People In Anthem By Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand, created Anthem based on the concept of every man should be akin to one another. There can’t be any individualism, they have to accept and undertake whatever the council say, and believe whatever they tell them. On pg. 19 it stated, “ the World Council is the body of all truth.” People in Anthem don’t think for themselves, but are being manipulated by the World Council.
To start, there isn’t much going on in this society. The latest inventions are candles and glass, which is because the scholars aren’t doing their job so well. I think the council is purposely regulating where people are going to go. People that should be scientists and scholars are put in lower quality jobs, and the rest is put in higher quality jobs to keep the
world the way they want it. It’s crazy how it took fifty years to establish candles. As a result, the main character is being discriminated because he was different from his brothers.
Equality 7-2521 is an intelligent, curious, brave, and radiant character in the story.“ We were born with a curse” (Pg. 18). The curse was being taller than the rest of his brothers, and because of his mindset, he thinks it is evil. He thinks that his best abilities are evil, for example, learning came easy to him “ It is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too great”(Pg. 21). So he tried to be someone he’s not, someone inferior to himself. He understands things before his teacher even explain it. So if he had been put in the home of the scholars, he had potential to be a great
scientist. Instead of being a scholar, the Council of Vocation assigned Equality the job of a street sweeper. I think that the Council of Vocation isn’t incompetent, but instead the opposite. They know what it is that make Equality special: what he shines at. Instead of forging Equality into a great scholar, they lay him aside and hope that he’ll become like the rest of his brothers. For them to have the ability to choose your job is another way to control them. That is why instead of giving him the status of a scholar, they made him into a street sweeper. Even though Equality brothers also caused trouble (fights), only he was punished. It was like an excuse to assigned Equality as a street sweeper, so he wouldn’t become a scholar. Preventing him to ask questions about the world around him, preventing him to question them. So, I don’t think it was an error that they assigned him as a street sweeper.
They did it on purpose to prevent him from figuring out the forbidden word “I”, and telling his brothers. Obviating the world from reverting back to when they didn’t worship the word “WE”: the world that the council demolished and then reformed. They made rules to prevent the people to think for themselves or notice another person’s individualism, and if the rules are not followed, they will be punished. This brings fear in the people and causes them to be diligent at all time, so they don’t break the rules. While they are distracted all the time, except when they sleep, they won’t have time to think about the cruel world they live in. Their emotions are stripped away; people in Anthem are overworked. They become soulless puppets that are being
manipulated. Liberty said to Equality “Your eyes,” they said,” are not like the eyes of any among men” (Pg.44). Liberty is saying Equality is not a puppet, and still has life in him. That life gave him courage to make the decisions that will eventually lead him to discover the things of the unmentionable times, and feelings he never felt before. Those decisions lead him to stumble on the word “I”, the opposite of what the council wants. Bringing back the word “I”, bring back human individuality. To conclude, the people in Anthem don’t think for themselves, but instead being manipulated by the World Council. The World Council isn’t just unintentionally placing the intelligent individuals in lower jobs and allows undistinguished people to take their position in society. So the World Council isn’t incompetent and they are suppressing people from rebelling against their idea of society. A place where the word “I” is forbidden and the word “we” is worshiped.