Comparing Collectivism In Harrison Bergeron And Ayn Rand's Anthem

Anthem is a story written by Ayn Rand as a propaganda piece portraying the evils of communism. The book takes place in the future in a undisclosed city surrounded by forest. In this city a collectivist society dwells. The conflict of Anthem is character vs. society where one man by the name of Equality decides to go against his broken government. Equality took a stand against his broken society, he has defied the council of scholars and his government, had a relation with a women, and escaped the city to The Uncharted Forest.

How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family.

Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.”

Collectivist Society: The idea that people should prioritize the good of society over the welfare of the individual. Collectivism-- relating closely to the word collection—has to do with the political theory that put the group before the individual.

What genre of literature would you say teens are into the most? Turns out teens tend to turn to dystopian societies, now do you know why? Teens these days are just getting darker in all types of ways one of the ways they are getting darker is they are starting to enjoy darker genres of literature and movies. One of the ways to show you why they can relate to these stories is by talking about the movie The Giver based off the book by Lois Lowry directed by Phillip Noyce and the book Anthem written by Ayn Rand. Now teens these days like dystopian societies and one reason is because of how they can relate to them and for there darker nature.

“Equality in pay has improved in the US since 1979 when women earned about 62 percent as much as men. In 2010, American women on average earned 81 percent of what their male counterparts earned” ( Highlights in the US). “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem both are dystopian societies that tried to create equality, but end up with horrible corruption, no real equality, and incorrect portrayals of equality. In “Harrison Bergeron” the society leaders use handicaps to bring people down to the lowest level or the “average” of their society. There are similar concepts in Anthem, no one can be better than anyone, but they use shame and guilt to keep their people in line. Equality is when everyone is given the same opportunities

Every great heroin will face a plethora of conflict in their journey. For Equality, it is not any less. Equality faces internal and external conflict in his path to heroism, faces conflict with others, but also himself. As his desire for a new life grows, more problems arise.

Individuality allows every person to be themselves and be different from each other. However, In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Rand describes a society where the people were not allowed to openly be themselves, or else they would be punished for being different. The main character, Equality, notices he is different slowly throughout the novella, but kept continuing to be like everyone else for awhile. These rules exist in this society to strip human individuality in order to achieve total equality.

Even though there are billions of people that walk this Earth, everybody is their own individual with their own ideas and personalities. Because of this, it is hard to imagine a world where personality and individuality do not exist. But Ayn Rand’s Anthem does just that; she paints a society in which no one is an individual. Anthem’s society is that of conformity, which means one must be complacent with the rules and laws of his/her society. Sure one could see this as a good thing, but throughout Anthem, Ayn Rand shows that conformity is not as good as it sounds, but rather the worst way to live. Equality succeeds in finding happiness and meaning in life by learning to be an individual and taking risks that no one in his society dared to do

Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon. However, when the story's protagonist, Equality, makes a huge scientific discovery, his intentions are more selfish than that.

Collectivism is the idea that a group 's needs must be put before the needs of oneself and the society functions as “we” rather that “me”. Throughout the stories one sees how each author portrays the use of a collectivist society though uniqueness, equality, and transgression. There are many similarities between the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand and the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is about a couple, Hazel and George Bergeron, in the distant future when all people must be equal. This equality is reached in the form of handicaps. Weights are placed on the strong and athletic people in society, masks are forced upon the beautiful, and loud noises are constantly blasted into the ears of the intelligent to prevent them from thinking. While most equality is often thought of as good, the story shows a much darker side, using the government’s forceful equalization of the people. “Harrison Bergeron” uses multiple perspectives to highlight the costs of equality paralleled in today’s society.

In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, mankind is a philanthropic machine. The brotherhood nobly works together to achieve a common goal. In doing so, each man is asked to disregard his own personal means and goals. For every decision must be a collective thought and every advancement, a joint action. However, one man in this machine malfunctions. Equality-72521. With an inquisitive nature, an innovative mind, and latent desire, Equality withholds the traits of a visionary who advocates for individuality. Every step Equality takes, is one away from the public-spirited system. Another towards personal identity. Each step is an internal struggle, due to the communist machine’s brainwash and eloquent reprogram of Equality’s instinctive mind. But nature tells Equality that his DNA is nothing save himself. Nature tells Equality that individuality is man’s birthright. Man’s one true victory. It

Thesis: In Kurt Vonnegut 's story, "Harrison Bergeron," symbolism, tone, and irony reveal the author 's message to the reader which is his perspective on equality.

In today’s generation, we have learned about collectivism in history classes. In the Holocaust the majority of the people didn’t have a say about anything. In today's generation, we have individualism in our society today. Everyone has the right to make their own choices, such as, if one wants an education or not. Collectivism is when there’s total social and environmental control in a society and no one is allowed chose for them self. Individualism is when one has to chose to do something by him or herself. Throughout the novel Anthem, the allegory of the battle between collectivism and individualism is a huge part of Equality’s life.