Teenagers are rebellious souls. They always believe society is against them. It makes sense that they would like dystopian books because they are all about the world being against them. Teenagers like Anthem because it depicts what they feel their lives are like. They believe they live in a society that tries to conform teenagers, punishes difference and because it depicts what teenagers think their life is like. This society in Anthem is exactly like this and the hero acts just like how they wish to. The teenagers wish to break free like Equality and express themselves. The only difference is that the people in Anthem believe that society wasn’t always that way and that some awful event took place. While the topic of the Anthem society is mentioned allow me to explain. The society in Anthem is attempting to conform everyone to a single, boring type of person. This is due to an apocalyptic event from the past. Anthem’s society tries to educate everyone on the same level. This keeps most people from breaking away from the normal. People are not allowed to be alone, for this promotes individual thought. Teenagers believe that society is trying to stop their individual thoughts. The society attempts to grow people to a standard. Teenagers believe this is what is happening to them. This is why teenagers identify with the conformist society, and those who do not conform will be punished. With that being said, let’s talk about punishment. Those who do not conform shall be punished and will be reeducated in order to stop them. This draws a similarity to our societies teaching style. In our schools we all have a single format to follow. Our hero is forced to learn at a slower pace. He receives extra lashings due to his height difference. He receives the job of street sweeper as punishment thus stopping his pursuit of knowledge. The society
Bibliography: Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print.