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Ayn Rand's Anthem Analysis

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According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Sin is “a breaking of a moral or legal code.” Today moral codes could be religious or dictated by the laws of the government. In Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, Equality’s life contains of two completely different legal codes in his life. At the beginning of Equality’s life he lives a collectivist lifestyle, just as Rand did, and once he makes his way to The Uncharted Forest he lives in his free society. Anthem was not written to illustrate Rand’s past, but more to prove being free is a blessing. In Anthem, Equality’s eventual judgement of his sin is morally correct because of the way collectivism structured his life, how freedom shaped the cessation of his life, and his finding of his individuality from a simple word. Collectivism structured Equality’s life up to his early twenties, until he realizes that his moral code he has been following has been inaccurate all along. In today’s society in the U.S.A. many Americans will question how places like China and Cuba can live in a collectivist society, comparable to how Equality questions the world he used to live in. In the text, Equality concludes, “But I still …show more content…

In the text Equality shares his explanation of freedom and what it is; “It was a long story, and the spirit which moved it was the spirit of man’s freedom. . . . There is nothing to take a man’s freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else” (Rand 101). This shows Equality feels freedom is not being controlled by anyone else than oneself. Equality’s confidence and passion he has towards teaching and living the rest of his life free makes the readers agree with his decision. The way the book is written makes the readers feel empathy towards Equality and have no pity towards the collectivist

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