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Anthem Essay

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The journey from being a teenager to adulthood is almost universal. In the novella Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521's journey was just like any other. Equality spent is whole life finding his identity, he was controlled, and he conformed to those around him.
Today, identity plays a major role in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Your identity is who you are. Equality did not know himself as an individual. He only knew his brothers and him as being one person. We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever." (1.8) In Anthem, individuals have no identity of their own. They are not allowed to act as individuals, or to think of themselves as unique. Instead, the only real identity they have is the group identity, “WE”. Teenagers do not have much control over their lives. Someone is in control and his or her lives revolve around a schedule. “ We arose when the big bell rang in the tower and we went to our beds when it rang again.” (1.5) Just like equality, teenagers live on a schedule. Every morning they get up, get ready for school, go to school, do homework and participate in extra curricular activities then do it all over again the next morning. Conformity is a struggle that most teens face during their transition to adulthood. Equality faced conformity throughout the whole novella. “ We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike.” (1.7). In Equality's society, everyone must be alike. Teenagers are compared all the time, which hinders their individuality. When they grow older, they tend to try to be like everyone else because they were always compared to others and they don't know anything different. “The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself.” In this life, you have to be happy with who you are and be yourself.
The journey of growing up is universal. Everyone faces the same challenges and restraints along the way weather it be identity, having no control or conformity. Equality's journey shows that he is only human facing the normal, inevitable struggles.

Works Cited

Rand, Ayn. Anthem. Waiheke Island: Floating, 2009. N. pag. Print.
Shmoop Editorial Team, A. "Anthem Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

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