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Rebirth In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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How Does One Lead a Rational Life in the Great Rebirth Ayn Rand is an illustrious writer, known for many of her works including the short novella Anthem and her short essay How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society. In Anthem, she speaks of a dystopian world set in the future with primitive technology. The Council expects everybody to look, act, and generally be the same as one another; however, Equality, the main character of Anthem, does not conform to the social norm. He rebels from the cookie-cutter system and learns to see the deep err in the way of the Council and finally realises the effects that the abusive treatment of the citizens creates. Rand’s short essay speaks simply of speaking out about evil when you see …show more content…

When the people below are told that judgment is a sin, they will never try to take those above out of their positions in power. Rand writes in How Does One Live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society that “to pronounce moral judgement is an enormous responsibility (Rand, Paragraph 4).” For as long as anybody can remember, conditions in the society presented in Anthem have always been the same. In truth, this is due to the citizens never criticising the actions of the Council. Equality would preach Rand’s essay to the masses like gospel if possible because he understands the true benefits of being opinionated and free. Equality believes wholeheartedly in individualism and the concept of preference which relates strongly to judging others’ true intents and motives. Rand’s short essay explains that, while it is not something many would like to believe of their loved ones, many times people are not simply mistaken or misinformed, but rather know the evil in their actions and proceed to carry them out regardless (Rand, Paragraph 14). While it is true that some members of the Council have been brainwashed and truly believe what they say, the original intent of the many strict laws in place were malicious. Looking in at the society from the outside provides an objective point of view that makes clear that the statutes in action are there to control the citizens and not to help or protect …show more content…

By juxtaposing her works together, her novella and her opinionated essay, correlation unfolds and similarity shows between the “evil” force of complete assimilation in Anthem and the complete disregard of wrongdoings being denoted as evil in How Does One Live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society. It does not come as a revelation that Equality would find strong personal relation and belief in the opinions of Rand. His resolution that the Council promotes practices of with which he disagrees and finds morally repulsive presents itself in a manner that is agreeable with any morally sound individual. Rand is extremely skillful in effectuating Ethos into her work, weaving together sentences with both beauty and

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