The critical flaw in the collective state that Equality capitalizes on to escape lies within its very foundation. Anthem best exemplifies this flaw through Equality’s escape from the Palace of Corrective Detention, as he describes “It was easy to escape the Palace of Corrective Detention. The locks are old on the doors and there are no guards about. There is no reason to have guards, for men have never defied the Councils so far as to escape from whatever place they were ordered to be” (66-67). The Council believes the fallacies it espouses, making it easy for Equality to escape. They believe that no one would ever defy a direct order from them, so they never accounted for the possibility. Another flaw of the collectivist fallacies lies in its inability to match the technological development of Equality. The Council rejects the lightbulb because it “would wreck the Plans of the World Council … and without the Plans of the World Council the sun cannot rise” (74), and by the end of the novel, Equality’s scientific skill advances enough to construct an electric fence around his home in the woods. As Equality says, “[the Council] has nothing to fight me with, save the brute forces of their numbers. I have my mind” (100). No matter what, until the Council begins to accept changes to their “Plans”, Equality’s society will outmatch theirs. The final fallacy weakening the collective state renders itself in the Council’s inability to care for the individual needs of its …show more content…
These fallacies serve to justify their existence. They also maintain it as well, yet not very well. The fallacies also provide the basis for which Equality could escape and eventually dismantle their society. As the reader can see, this essay has provided a thorough overview of the collectivist society in Anthem, its creation, maintenance, and flaws, one can only hope that it will be enough to stop one from
However, knowing Equality possesses talent, the Council of
‘‘We are nothing mankind is all , By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives ‘’ Ayn rand the author of Anthem wrote the book after she left Russia because of the war, she moved to New York writing Anthem a dystopia about the future of mankind In her novella there are two major themes talking about the collective society vs. individualism were every one is the same nobody has the authority to be a individual also the council of vocations determines there jobs life and future the people don’t have a choice whatever they choice they accept and that is it no discussion, the council of vocation has removed all individuality so when equality may have started to uncover the coated truth the council has another plan for him as known the council of vocations has an absolute rule when it comes to jobs and they assign equality to the home of the street sweepers because they want to keep him down. The council of vocations make equality a street sweeper because they hope to prevent him from developing his intelligence even more as they assumed that may have dumbed him down and get people to assume he is beneath them and this is achieved when the council makes a mockery of equality for wanting to join the world council of scholars “A street sweeper! A street sweeper walking upon the world council of scholars!
Though Equality starts Anthem with no knowledge of selfishness, raised in a society that forces all to work for the good of all, he ends Anthem by wishing to liberate those oppressed by the lies of the
Lily Haghpassand English 9 September 20, 2017 In the book, “The Anthem”, the government has found a way to maintain peace and harmony in society by instilling fear into its constituents. The members of this society are taken from their parents at birth and thrown into a world where differences are frowned upon and sameness is put above all other things, brainwashing each child with the notion that everything the government says is true. When children are born, they are denied bonding time with their parents and placed in the “Home of Infants” with other children their age and the idea of sameness is stressed. By doing this, they take away the emotion of love, among other things, and in turn, create a society of seemingly identical individuals.
Equality’s greatest strengths and personal qualities were intended to be restricted and abhorred. Indeed, Equality and his gifts were abhorred, but he found a way to circumvent each restriction, consciously or not. And, though he maintained use of his strengths and kept a strong spirit, Equality was never able to permanently influence the society because, as a Street Sweeper, he was no longer part of the great WE. The Council of Vocations mandated Equality to life as a Street Sweeper in order to limit his intellectual opportunities.
Equality lives in a collectivist society, which is a society that believes, “that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called “the common good.” Therefore, Equality being the person he is, struggles with being an individual. He knows it is against the law but he enjoys knowledge so much, it confuses him. He states, “And in our heart-strange are the ways of evil! - and in our heart there is the first peace we have known in 20 years.”
In this quote, Equality breaks out of the Palace of Corrective Detention to do what it takes to present his own, personal discovery to the World Council of Scholars. Equality in order to obtain his freedom finds himself
Equality 7-2521 can free himself from collectivism because he was independent. In the novel Anthem Ayn Rand makes us comprehend that Equality had and inner struggle and
In response to the choice of Street Sweeper, Equality thinks, “We knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it” (26). With his intelligence and curiosity, Equality would do much better as a Scholar. The government punishes him for being different, and as a result, they can’t see him become advantageous. They are blinded by their beliefs on
Anthem is a book that makes oneself contemplate the future and what evils are bestowed upon it. In this novel, the reader is caught in the life of Equality. Equality’s life is placed in the future, where the feared reality of communism has conquered all but the souls of few weary men. Equality is one of those few men who have a light that is invulnerable to a ravaging wind. Equality’s time captive before his extraordinary escape has taken a toll on his body and mind and now at the end of his journey forces him to question whether the decisions he’s made are full of sin or teeming with righteousness.
George Washington once said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” I agree with this quote, and feel that America should never lose this right, as it gives people freedom, unlike the society in the book, Anthem. In my opinion, America is not an Anthem society because America is a land of freedom, not censorship, due to our individual rights such as the freedom of speech, which gives us freedom of thought and expression. To start, America is not an Anthem society because America is a land of freedom, not censorship, to due to our individual rights, such as the freedom of speech. The freedom of speech is the ability to say what you like about any subject to any one.
Equality is such an important thing in our everyday lives. Every person is born to be different. No one is exactly like another human on this planet. Our society thrives off of each person being unique from everyone else, but still being treated equally. In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, we are introduced to this society that has fallen back into the times of the Great Rebirth.
Anthem by Ann Rand and City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau share an abundant amount of similarity. Both of these dystopian stories share the dangers in not having individuality in their communities and how it leads to people searching for a way to escape. Throughout both of these works there is a loud expression of identity and individuality and why it is important to be oneself. Throughout both stories, they are searching for freedom and in some ways that ties back to wanting identity and individuality. ”
However, since the council fails to recognize this idea, Equality has two options: either face imminent execution or flee. By choosing the latter and fleeing into the Uncharted Forest, Equality finally is, in a physical sense, free from the rule of collectivist society. Now he is alone in the forest, alone with his thoughts. He decides where he goes, when he sleeps, what he eats. However, he is still not fully
Equality has changed from a collective to an individual having the knowledge of realizing what he can do to change himself in the environment. Anthem has shown how the society works. The main character Equality has proven the allegory when he realizes there's more than just a collectivism society. From start of the novel Equality has been able to grow from a part of a collectivism to learning about individualism to becoming an individual. Equality conquers the battle of collectivism and individualism for