Ayn Rand's Anthem-The Virtue Of Mortality

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The Virtue of Mortality Ayn Rand’s story of Anthem takes place in an oppressive, Communist-like society of the future, where there is no individual - only the great “WE.” Subjects of this dreary civilization have no rights - existing solely to serve the state for a lifetime in their assigned position. The protagonist of the story, Equality 7-2521, is a gifted young man who is different from his fellow brothers. Equality desires to be a scientist, but instead, the government commands him to be a Street Sweeper out of fear of his mind and curiosity. Equality’s view of mortality at the end of the novel versus his society’s view on it is polar opposites; his society’s institutions, practices, and officials reveal this difference. The struggle of this brilliant young man to live, think, and love on his own shows just how difficult it is to flourish in a Communist society - a society the world must never …show more content…

The society’s institutions, practices, and officials reveal these differences. Equality, the gifted, brilliant-minded protagonist of the story, struggles to live in his society because of the contrasting views on morality he has compared to his society. Even his society realizes something unique about him, and are afraid of him. The Council assigns him the job of Street Sweeper, even though Equality longed to be a scientist and a Scholar. Equality finally gets to escape his miserable society and all the institutions, practices, and officials that are a part of it. He comes to the realization that there is more to life than serving other people, and that he owes nothing to his brothers or his society. Equality, after struggling and fighting for his freedom, finally knows why he lives and what has been missing in his life. “The moral purpose of a man’s life is the achievement of his own happiness.” (The Ethics of

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