Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem '

Equality was a creator his mind had driven him to science he had his own mind, his own strength, and his own courage he was independent, he was brighter than the rest. Standing alone in a modern world ruled by the suppressed government he faced the world alone. In a world where being intellectual was a severe sin he possessed gifts unlike no other that were despised by the government: intellectual and psychological strength. In a world where free will was not allowed and any form of diversity was punished by the authorities. Here we find Equality on a path of self-discovery and independence.

Equality’s views and mindset changes through out the book. He was born in a society where people are named by numbers. A world where people are used as machines. In this world the word “I” is out of existence. The word “We” is all they know, a world where individuality does not exist. In Equality’s world

“We seized our box,we shoved them aside, and we ran to the window.”(Rand 74). Due to the shock of his idea "having many problems” according to the government equality tries to run from the truth. “Many words have been granted me, and some are wise some are false, but only three are holy I will it.”(Rand 94-95). Equality thinks these words are important because there commonly seen as signs of independence. The final moments in the book show equality being selfish towards others.

"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’”(Rand 19). In Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are trained from birth to think only in the plural, to the point where they cannot even conceive of individuals, but only see each other as part of the whole group. Rand’s protagonist, Equality 72521, begins the novel as a street-sweeper who is devoted to the group, but begins to move towards individuality as he progresses towards pure selfishness, as Rand believes we all should. Rand uses the words “we” and “I” to represent Equality’s journey from being dependent on the group, to being utterly independent of everyone.

The city Equality resides in is dingy and dark. Candles are used for electricity. Equality triumphantly proclaims his invention:”We made it. We created it. We brought it forth from the night of the ages” (Rand 59). This light represents the abstract idea of knowledge. It is brought forth from the “night of the ages,” in which the lack of light symbolizes ignorance. Equality is able to harness his knowledge and use it to create something significant. He realizes that his invention is capable of doing many things: “We can light a tunnel and the city, all the cities of the world and nothing save metal and wires” (Rand 60). However, Equality’s main motivation is personal achievement. He does this for him and him alone, although he knows his creation has the potential to be something

In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Equality 7-2521 rediscovers electricity. In the collectivist society Equality lives in, it is illegal to conduct such experiments. Knowing his transgressions, what is his motivation for his experiments? Is he right to be motivated in that way? How would the world change if everyone was motivated as Equality was?

While working for the Home of the Street Sweepers, Equality stumbles upon an underground tunnel. While in the tunnel, he makes many “new” discoveries, and builds his light. Equality’s discovery in the tunnel demonstrates his individuality, and his ability to break free from the societal norm in order to thrive in his individualistic society. When he begins his adventure to find his own individuality in the tunnel Equality explains that, “We have learned things which are not in the scripts” (Anthem 36). Thus showing that he has broken away from society, and is surpassing the others in the communal society by “learn[ing] things which are not in the scripts,” which were written by others in the communal society. Without his own individuality, Equality probably wouldn’t have had the courage to go into the tunnel in the first place, he wouldn’t have created his light, and the rest of the story would be irrelevant. If he hadn’t truly taken his self-pride and individuality to the next level, he would have been a lousy

Ayn Rand depicts a communist world in her book Anthem, where the citizens live day to day identical to the one before. Equality 7-2521, a struggling man in the society, is set apart for his strive of wanting more than what the society gives him. Rand shows that in a world carried on in such a communistic matter, it leaves some struggling and at a loss to make do with what they have and to fit in. The book, Anthem gives a grand example of how others react to one’s differences, shunning them or giving a punishment. Equality 7-2521 has a compelling ambition to learn things which then helps him escape the society.

Ayn Rand in her novel Anthem exhibits a society where people only purpose is to serve and better the community. Rand was writing Anthem, while World War 2 was emerging and she was watching countries change their views on society and the citizens in it. Some of these countries started to force their citizens into a mold. Thinking that society would be benefit if everyone was like-minded. Rand wanted to show these views in an extreme situation to demonstrate what could happen in the future if countries continued to do this. In her book Rand created Equality 7-2521 which is a 22-year-old male who dares to break away from the mold his society has created and be himself. He has the potential for so much and yet his society keeps him from it. Rand uses Equality 7-2521 and his society to illustrate that if society tries to push

Are you currently bombarded with rules set by your parents or boss’? Imagine all the rules you currently have and then times them by ten! It might seem like it’s hard to imagine, but the book Anthem by Ayn Rand takes place in a very controlling city. In the city of Anthem, they have a numerous amount of rules and controls placed on the city and the people. Anthem has put multiple rules into action so that everyone is “equal” and there are “less” problems. What the society doesn’t know is that there are problems in Anthem. Equality sees these problems and will not implement them in the world that he envisions.

From the very beginning, Equality had known that he was different, he had an inimitable mentality from his brothers. As long as he could have remembered, Equality was shunned for being unequal from his brothers, when asking questions or wanting to discover new things. “Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers neither hope not fire. Your mouth is cut out of granite, but out brothers are soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl” (page 82-83). Even though Equality put effort to become equal to his brothers and not feel the guilt of being different, he expected the dissimilarity between him and his brothers. Liberty 5-3000 admired the unique traits that made Equality a distinctive character, as the story went on, Equality accepted the fact that he will always be out of the ordinary. He wants to advance his knowledge about the world around him and answer the questions he has always pondered. “We have some to see how great is the unexplored, and many lifetimes will not bring us to the end of our quest. Be we wish no end to our quest” (page 36). The society that Equality and Liberty are from, implemented uniformity and being different is considered a transgression. With questions that do not have answers, determined Equality to solve and discover the answers, he wished that the discovery will never end. In conclusion, becoming his own individual made him unique and differentiates him from his brothers and sisters left in the

Equality is the protagonist in this dystopia and he handles his trials along the way with pride, dignity, and beauty. He is unique and more intelligent than the rest of his peers just based on the premise that he can understand conflict and somehow manage to solve his issues. Just like ever good hero, he faces internal and external conflict on his

Society is fundamentally built upon rigid structure and control using rules to attempt to maintain order amongst a society comprised of many individuals. Inherently rules put at expense the freedom of individuals to achieve personal happiness in order to build a society comprised of more equally achieving individuals. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem builds a society in which rules restrict all individual freedoms and force a more collective ideal. The rules put in place by the society are meant to make everybody collectively more happy and prevent inherent human subjectivity; however, inherent to human nature, rules can be subjectively interpreted. In contrast to the pre-existing society presented by Rand, Equality 7-2521 seeks

affliction to be born with powerful intellectual capacity and ambition in Ayn Rand’s apocalyptic, nameless society in Anthem. Collectivism is ostensibly the moral guidepost for humanity, and any perceived threat to the inflexible, authoritarian regime is met with severe punishment. The attack on mankind’s free will and reason is most evident in the cold marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). Societal norms force homogeneity and sacrifice among all people. Laws and rules are crafted to prevent advancement and preserve elentless uniformity under the guise of moral righteousness. Here we find Equality 7-2521 on the path to self-discovery, struggling to understand the internal conflict he faces—his desire to learn and create against government indoctrination to force stagnation and conformity.

It is well known throughout the society that “We [the people] are one in all and all in one. There are no men, but the great WE, One, indivisible, and forever,” (19), yet Equality spend two years’ worth of his nights thinking separately, and working alone in the hole that he and International 4-8818 discovered. Equality also is guilty of the Transgression of Preference due to his favoring of International, and Liberty 5-3000. Another action seen as a sin to his society is Equality’s creation of the light. The light was created in solitude and “What is not done collectively cannot be good,” (73). Additionally if the light were to be mass produced it would bring the downfall of Department of Candles. The fact that morals are different in modern society than in Ayn Rand’s fictional society does not mean that modern morals are right, therefore even if these actions may not be sins in present- day culture, they are sins in the future civilization of