With isolation comes reflection. An individual’s thoughts spark new innovations that will advance and cause development in the world. Ignorance of new ideas can cause a society to remain stagnant. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, demonstrates that denial of originality can result in a lack of change. A collectivist society will never evolve and progress.
When a society lacks originality and thoughts by the individual, there will be no room to advance. If officials forbid working alone, the only ideas they will come about will be those of their own. They choose to only accept the ideas of the group, but all people thinking the same thing is impossible. Rand demonstrates the weakness the scholars show by sharing a statement about their rules. “‘What is not …show more content…
If officials do not allow people to express originality by having their own individual thoughts, important concepts, such as technology, will not develop. In Anthem, Equality presents his idea to the scholars and speaks about society’s past. “Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past, but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must” (Rand 73). When an individual invents something or has an idea, it will be abandoned since it does not come from the thoughts of everyone. If the Scholars vote against something, the idea is lost, but they do not realize what they are missing. They could develop and evolve as a society if they accept change, but being a strict collectivist society causes them to be weak. Since the council finds such trouble in discovering a new innovation, too much time is spent where they don’t need it. They fovus on controlling the people and denying them ability to have original ideas. The council after all these years view any change in society as a threat to them and their brothers. This results in …show more content…
Denying an individual’s ability to express his or her own thoughts will show less strength and knowledge. If an individual cannot have his or her own ideas, a society will never evolve. The scholars have watched Equality present his light bulb and are astonished by his behavior. Rand shows the weakness of denying originality. “How dared you, gutter cleaner, to hold yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the many”(Rand 72)? The Scholars are offended by what Equality has accomplished as an individual and not with his brothers. They feel that everything must be done as a group, which they don’t know can be less effective. They are so afraid of the people in society finding out about possibilities Everyone thinking the same thing is impossible, yet they forbid individual thinking. There is no way for their society to advance technologically with these guidelines. What they won’t accept weakens them, and here they will not accept that a person, especially a street sweeper, can think on their own and accomplish things. An individual’s original ideas spark new innovations that will cause a society to develop. When original ideas are ignored and forbidden, a society will not evolve. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, demonstrates that denial of originality can result in stagnance. Allowing an individual to be alone allows them to think of their own original ideas that could contribute to society. A collectivist society