The Role Of Collectivism In Fahrenheit 451 And Anthem

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Both Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, and Ayn Rand, author of Anthem, offer their readers insights into problems that can occur from governmental control through the dystopian societies established in their novels. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Montag, lives in a society in which books are illegal and people are pressured to watch television all day by other people and by government propaganda. Anthem tells the story of Equality 7-2521, a man who lives in a collectivist society but performs experiments as an individual, so the government imprisons him. The futuristic societies in

Collectivism is present in Fahrenheit 451 in the government propaganda fed to its citizens. This use of propaganda to fuel collectivism is evidenced in the book when Beatty, the antagonist and a worker for the government, says, “‘We must all be alike. Not everyone born equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal’” (Bradbury 58). In Anthem, the oppression of Equality’s individualistic ideas is shown in his conversation with the Council of Scholars, who say, “‘What is not done collectively cannot be good’” (Rand 73). These instances where the main characters’ ideas are oppressed by the government in order to maintain a collectivist society create both external and internal conflict within the main characters. External conflict is shown when the governments speak to the protagonists and force them to stop their ideas from spreading to other members of society. Internal conflict occurs when the main characters must choose whether to obey the government’s orders or to continue thinking what they feel is correct. Conflict in the main characters of each work is shown when the government oppresses the individualistic thoughts of the protagonists because they are being pressured to act against what they believe is

These thoughts create internal conflict because they must decide what they think is the right thing to do. In Anthem, Equality’s encounter with the Council of Scholars convinces him that he must leave the city. This creates the internal conflict of whether to leave his friends and face the unknown or live his life with routine but knowing that he will never be able to share the knowledge he acquires. As Equality is running away, he thinks, “There is not a thing behind us to regret. Then a blow of pain struck us…” (Rand 77). This quote shows Equality’s mixed emotions about leaving the city and the mental pain the internal conflict causes him. Montag has a moment similar to Equality in Fahrenheit 451 when he also chooses to run away from his society. Montag’s internal conflict occurs from the beginning of the book when a character named Clarisse asks him if he is happy (Bradbury 10). Montag later discovers that his unhappiness arises because his life has no real purpose, so he starts reading books, which are illegal, eventually causing him to leave society to find a new society that accepts books. Montag, like Equality, feels internal conflict when he too has to leave his society because he has to leave his friends behind and face the unknown. Both protagonists’ thoughts that contradict the principles of their societies create internal conflict