Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an
In the novella Anthem, individual rights and freedom do not exist. The word “I” is prohibited to be spoken by men. Equality 7-2521 is a street sweeper of the city and he is different from the others in the society. Equality is more intelligent, taller, learns quicker, and he enjoys learning about science; especially how things move and work. Since the word “I” is the unspeakable word, Equality uses the word “We” to resemble that he is doing these actions . While sweeping the streets, Equality discovers a dark tunnel that was made during the Unmentionable Times. He sneaks into the tunnel every night to perform scientific experiments. In his experiment of dissecting a frog, Equality discovers that metal draws the power of the skies and that
In Equality’s society of Anthem by Ayn Rand, they have many rules and controls, or regulations. They have the rules in place so everyone is the same. The Council doesn’t want anyone to be different, or to have different thoughts. Equality’s new society will have no rules from the old society because he cultivates individuality, he loathed the old society’s rules, and he knows what it means to be an leper.
¨We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-300. We do not know why we think of them” (Rand 41). In Ayn Randś dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are forced to think that they cannot have any preference, this includes liking someone more than others. Randś protagonist, Equality 7-2521, started the book falling in love with the Golden One, but as he moves toward individuality he begins to be in “love” less as he realizes there’s more than just being in a group. Rand uses the the relationship between Equality and the Golden One to represent Equality’s journey from being obsessed with the Golden One when he feels he has to be apart of the group, to being ignorant to the Golden One because he has become utterly independent and selfish.
In Ayn Rand's story Anthem, the protagonist Equality 7-2521 has a power unlike no other within their collectivist society. One day when Equality was working as a street sweeper, he finds an old abandoned underground railroad tunnel from the Unmentionable Times long ago. This is where he conducts his experiments that fill him with pride and joy. Equality dreams how his new invention that he brought into existence can change the world, but helping mankind is not his true motivation behind his passion to create. Throughout the story, Equality's true motivation is him trying to find his inner self and his identity as an individual.
Intelligence. Something that Equality 7-2521 has a great deal of. Ayn Rand, the author of Anthem, suggests that Equality 7-2521 knows that he is too intelligent to be a street sweeper, and he tries to prove his intelligence through his experiments so he can be “willed” into the Home of the Scholars. She shows this through his time in the Home of the Students when Equality is punished for his quick head, his love for learning, and the idea of learning, and when he escapes to the tunnel to work on his invention.
“It is a sin to write this,” begins Anthem, and the digression of the society around him slowly falls. The argument asks if I reason about the Equality’s sins being evil or marvelous. The outtake of his decision decides his fate on the community around him, lifeless slaves being controlled by the government. So, I believe his sins are for the greater good. It shows that he is not a enslaved monkey in a science lab, but the arrogant monkey who refuses to do the tests. He shows the people around him what it feels like to be independent, and the feeling of color. Here is a quote to represent the curiosity about him, “What -- even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the pyre -- what is the Unspeakable Word?” (Rand 57)
“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. During the novella, Equality 7-2521 undergoes a journey to express individuality.
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.
Smarter than any of his other brothers, Equality rapidly starts to realize what his cities council is trying to do to take away his rights as a human being. This short novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, a man by the name of Equality 7-2521 was a more intelligent than his other brothers in the community, and he was not content with sitting around letting the council try to brainwash everyone else, so he breaks several laws in the process of trying to discover new things that the council is trying to hide from him and his brothers. The council was not aware of these things and they were not going to let him try to do anything against them. To try to prevent anything detrimental from happening, they assigned him the job as a street sweeper where he couldn’t use any of his quick-witted mind against them
Equality 7-2521’s perspective on society shifts due to his realizations. In the novel “Anthem,” all of the members of a collective society conform to a set of regulations where everyone is equal and together at all times. However, Equality 7-2521 decides to commit the most significant sin by working alone and having his own thoughts, which he never regrets. Equality 7-2521’s eventual assessment of his sin is correct because he often feels safer on his own, and isolation causes him to make incredible discoveries.
In Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem, social class was shown to be destructive. In the novel, there was a time period called “ The Unmentionable Times” where men had social classes and they took advantage it. This ruined the community and destroyed it. However Ayn Rand wrote this novel to showcase that it is important to have social class because if we were all equal then our government would take away from a people’s individual rights. In the novel, the council was shown to have all the power by enforcing fear in their people. They created harsh punishments and was lacking security for the thought that their people would never disobey them.The council also made sure that everyone was equal. They did this by making sure they understood that they exist
One of the biggest rules is you cannot try to learn to anything new or invent something. Equality decides that he wants to learn more and invent new things. In this society the council decides what you will do like a road worker or a teacher. Equality
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
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.