, Equality 7-2521 solves the mysteries that lie in life and educates himself

Would you like it if the government had complete control of you? For example, the government might tell you who you aloud to interact with, or they could tell you what job that you have to go to every single day, and where you are allowed to live. The government should not have the right to control an individual because a person knows what's best for them, such as who they from relationships with, what they do for a living and what their lifestyle looks like.

The definition of individuality states a total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others. In a society a person can chose to take the easy way out by following the crowd or, do the hard thing and be an individual and embrace the characteristics that make you different from others. Being an individual and standing out from the crowd might be hard at first but, it can lead to a better society for everyone. In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the theme of the book is individuality outweighs the expectations of society. This theme is clearly shown throughout the book through the protagonist's internal conflict, the introduction to conflict and the climax. In the beginning of the story Equality 7-2521 introduces himself and he says, “Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written

“Nothin’ lasts forever and we both know hearts can change and it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain.” (Guns N’ Roses “November Rain”). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, Equality 7-2521 learns about the power of individuality in a society that values the collective “We” instead of the “I”. Throughout the book, Equality 7-2521 discovers that he can have choices and preferences in his life, rather than letting those in charge decide that for him. Preferences, though looked down upon, are actually an intricate part of society as a whole and have shaped everyone in one way or another, for good or for bad.

Equality 7-2521, is a youth who writes, as he spends time alone, violating laws of his society. As equality 7-2521 discovers more about the past, through experimentation, he begins to question his individual self. Libertarianism is respect of individuals’ liberty rights through minimal state intervention in citizens’ lives. The novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, shows support of libertarianism by displaying the beauty of relationships, the importance of discoveries, and the significance of individualism.

What is an outsider? An outsider is a person who is not excepted by or is isolated by society. Have you ever been an “outsider”? Everyone experiences a situation where they weren’t able to fit in. The feeling of not being able to fit it is universal. Not everyone is the same and in certain situations you may not be able to bond with everyone. Everyone is focused on being judged or being the person who is judging someone. If you are not like everyone in your society group, those people don’t except you. Nowadays our society feels that if you aren’t up to people’s expectations, you are known to be an “outsider”. Being an outsider is universal because not everyone is social, not everyone can afford nice things and not everyone is popular.