Collectivist Society Revealed In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Equality reluctantly pursues his ego, as he cannot deny his inherent solitary nature. Equality finally tastes his first experience of freedom when he discovers a tunnel hidden underground with a friend. As Ayn Rand describes, “It was old and rusted by many rains. We pulled

Equality’s road to individuality begins with standing up to his oppressors and learning that thinking for one’s self is the only way to happiness and success. To begin, Equality’s road to freedom begins with finding the underground tunnel system. This is where Equality begins to explore his individuality. He steals candles, flints, knives, paper, glass vials, powders, acids, and even manuscripts. He is breaking the law by taking these things, but he is curious, which is where his individuality stems from.

As soon as he discovers electric lighting, he writes in his journal, “We can light our tunnel, and the City, and all the Cities of the world with nothing save metal and wires. We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and brighter, than any they have ever known.” (Rand 60). Equality’s selflessness is exemplified when he wishes to share his light, one he believes he’s created and tamed by himself, for the betterment of the world. Throughout Anthem, Equality helps others and wishes to share his knowledge to others.

This is primarily achieved through the life of Dr. Felix Hoenikker and his children. Hoenikker approaches his research with a childish playfulness that is unassociated with someone who creates weapons of mass destruction. By characterizing him as such, “Vonnegut uses the development of ice-nine to illustrate his worry that scientists are only concerned with solving problems and creating products without any thought about how these discoveries might be used” (Karmiol). Dr. Hoenikker’s irresponsibility epitomizes Vonnegut’s belief; by leaving a sample of ice-nine unattended, Hoenikker causes his own death, and eventually, his invention would become the means of Earth’s destruction. This event is paralleled when Dr. Hoenikker’s children inherit their own samples of “ice-nine”, which they carelessly use to buy positions of happiness.

He broke the loyalty with his father and solved his self-conflict. He made the decision that his morals were more important than protecting his father. Even though he tries to warn de Spain, he is too late and the barn is already on fire. He hears gunshots and assumes his father is dead. Sarty decides to sleep on a hill.

Chris McCandless went on a journey that eventually lead him to Alaska where he met his demised. He took on the name Alexander Supertramp. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer it states, “What Walt, Billie, and Carine didn’t know when they flew down to Atlanta to

In the reading “Anthem” author Ayn Rand protests objectivism and individualism from a world based off of collectivism. The story is based in the future, however the society in the novella goes back to the old ways of living due to the Unmentionable times. The fictional yet a psychological view of Communist Russia, which the author is from, tell a story about a character Equality 7-2521 quest in finding his individuality in a world of Dystopia. During his quest the main character finds love, the villain prevails, and helps the innocent youth. Equality 7-2521 is the hero of the novel because of his differences in the society and his quest in the novel.

In lines (86-88), when he threw his sword and burst in to tears, it showed that he was weak and could not hold his ground. However, he put his foot down and let the suitors know that their recklessness is bad behavior. He also stood up for his mother Penelope to prevent her from marrying a suitor. Even though Telemakhos grew up without his father (Odysseus), he stuck up for his dad in front of the suiters for ruining the house, although growing up, his father was not there to teach him how to be a

Montag rebels against his society because of the lack of actual people. (STEWE-1) Montag’s last encounter with Beatty is what made him act out. “Montag only said, We never burned right… Hand it over, Guy, said Beatty with a fixed smile.

Macbeth failed to show moderation when he orders the death of his best friend eliminate risk for Macbeth’s own good. Scar failed to show moderation when he murdered his own brother to achieve the throne. Macbeth failed to show generosity when he welcomes Duncan into his home, a trap of death. Scar failed to show generosity when he refuses to share his food with his starving kingdom.

He emphasized this desire when he said, “We wished to be in the Home of the Scholars. We wished it so much that our hands trembled under the blankets in the night, and we bit our arm to stop that other pain which we could not endure. It was evil and we dared not face our brothers in the morning. For men may wish nothing for themselves.” (24) Equality knows he could contribute to his brotherhood, and he knows that his mind is more developed than, his brothers.

Anthem Essay Topic 1 Ayn Rand's Anthem depicts a collectivist society where each person is stripped of his/her individuality and forced to do only things that work to better society. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, has just invented some sort of lighting creation similar to the common lightbulb. Equality knows that his new invention may have a huge, and positive, impact on mankind. However, his knowledge of the prosperity that his creation could have on society is not what causes him to experience feelings of satisfaction and pride while constructing it. Equality's main source of motivation for creating the lightbox is to feel like he has something all to himself that another person is yet to have, and to experience a sense of accomplishment.

“It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick” (21). Equality 7-2521 is an exceptionally intelligent individual born into a society where intellect is considered evil. Though he originally believes that he was “born with a curse,” (18) he eventually comes to realize that his “curse” is intellect and individuality which he learns to love.

In our society, people are motivated in lots of different ways. This can create both positives, such as putting a man on the moon, and negatives, such as war and starving people. Anthem is a story about a man who is going against his collectivist society in his search for individuality. Equality’s main motivation is to discover new things and new ideas in the world around him, as well as to try to figure out who he is as an individual. His motivation is correct because he enables the thought of free will, and the world could become a better place if everyone was motivated like Equality.

“We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (Rand 19). How can an individual be a hero in a collectivist society? In The Anthem, a novella by Ayn Rand, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521 is portrayed as an archetypal epic hero. Equality 7-2521 exhibits the characteristics of an epic hero because he is capable of great deeds, he has a nemesis, and he experiences an event that leads to a quest.