Equality And Ambition In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Every person is unique and have their own opinions on certain topics. In the novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, she talks of the struggles of an egotistical individual with greater curiosity than his society allows. This man, Equality 7-2521, creates the invention of electricity, and instead of being applauded, he is condemned. He struggles through the various rules and laws of his society, for he is completely different from all of his brothers. In an excerpt called “The Soul of an Individualist”, Rand elaborates on the idea of an individualist, and allows the reader to get a better view at how passionate she is about one’s self.

When knowledge is used it will expand mans' horizon and open his eyes up to a whole new world and create a new perspective never to be dreamed of, There are so many people with great lengths of knowledge and exceptional talents who aren't allowed to share them, because someone or something is holding them back from expressing themselves. Anthem, a page turning novel, written by Ayn Rand is set in the Dark Ages of the near future where everyone is a unified society and is expected to follow a set of strict rules set by the House of Scholars. The power of knowledge is the strongest thing man can have and all Equality wanted was to learn more in a society that forbid any extension of learning. When Equality was younger he had a "curse" that triggered him to want to learn more, and because of that, teachers punished him for having a quicker mind, since he wasn't equal to the rest of his brothers. In addition, Equality mentioned, "This is a great sin to be born with a head which is too quick" (Rand 21).

If they don’t like what somebody does, they push them deeper, until they cannot see who they are. For an example let us go to page 63. Equality hides a secret from a council member, and through the bare of bickering, Equality is then sentenced to being lashed bare. Because a person utilizing what would be known as freedom of speech, they get whipped? What world is this to ask for the basic human right to be stripped from the humans themselves?

The only way to make such lies believable was to isolate the country from the rest of the world (preventing the citizens from being exposed to other sources of information) and to purge brutally all those who could possibly challenge the new deity’s mythology. (Saxonberg, 119). North Korean propaganda states that policy (and all wisdom) radiates from Kim. North Korea’s press continually repeats that both Kims are benevolent father figures “sagaciously” guiding their flock. (McEachern,

Cross the water lives his cousin with her filthy rich husband. This is extremely close to what New York looked like during the 1920s. Long Island was and still is a place for the extreme upper class. The events unfolded in pre-depression Wall Street where people who had a starting capital could multiply their wealth 10-fold and the future looked brighter than ever before and ever sense. As mentioned earlier Long Island is a rich mans area, were the inhabitants generally have had a far higher education then the rest of the population.

When one is confined to society and held captive against their ego, it is imperative that they learn to eulogize their own individuality, and learn to improve themselves. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, Rand uses Equality 7-2521 to communicate the importance of the individual. Equality has always had his own sense of individuality that causes him to stand out and defy the social norms. His individuality allows him to persevere and diverge from collectivist society. While working for the Home of the Street Sweepers, Equality stumbles upon an underground tunnel.

Its people also remain one of most highly educated and literate in the world. The Economist named Germany as the sixteenth best country to be born in. Due to this, Germany and its people’s image appears to the rest of the world as strong, proud and united. However, even in recent times, this was not always the case. Living in Germany in the twentieth century can be described as nothing but turbulent.

A cohesion between the members of a community is formed and thus, a feeling of “hostility against intruders” appears, which helps protecting that community. The modern man cannot be happy since both his sexuality and his aggressiveness are being controlled by civilization. Eros in Freud’s view is the “principle of life” for which civilization tries to “bind together isolated individuals into a vast unity, humanity as such” , whereas Thanasos is the death drive, aggressiveness being its representative. Our evolution as a civilized society depends on the continuous struggle between Eros and Thanasos, “the instinct of life and the instinct of

As a result, Equality is faced with conflicts, internally and externally. By doing so, he captures his freedom from the detrimental and contagious dictatorship. As Equality begins the stage of curiosity and the idea of learning at a young age, he is forced to conform to societal rules and regulations, not being more intelligent than his brothers, as they are equal. The first struggle that is against him is the power of education and learning. He

Ozymandias expects this power to just be handed to him. "I am Ozymandias, king of kings: look on my works and despair!" this depicts the king as having a rather large ego. He feels as if he can do as he pleases. The inscription on the statue is ironic as "nothing besides remains."

The amount of unrestricted power one person can have is unbelievable and frankly must be limited. One researcher reasons the Mormons’ supreme leader, who is also called the prophet or president, word is said to be supreme. The supreme leader’s followers can be disciplined to neglect or scorn those who show any signs of defiance (Hitchens). This statement proves that religious cult leaders, such as the leaders of the Mormon church, have absolute power over their followers. The prophet can control how his followers respond in any situation and that type of power is excessive and unneeded.

There are many reasons listed in the document that explain why the King is doing a terrible job and should be no part of the colonies. The reasons use a variety of literary devices and parallelism. Also in the introduction contains the philosophy upon which the declaration is based. This philosophy is that “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” and that the reason for instituting these governments is to ensure these rights. When the government tries to remove the rights from the people, the governed people should have the right to rebel.

The President’s veto cannot stop a law from passing as long as long as it has support from at least two thirds of Chile’s national congress. Chile is one of the most affluent and stable nations in South America. It is the world’s leading source of copper and though high prices have greatly stimulated Chile’s economy its lack of economic diversity is slowly becoming a prominent issue. Furthermore Chile’s fantastic economic policies have more than halved poverty rates since 2006. In addition Chile is seen as one of the least corrupt nations today with fantastic ratings in domestic polls.

Thoreau alleges people have the right to oppose an oppressive government, it is their duty to rebel against it. If a government does not serve its purpose of protection and fair treatment, the duty of its citizens would be to overrun it. An individual 's liberty is conveyed through its government, by allowing a tyranny, men are giving up their right to think and act for themselves. He declares that if the government mandates the people to follow unfair laws. the people should break those laws.

“Every daring attempt to make great change in existing conditions, every loftly vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian” In order to have a perfect society, changes for the greater good need to be made. Unfortunately, instead of a Utopian society, it becomes a dystopian society. The reason that Utopian societies are bad is because everyone has to be equal for no one is better, there is no outside communication with other societies, and the whole family is penalized for breaking rules against the government. In “Harrison Bergeron”, all citizens had to be equal. Everyone was required to wear handicaps except for those who didn’t think much as others.