...Ayn Rand's Anthem depicts a completely collectivist society which is similar to the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry a futuristic society that had removed pain, fear, war, and hatred. Equality 7-2521 and Jonas are both in a society where they had no choice in what job was given to them. Equality was given the job of street sweeper due to his compliance to the council, while Jonas received the job of "The Receiver", which is the most trusted job in his society. It is one person suffering the knowledge of the past to make sure history will not repeat itself. Both characters were given their lives with no control over it. Past and present day societies treat their people in a similar way to Lois Lowry's Giver and Ayn Rand's Anthem's dystopian...
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...Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual. Individualism is something thats makes a person one, giving them the right to be an individual, the freedom to equality. In the novel Anthem By Ayn Rand individualism is a central idea explored through the story. The main character Equality 7-2521 is living in a society where the concept of individuality is non existent, he is very curious about the world he lives in and the science and nature that surrounds it. But unfortunately it's a sin to think/wonder such things and that it's not good to be different from his brothers but it is evil to be superior to them. According to the text it states (Rand 6) “We...
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...Free Will in Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” Ayn Rand’s short novel, “Anthem,” depicts a collectivist society where any thoughts are only considered good if they are thought by everyone. Individuality is considered a sin. Children are taken from their parents and raised in a collective unit. One’s vocation is not decided by the individual, but rather appointed to them by a group. The main character, Equality 7-2521 (Prometheus), is a free thinker who longs to learn all he can in hopes of making a contribution to his town, and being promoted to one of the scholars. However, when he presents his discovery (electricity) to the “World Council of Scholars” the group is terrified because they have never seen anything like it before. Prometheus is scorned, rejected, and sentenced to be burned at the stake because of his choosing to think as an individual. Free will is something that many people take for granted these days, but in the world...
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...Compare and Contrast Anthem with Night Even though books come in many genres, they can still be compared and contrasted. This applies to almost all books. For example, Eliezer Wiesel’s Night and Ayn Rand’s Anthem are different genres. However, the similarities and differences between these author’s works are definite and deserve analysis. Such similarities include how the societies handle the executions of criminals. In Anthem, Equality has to stand “...in the great square with all the children and all the men of the city, sent to behold the burning” (Rand, 38). During Elie’s experience in the Holocaust, he and everyone else in his camp has to walk “...past the hanged boy and stared at his extinguished eyes, the tongue gaping from his mouth. The Kapos forced everyone to look him squarely in the face” (Wiesel, 63). Also, both Elie and Equality receive messages from watching a public execution. When the pipel is hanged, Elie thinks that God is no longer with the Jews and takes it to...
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...Imagine being in a world where everyone is stripped of individuality and viewed as evil if him or her even show the slightest bit of vanity. In the book Anthem, this is reality. The main character, Equality 7-2521, is smarter than most people, yet he is forced to dumb himself down and is put into the job of an inferior street sweeper. The human race has replaced the words I and me with we and our. Anyone who speaks the word ego is burned at the stake in the name of equality. Ayn Rand, the author of Anthem, wrote the book in first person major for the purpose of better showing how this book’s society worked and how it influenced how the characters behaved. The book is written in first person major to further convey to the reader how the concept...
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...One very prominent area of a society is its technology. The technology of a society can determine a lot about it, including its way of life. In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem the technology is very primitive. There is no electricity, so they live by candle light. There are strides made by the character Equality 7-2521 to improve this. After much hard work, Equality is able to recreate the light bulb. By the way this story is written, you can gather how Rand feels about science, technology, and advances in these areas. From her writing, you can presume that Rand is for technology, science and its improvements. In Anthem, Equality represents technological advances and those who seek them. He sees a lightning bolt and tries to recreate it so humans...
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...controlled state. Ayn Rand was a Russian-born American novelist who wrote Anthem during World War 2. Ayn Rand’s Anthem is an example of a dystopian novel based on the society worshipping the council, independent thought, free speech and the ability to retain any knowledge they wanted is restricted and the Unmentionable times being banished and forgotten. The first reason showing that Anthem is a dystopian novel is that the society worships the Council of Scholars. The Council makes the rules and disciplines the people who do not follow the rules. One of the Council’s...
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...personality, look, or even intelligence can be the difference between two individuals. Think of a world where none of that exists and everyone is identical. Ayn Rand creates a perfect picture for that. In the book, Anthem, Equality’s primary motivation is his desire for individuality. Like every other human-being the challenge of finding who you really are and what your purpose is, is a rather difficult task to complete. After being strained to be someone he’s not and living off of strict rules the aspiration to establish who he really was, was the fire within him to conduct his experiments. Equality’s experiments were a symbol of his developing self. If everyone in the world were to be like Equality and have the same motivation, the world would be a more developed and efficient environment with very confident individuals. In similarity to Lois Lowry’s book The Giver, Ayn Rand establishes a society with uniformity. Lowry’s book refers to what is known as sameness and is a world that’s only black and white. What’s the point of no color? Color expresses one’s personality when both authors are trying to achieve the theme of equality. Everyone is seen the same and in most ways are the same. Going back to Ayn Rand’s writing, the kids attend a school where...
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...In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, a society is built on the ideology of “Brotherhood” and togetherness. One man, Equality, defies this ideology and threatens the “perfect” society built by the councilmen. When Equality discovers the word “I”, he explains the word “‘we’ must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a second thought”. Rand, with this quote, wants one to understand the collectively as a group is harmful and restricts one’s freedom. The communist society is unequal and suppresses one’s freedom. While the people are brainwashed to believe everyone is “equal”, there are still those with higher power and control. In the community the council is the “voice of all men”. Even though the community is thought to be equal, the council...
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...Ayn Rand’s Anthem depicts the dystopian future in which an unnamed society has completely “forgotten” the word ‘I’. While reading Anthem, Ayn Rand introduces Equality 7-2521, the hero who breaks away from the status quo of the unnamed society. Collectivism is the immoral guide for the unnamed society, a guide that Equality challenges to the extent of its extremities. The dictatorial leadership of this society restricts even thinking about one’s self, no one person is obliged to give priority to an individual. Thereupon, we see Equality’s entrance into the society, just by his physical characteristics rebelling against the status quo, being both too tall and too smart. Equality faces his own internal conflicts, he, in his misunderstanding, struggles to understand the gravity of his actions and his true differences from the society’s collectivism....
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...Objectivism rejects this false alternative and offers an entirely different view of the world. Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where he has to follow rules and everyone has to be the same person. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, it shows that Equality’s views have changed when he leaves that society. In the old society he had to use “we” to refer to himself. He can never be recognized as an individual. Equality had to respect everyone and stay where he was put. If he was not a scholar then he could not learn. He is sent to be a street sweeper so that is what he had to be. Ayn Rand’s philosophy ties into Equalitiy’s life because he is in a society and it is all he has ever known for a way of life but then he goes out of that society into...
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...ANTHEM In a time after mass destruction, when the world has ended up where it started, the idea that people are one and all and all in one is ingrained into their minds. They go through school at the exact same pace, all for their careers to be chosen for them by the council. In this society, no one stands for themselves, but they stand for each other, and are punished when they don’t do this. Throughout Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, the protagonist Equality 7-2521 learns that it is not a sin to be an individual in the radical and strict society he lives in, which condemns individualism. He does this by seeking knowledge from the Unmentionable Times after realizing how powerful it can be, alluding to his individuality. Next, he breaks free from...
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...Anthem takes place in a unknown time in the past or future where technology nor science comes to the mind of the society. “A street sweeper walking in upon the world of scholars / It is against all the rules and laws”(69). Ayn Rand’s book Anthem takes place in a dystopian society that the council of vocations control. throughout the book there was not any change in technology over time other than equality discovering electricity. Also the candles that the entire society use took a long process of getting approved and confirmed. The council and scholars disagreed with Equality’s creating which could have been a revolutionary change in technology in Anthem. Technology in Anthem have not been moving forward and have not been improving in fact it might just be forgotten to the society. “We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and brighter, than any they have ever known” (60). No one under the class of scholar have ever tried to make an invention. Even in the book the scholars aren't even making inventions for the society...
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...Compare and Contrast HB+A Aristotle once said “Equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons”(‘World of Quotes”) In Harrison Bergeron by kurt Vonnegut and Anthem by Ayn Rand there are two men who are forced by their government to try to be equal. Wearing heavy weights, and a huge nose to make him look ugly, while Equality 7-2521 is made to work in the home of Street Sweepers. Even though he is smart, he is also prohibited from using the word “I”. So they are both prevented from being individuals. Although Anthem and Harrison Bergeron are both a dystopian society their treatment of family and technology differs. If human thought is suppressed, then society is collapses on itself, “The heads of our brothers bowed, The eyes of are brothers are dull and never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched and muscles are drawn, as if their bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a word steals into our mind as we look upon our brothers, as the word is fear” (Rands 46) This quote illustrate that society is already collapsing on itself. The men are lifeless because the council will not allow them to think for themselves. The societies as well are not able to think for themselves for if they do, the council will punish them. Being...
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...Imagine not being allowed to be yourself due to your society telling you so and you aren’t allowed to question it. That’s how Equality is in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem; the leaders of his society disapprove of people being an individual. No one questions the logic of the leaders, including Equality, until the book concluded. He writes down his thoughts and feelings, knowing he is not allowed to, which causes him to question why they can not be who they want to be. Equality sets out on a personal journey to figure out answers why and once he gets those answers, his approving thoughts of the leaders change to critical and denouncing thoughts. Children are taught obedience, but maybe they are actually taught compliance. Equality complied for years...
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