Daisy Pham Language Arts Honor February 2nd, 2017 1st hour Anthem The book Anthem was written by Ayn Rand is a Science Fiction Book. This Science Fiction book would be unknown since the Author didn’t exactly give the time in the book. In the book Anthem there wasn’t any clues or hints that it took place in 1900’s or the 2000’s. Ayn Rand is a Russian-American novelist and she is known for writing books.
At the beginning of Anthem Equality has changed his mind about a lot of things in the beginning of the story. Equality got picked to be a street sweeper by the government, but he really wanted to be a scholar but couldn’t because of the government. Equality had a rough life. Well he was a street sweeper but he was smart enough to be a scholar the government did not think he was. In the book anthem by ayn rand Equality was not good for any body or anything at the beginning he had a rough start to his life.
In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, she characterizes Equality 7-2521 as a brother living in a Dystopian society. Equality shares his traits and his belief on the transgression that he holds. Collectivism makes him portray a different way towards the rest of the society. He exhibits curiosity, intelligence and loneliness so the reader can identify Equality as a symbolic figure in the novel. This is what outcasts him from the rest of his brothers mentally and physically.
This essay will be discussing whether or not the character Equality 7-2521’s assessment of his sins towards throughout of the book he’s from, Anthem. His assessment (that he doesn’t care about his sin, as it was decided a sin by a government he sees as immoral and corrupt) is in my opinion, correct. This thought stems mainly from the fact he documented his thoughts throughout the book, and the documents could potentially inspire other people to do the same thing he did, which Equality would probably like. At the beginning of Anthem, Equality feels ashamed with many actions of his, specifically calling many of them evil, sinful, or a “transgression”.
Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an 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.
Escaping Communism 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.
“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.
Anthem is writing as a journey of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in the future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, for not even knowing the word "I" and can only speak of himself as "We." Everyone lives and work in collective groups and he is assigned to a Street Sweeper of the city by the Council of Vocations. However, Equality 7-2521 try to lead himself to recreate electric light and how it can be harnessed to human benefit. He has been taught that it is a sin to harbor secret ambitions, and so he believes he is guilty. Equality 's struggle to be free and to reach an individual life/ When he presents his discovery to the Council of Scholars, they punish him for daring to act as an individual and threaten to destroy his creation.
Moral codes are very important in a society. In order to have a great society, the morals must be clear and have a sturdy foundation. By the end of the Anthem, Equality 7-2521 has become very critical of leaders in his society, denouncing them in moral terms. Equality 7-2521 is correct in judging the leaders in his society. Equality 7-2125 would agree with Ayn Rand’s article, "How does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?”
Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.” Throughout the story, Equality’s views and mindset changes, he realizes that he is different from his brothers and its ok to be different. He discovers that if something is legal it is not certainly right. His eager for knowledge taught him the word “I” abandoning the word “We”.
What makes one person different from another? Is it height, weight, and color of skin, or is it personality, family, and attitude? These differences can define a person and separate them from those around them. These differences make a person an individual; however, in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Equality 7-521 is anything but an individual. He spends his days sweeping the streets and his nights sleeping in a white room with ninety-nine of his brothers.
There was one time a teenage boy with the name of juan , juan ever since he was young he would the right thing but once the got to college he got really scared and he started to think if he should go or not . At the end he decided not to go and started to work with his father in the family business. But at time people would ask him why he decided not to go to college and he would say because i was scared. His cousins one day tell him that being scared of new things is normal but at least try and fail but at least you try , you will just need to get better for next time.
¨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.
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 .
Aristotle's assertions that the worst form of inequality Is to make unequal things equal is correct because forcing people to be the same in all ways can lead to restricting people to accomplish their full potential, People are also able to combine their unique talents for the betterment of all and are not restricted by everyone being the same limiting their abilities. To begin, the ability of people to be different allows them to use their minds in different ways and have the freedom to create and discover new things. In Ayn Rand's book Anthem, the protagonist of the book Equality 7-2521 lives in a world of equality where no one is allowed to be alone or explore their brains. Equality having a more Kean brain than the others starts to explore
