Losing Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, there is a dystopian society where Equality 7-2521 and everyone else were taught to live and think for one another. Everyone has an equal identity and no one is allowed to be independent. In this world the word “I” is nonexistent, they are forced to act as one and refer to themselves as “we.” Teachers and Council scold and punish the ones who are “different” and “better” than another. This society is ensures that no one can stand as an individual, this represents enslavement.

In the novel “Anthem”, written by Ayn Rand, everyone lives in a totalitarian world. Everyone is to think of everyone as a whole, never to think of just oneself. You are to love everyone the same; there are no friends, no lovers, not even acquaintances. You are to never think of the faults of others, everyone is the considered the same. Yet by the end of the novel the main character, Equality 7-2521, has discovered that the Council of Vocations is wrong and has broken off from the society.

Anthem Ayn Rand’s strong opinion of individualism is exaggerated in a most extreme way in her world famous novel Anthem. Her book focuses on “we” rather than “I,” and about the community rather than the individuals. She magnifies communism to every possible extremity.

Anthem is a novella by Ayn Rand, telling a story of a futuristic and collective society, where there are no individuals. In this society, there is little to no technology of any sorts. Even less than there was when this novella was written in the late 1930’s. Candles are their main source of light, and there is no electricity. All because there is no freedom for people to seek out new information and discover new things.

The City in Ayn Rand’s dystopian novella Anthem imposes many strict regulations in regard to what its citizens are permitted to do. In the City, none may stand against the crowd or show any differences. Rules to keep everyone in place and to keep the system running regulate the citizens from birth until death and every interaction that will fall between. They can’t express themselves in any way that separates them or shows a uniqueness. They are one and must always remain as such, but when an individual diverges and shows individuality, chaos ensues and the rules are broken leaving room for a new and different society to emerge.

Obstacles of Advancement In Ayn Rand's Anthem, we encounter a very unstable future society. Totalitarianism has overtaken this culture. This means that one group of people rules over society and tolerates no variation of opinion. We find the people in Anthem's society to be slaves to the god "We" and individuality eliminated as much as possible.

The novella Anthem has people being scared to fall out of line with society, therefore Equality is required to live in groups with his brothers and is not allowed to have he option to marry or to love someone. Following yourself is important in today’s envronment because you are taught to be yourself and not someone who you’re

Anthem is a novel that was written in 1937 by Ayn Rand, about a dystopian society that only believes in the word, “We”, and its only most exciting resource is a candle. To this society they have no clue what it means to be an individual because their leaders take away their individuality whether that is by, eliminating the way they allow their citizens to communicate with each other or even by not evolving the society from using candles to using lights. In this novel the protagonist, Prometheus is a rare citizen because he has a sense of individuality and he is able to realize heta his community is doing is not right. As the novel goes on the reader is able to see that Prometheus becomes an individual as he falls in love for a girl, Gaea that he met while working. This girl helped Prometheus become an individual because believed in his creation and that belief pushed Prometheus to show his invention to the world council.

These expanses of calligraphy being Ayn Rand’s Anthem and the quotation of The Fountainhead, The Soul of an Individualist. Anthem applying representation of symbols and community to spread the idealism of Rand’s communal identification. The Soul of an Individualist finalizing these ideas while analyzing the altruist’s defeat within the communist society of Anthem. A world where there is no I, but a great we (Rand 19).

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand takes place in the future at an unspecified date and place. The humans in Anthem live in a dystopian society where the word I is erased entirely. The current government they live under has a number of rules and regulations that if broken can get you killed in many ways. However why do these rules exist, What is their purpose and does the society that Equality envisions created at the end of the story would include any of these rules and controls?

Commonly mistaken as being an ideal way of life, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, emphasizes the negative impacts collectivism has on society. Collectivism, an oppressive concept of prioritizing a group over each individual in it, is practiced and enforced by the Council of Vocations and few citizens question it. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, rebels against his collectivist society as he discovers individualism, the belief that “individual’s needs are more crucial than a whole society’s needs” (), and its enlightening effects. He quickly recognizes that he is different from others in terms of intelligence and that he is in fact an individual, not just a fragmented piece of a group like he was led to believe. Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, highlights the

A country that is opposite of the society in Anthem is the United States. We live in a democratic society where our rights and freedoms are protected under the Constitution. For the most part, individualism is encouraged and the society has been growing and developing throughout the course of history. Unlike Anthem, children stay with their parents after birth in order to develop their own personalities and thoughts. Although the school system is not perfect and does not mold to each child’s learning, the teachers are working on developing different alternatives for students that learn differently.

Individualism As the book Anthem starts, Equality 7-2521 states that it was a sin what he was doing. For example, “we knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it. We would accept our Life Mandate, and we would work for our brothers, gladly and willingly, and we would erase our sin against them, which they did not know, but we knew”. Equality 7- 2521 feels guilty about wanting things for himself, he feels guilty about having his own life, spending time alone and doing things that don’t involve their brothers or sisters was forbidden (Rand 26).

Rules and Subjectivity 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

Conformity is something that humans have been doing for a long time. Such conformity has lead to negative outcomes. This idea is explored through “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden. In these two texts conformity eliminates individuality and causes the society to be weakened.