Daisy Pham Language Arts Honor February 2nd, 2017 1st hour Anthem The book Anthem was written by Ayn Rand is a Science Fiction Book. This Science Fiction book would be unknown since the Author didn’t exactly give the time in the book. In the book Anthem there wasn’t any clues or hints that it took place in 1900’s or the 2000’s. Ayn Rand is a Russian-American novelist and she is known for writing books.
In the opening pages of Anthem, Equality 7-2521 gives much background knowledge of the society he lives and the horrible details of the laws and regulations they have created. Along with that he explains that he has committed a grave sin already which is writing and that in doing so it doesn’t allow him to live, tagged with other misdeeds in which is labeled as “transgressions.” Being categorized as a Street Sweeper he has unwinded the discovery of a hidden tunnel that once existed during the Unmentionable Times. "Since the Council does not know of this hole, there can be no law permitting to enter it.
This essay will be discussing whether or not the character Equality 7-2521’s assessment of his sins towards throughout of the book he’s from, Anthem. His assessment (that he doesn’t care about his sin, as it was decided a sin by a government he sees as immoral and corrupt) is in my opinion, correct. This thought stems mainly from the fact he documented his thoughts throughout the book, and the documents could potentially inspire other people to do the same thing he did, which Equality would probably like. At the beginning of Anthem, Equality feels ashamed with many actions of his, specifically calling many of them evil, sinful, or a “transgression”.
The book Anthem by Ayn Rand is a very interesting book. At first it is confusing to the reader because of the use of the words we and us instead of I. The main character, Equality 7-2521 introduces himself in the plural form. The reader takes a while to figure this out. The era that Equality is in, is after the Great Rebirth.
In the dystopian novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the author uses the Council as an example of those who possess complete knowledge. They lead the community with their wisdom and are always right in their conviction, which is how they manipulate the City. The character Equality 7-2521 is introduced as one who believes that despite the requirements of the Council to obey, he cannot compromise the morals that are significant to him, so he wrote, which he believes “is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others will see. It is base and evil.”(Rand
n Anthem by Ayn Rand, we are introduced to a society based on collectivism. This society has strict rules that will punish people who don’t obey. Faced with the challenges of their society, Equality 7-2521 is forced to find an outlet to investigate their technological creation. Equality 7-2521 must hide from the world because of committing some of the worst crimes, only International 4-8818 knows of Equality 7-2521’s ambitions. Through the lies and deception Equality 7-2521 continues to explore their new technology.
Alex Lin Mrs. Cattolico LA II Honors 15 February 2023 Anthem Essay Sometimes, an action, while not legally acceptable, can still be considered morally acceptable. The rebellious actions of Equality 7-2521 in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem portray this exact situation. Frustrated by the extreme collectivist laws of his society, Equality breaks them and bases his behavior on his personal beliefs alone. The monotony of the conformist culture pushes Equality to deviate from his brothers and create his own identity.
Smarter than any of his other brothers, Equality rapidly starts to realize what his cities council is trying to do to take away his rights as a human being. This short novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, a man by the name of Equality 7-2521 was a more intelligent than his other brothers in the community, and he was not content with sitting around letting the council try to brainwash everyone else, so he breaks several laws in the process of trying to discover new things that the council is trying to hide from him and his brothers. The council was not aware of these things and they were not going to let him try to do anything against them. To try to prevent anything detrimental from happening, they assigned him the job as a street sweeper where he couldn’t use any of his quick-witted mind against them
What makes one person different from another? Is it height, weight, and color of skin, or is it personality, family, and attitude? These differences can define a person and separate them from those around them. These differences make a person an individual; however, in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Equality 7-521 is anything but an individual. He spends his days sweeping the streets and his nights sleeping in a white room with ninety-nine of his brothers.
Equality broke the law of no being with everybody, and not being in the place he was suppose to be at, he also didn’t report it straight to the council like he was suppose too. Conformity took place here because he didn’t report it to the council like he was suppose to and broke the laws. “It was a great tunnel. The walls were hard and smooth to the touch, it felt like stone but it was not stone.” (Rand 32).
Most who read this book would not come close to thinking these actions were wrong only the numbers of people in Equality’s generation would think this. Equality’s childhood was limited just as every other person around him. Apart from a few minor distinctions from the regular drone Equality was seemingly regular. One immense difference that changed his life was his level of intelligence. This put him above others and he was punished for being superior in more than one way.
"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’”(Rand 19). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are trained from birth to think only in the plural, to the point where they cannot even conceive of individuals, but only see each other as part of the whole group. Rand’s protagonist, Equality 72521, begins the novel as a street-sweeper who is devoted to the group, but begins to move towards individuality as he progresses towards pure selfishness, as Rand believes we all should. Rand uses the words “we” and “I” to represent Equality’s journey from being dependent on the group, to being utterly independent of everyone.
In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, what was the Council of Vocations thinking when they made Equality 7-2521 a Street Sweeper? The Council of Vocations chose Equality 7-2521 to be a Street Sweeper, there are some reasons that could explain why. They do not want him to be in a place of power because they know he is smart, he broke a lot of laws while in school, and to teach him a lesson to make him just like his brothers. Did the Council of Vocations make Equality 7-2521 a Street Sweeper to keep him away from power? Equality 7-2521 was very smart, so much so that he was punished for not being equal to his brothers.
The council did everything to make him less of a danger to their society, such as leaving him Street Sweeper that requires no knowledge. As a Street Sweeper, Equality 7-2521 is restricted the resources needed in order to reach his goal of learning. The council also turned away Equality’s glass box because it is “dangerous” to the society. The council is Equality 7-2521’s biggest nemesis resorting in him escaping the
¨We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-300. We do not know why we think of them” (Rand 41). In Ayn Randś dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are forced to think that they cannot have any preference, this includes liking someone more than others. Randś protagonist, Equality 7-2521, started the book falling in love with the Golden One, but as he moves toward individuality he begins to be in “love” less as he realizes there’s more than just being in a group.
