Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the moral worth of an individual. This is something in Anthem that people in the society do not have. Examples of this is they did not have their own unique names. They are not allowed to use possessive words such as “I” or “Myself”. One pledge that Equality and his brothers state before they retired to their beds is, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our
Individualism, while indeed centered on the individual, is more accurately described as the changing and shifting relationship between the individual and society. The pursuit of self-gratification and preservation forms only a minute part of this concept. Promotion of personal liberties and control in the various aspects of an individual’s life and situation has been a major part of American history since its very dawn.
The idea of conformity is to eliminate individualism and to unite the society together, making it a safer place for the citizens to live, and develop in. A place that has no war, no hunger and no pain, where citizens create strong bonds between each other. The Giver written by Lois Lowry represents the idea of conformity in the society where they try to keep everyone the same as each other by following the same rules and trying to avoid having people stand out by receiving daily pills to lose the feeling of inclination between each other.
Transcendentalism has been embraced by society through the movie The Lion King. The Lion King is a story about a young cub, Simba, who is born son to the king in a thriving kingdom. Simba goes about his days playing and enjoying life until his uncle, Scar, decides to plot a scheme to overthrow the throne. When Scar puts his plan into play, Mufasa, Simba’s father and king, dies. Due to the circumstances, Simba is led to believe it was his fault and runs away to hide from this accident. Consequently, Scar takes over the kingdom and brings it to ruins. During this time, Simba has found two new friends, Timon and Pumbaa, while hiding who take him in and teach him ideals very similar to that of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophical belief system in which nature and personal thought of one’s self is believed to be the most important keys to life. The Lion King displays
Individualism is “the opposite of collectivism; together they form on of the dimensions of national cultures. Individualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only.”
Now that we know the textbook definitions of these words, let 's bring them into perspective in the setting of Anthem and “The Soul of an Individualist.” Prometheus is an egoist, but not in an unpleasant way. He has lived in a collectivist government for his whole life, this government taught that you could only be happy if you were working for your brothers. They also believed that the group mattered more than each individual in it. During the story, Prometheus begins to realize that individualism is not a bad thing. Individualism is the principle of being independent and self-reliant. He believes that he, himself, matters individually, not just the group as a
“An individualist is a man who says: I will not run anyone’s life nor let anyone run mine. I will not rule nor be ruled. I will not be a master nor a slave. I will not sacrifice myself nor sacrifice anyone to myself.” - Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand believed that collectivism is a hardship. She believed every man should be an individualist and live for themselves and no one else. This vision was portrayed through her book Anthem that featured a young boy named Equality 7-2521. Equality lives in a society that suppresses individualism and raises the “brotherly contribution and need” above anything else. “The Anthem” , a song by the pop punk band Good Charlotte, is about a young man that wants to be nothing like the other people in his world. They all are just like one another and he wants to break away from this. There are many similarities and differences between Anthem by Ayn Rand and “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte.
A collectivist society focuses on individuals as part of a group and that man is chained to a collective action and collective thought for the “common good.” Being associated with a society like this gives individuals no rights to their own life and passion. According to Ayn Rand in The Soul of an Individualist, collectivism “produces nothing but mutual corruption.” The concept of collectivism encourages altruism and that individuals serve no purpose except the sake of serving society.
Individualism is the habit of being independent and self-reliant. In George Orwell’s 1984 and Ayn Rand’s Anthem, people are not allowed to have individualism and privacy due to the government’s control and power. The common theme that is shared by both stories is being part of a society that is more important than being a person. In 1984, Winston Smith, the main character, lives in a dystopian society that is controlled by a figure known as Big Brother. Big Brother watches everyone including Winston through telescreens that are distributed throughout the region. Telescreens defeat the whole purpose of having privacy. Equality 7-2521 is similar to Winston from the novella, Anthem. Equality 7-2521 does not agree with the Council because they
Individualism can mean a lot of things. It tends to show a different meaning depending on the person you ask. Is there a way Individualism can change the world? Could Individualism somehow be a bad thing? Individualism can change the world. In the 19th century people stuck to society. If they really did something out of character to show their personalities, they would most likely be executed. In "The Crucible" they were accused of witchcraft if they didn't act like society. Then they would either have to confess or be hanged in front of everyone. John Proctor stood up and vowed that there was no such thing as witchcraft in the end and showed everyone there with his personality that there was no such thing as witches. They probably felt foolish
individualism is absolutely to a minimal, seems to warn us against overly stressing equality while
Liberal individualism generally functioned as the essential model focusing on the American welfare by separating the difference between entitlement and opportunity liberalism. Opportunity liberalism give citizens the opportunity to work in order to earn an income based on the opportunities provided. However, entitlement liberalism is where citizens believe that they are owed an income just because they are part of the society. This method can only be true as long as everyone is provided the same equal rights.
Though different, collectivism and individualism both have value within their contexts and show the values of their people. Collectivism values the individual’s membership and participation in the group as a whole. Contrarily, individualism esteems the individual’s ability to separate himself from the group and think for himself. Though often not recognized, both of these dimensions can exist within a society and add depth to its
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. Some people would give up some freedoms to make a better community. A community with no starving people, no homeless people, and crime free. Well, as peaceful as this sounds, I disagree with giving up any freedoms. Think about it, what if a community full of people who didn’t starve was real? How about if a crime free community was real? Even though it sounds great it is not. I read in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry that the citizens gave up their individuality, ability to feel pain, and job choice to make a better community but it didn’t happen. I believe that we should never do this because it would lead into
Individualism versus collectivism. Initially, a heuristic answer comes up to mind – Korea is a collectivist country. It is really so – people give a lot of focus to group and team work. They do not behave like the “smarty pants” in the class, though it was sometimes obvious that some students wanted to ask something or knew the answer to the teacher’s question, they still kept silence not to act out of line. They learn “how to do” rather than “how to learn” – that is why they do not question the material they are taught. The relationships in the group prevail over the task – team members spend very much time together, not only for the project reasons, but to have fun.