Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem is about the main character Equality 7-2521 who struggles to live in a communist society. Equality is an intelligent and very ambitious person who dares to break the rules of The City. By following his heart, he discovers that he is worth a lot more than what he’s been taught. Once he and his love, Liberty 5-3000, break away from their toxic home land, they discovering the idea that individuality is more important than the collective “we”. In the woods, the two lovers find an abandoned house and they rename themselves Prometheus and Gaea. Ayn Rand chose these names because of how similar Equality and Liberty are to the mythological creatures.…
What is egoism? Something that Prometheus seems so interested in. Egoism is a doctrine that individual self worth is the motive behind all conscious action. In this day in age being an egoist is wrong, but in Prometheus society being an egoist wasn’t even heard of. Why is it that Prometheus writes down “ego” at the very end of the book on page 105 of Anthem.…
Anthem may seem like a purely fictional story written for entertainment purposes, but upon closer inspection there are elements of real world occurrences. Equality 7-2521 is a boy growing up like every other boy around him, meaning he lives in a world after our with little technology, and in permanent fear of the World Council who control every aspect of life, including what he should think. Equality has always dreamed of being a scientist,, but even dreaming or wanting is a crime against his brothers, as he is supposed to accept and love the job assigned to him by the Council.. While working in his assigned position, Equality and his friend International 4-8818 discover a tunnel from before the Brotherhood and the Council, where they read…
Ayn Rand perfectly captured the idea of a collectivist society in her book, Anthem, by creating a vivid image of the dangers of losing one’s sense of self. This concept can be applied to modern times, much like Equality does when proclaiming his anthem: “I understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the sense of truth within him” (98). His statement personifies a man’s spirit,the perseverance of man, and implies that there are no restraints strong enough to thwart human nature.…
Equality stands out among the rest, he’s different, he stands out. He’s unique. He knows more. Equality is smarter and…
Blowing the minds of ‘bigger is better’ believers everywhere David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell stresses the idea that sometimes having a disadvantage can actually be an advantage, and even more surprising, advantages do not always yield victories. Gladwell does so by sharing a plethora of various stories in which the poor, disabled, or discriminated against actually become successful. He also includes the many stories of people who have lived a prosperous life but have found it to be less rewarding than they expected. Portraying the same outlook of the disadvantaged reigning supreme over the advantaged is the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand. This novel follows main character Equality 7-2521 who realizes he’s quite a bit different from his fellow peers and must deal with the consequences of not being as his name suggests equal to them.…
Ayn Rand was a Russian-born American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter that wrote a book called "Anthem". This fiction book, Anthem, is about a 21 year old guy named Equality 7-2521, who lives in a restricted area full of limits. He isn't suppose to write about anything, which he is in this story. He writes his story in a tunnel under the earth by a candlelight. He isn't suppose to put himself first in any sort of way. He uses plural nouns such as "we, he, they" to describe himself. He was raised without any of his parents but all children in his society.…
The concept of egoism is presented in Anthem, authored by Ayn Rand, using the principle that every man’s primary obligation should be toward his own well-being. Once Equality realizes what the sacred word to his society is, he begins to write about how the concept of altruism should not be placed at the root of a man’s heart, rather the concept of egoism. As Equality sits with his journal he writes, “For the word ‘We’ must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a second thought” (Rand 96). Equality believes that man shall not serve others, rather service themselves in an almost ‘selfish’ manner, with the exception of a man’s choice to work alongside other people. In summary, Equality believes that egoism should be the primary obligation…
In the book “Anthem” everyone is forced against their will in being equally alike; it is against the rules to be different. If you were to disobey the rules or refer to yourself as “I” you will be severely punished or put to death depending on the type of situation. For example, there was a man with gold hair and blue eyes that had his tongue torn out of his mouth and was being burned alive for speaking the unspeakable word. The unspeakable word is the word that equality 7-2521 is intrigued in discovering even though it is a sin. Prometheus (Equality 7-2521) came to understand that he is unique and he can assist his society. His society regards the “best in him” as sinful because his society does not like changes. Prometheus is a man who is…
A young man given the name, Equality 7-2521 is living in a futuristic dark age. He is withheld from a name to prevent any form of individuality, but given a word followed by a series of numbers on an iron bracelet to be worn on his left wrist, as a form of identification by the World Council. Equality 7-2521 has made a moral discovery throughout the story Anthem by Ayn Rand, as discovering his individuality and as he has changed from one who believes that the World Council states all truth, to one who has progressed into someone with the ability to compose ideas and moral values for himself.…
The society was not allowed to pursue one another, instead their mating partner was chosen for them. Equality broke this rule by becoming incredibly attracted to her that he thought of getting to her before she was placed in the house of mating. However, Liberty was attracted to him as well. Which then took place of another sin, the way Equality and Liberty would signal to each other. When the men were sweeping the outskirts of town and the women were working the field, both would lift their hand over their forehead and look upon one another. This gave Equality happiness, even though it was…
In Anthem, Ayn Rand reveals the idea that words can give someone the freedom to choose their own path. Equality, after having suffered from being forced to conform and hide his true self from the oppressive eyes of the society, is now relieved to finally have the missing pieces to his knowledge. He exclaims, “Many words have been granted me, and some are wise, and some are false, but only three are holy: “I will it!” (Rand 94). When Equality discovers the “Unspeakable Word,” he no longer feels restricted to the ties that bind him to the society, despite already having left. He now feels liberated and has finally completed his quest to truly embrace his own individuality. Equality knows that his knowledge of these words will lead him on…
In today's world, the word "ego" is looked upon as a negative attribute. If one were to look up "ego" online, a very common definition that they would find is conceit, or self-importance. For some reason, the world has accepted synonyms such as these to mean the same as ego. The term can also be defined as "the 'I' or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought (Dictionary.com)." One can tell by this that egoism is not always a negative trait, and those with that in their personality are not always a bad influence on the direction of the world. This is shown by the character Prometheus in Ayn Rand's novella Anthem,…
The captivating novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, concentrates on Equality’s changes in his moral assessment. In this story, Equality fights to become independent and to improve the quality of life for him and people around him. Equality, along with the other characters in this novel, thinks it is a sin to write at the beginning of the book. By the end, he has no shame in his sins and has a different moral assessment and perspective of his actions. Equality takes steps throughout the book, starting with the word “We”, and ending with “I”. He puts his instincts to the test, writing and making inventions.…
The dystopian novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand has many Objectivist political agendas hidden within it. At the beginning of the book, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, says that all of his crimes are sins. Some examples of these crimes were his acts of individuality, writing, and interacting with those of the other sex outside of the Time of Mating. To the average American, these do not seem like crimes at all, but they are in the extremely communistic society in which Equality 7-2521 lives in. By making this society appear as evil, Ayn Rand was pushing her Objectivist political view. Equality later had a different moral assessment of these “sins” thinking that they were what made life full. Equality’s eventual assessment of his sin was incorrect, because his sins were hurtful to the community of his town, the World Council, and his own standard of living.…