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'Equality In Ayn Rand's Anthem'

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In the novel, Anthem, Equality knew that his community would benefit from his invention; however, the real motive for his rediscovery was his own selfish desire to learn more and his skepticism of his society's ideals. Evidence of this motive is apparent in the textual quote on page ninety-five, "My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose." At this point in the story, Equality came to terms with his actions and realized that there is nothing wrong with pursuing one's happiness.
At the start of the book, Equality discovered an ancient tunnel that exposed him to technology unknown to his society. This was the beginning of his transition into a rebel in his society. All along, he had felt superior to his peers and thought he should have been a scholar due to his intelligence. As a kid, Equality was always clever and inquisitive. This side of him came out when he was in his tunnel with the freedom and means necessary to pursue his interests. After making several discoveries, his faith in collectivist ideals collapsed. All of his life, he was led to believe that the council of scholars had known exactly what was best for society, yet Equality had made discoveries that the council had known nothing about that would have helped advance their society. …show more content…
Equality made incredible discoveries from inside his tunnel. Initially, his motivations were to learn and discover things that were unknown to his community because it was what he was interested in and eventually because he wanted to prove to himself and to others that he was capable of being a scholar. If every individual in a society worked as hard to achieve their goals, the society as a whole would benefit substantially. Although they would be working for themselves, everyone would be better off because they would all be working their

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