“On their third meeting he buys her a lemonade and makes a young guy in the carriage stand up so that she can sit down.” (Father’s actions) pg.3…
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.…
Who is the birthday party a rite of passage for, the birthday boy or his mother?…
From the days pilgrims first kissed the land so rich, to the days they proclaimed the songs of liberty, America was indeed "the land of the free," as Francis Scott Key once said. Those who flocked to America had the same dreams of freedom which they have been denied the right of in their mother land. They came to America with the pursuit of happiness. Once they obtained their happiness, their new found freedom, they undoubtedly revolted against all those who stood against their beloved treasure. Before any of this could be achieved, many struggled. Tears of anguish, disappear, and agony have been shed through years of hunger and slavery, yet little was done to give people the right to live as if "all men [were] created equal." Many groups struggled to get the freedom we now have. I am Joaquin, Necessary to Protect Ourselves, and What Is An American all portray group struggles for freedom, which persuade others to fight for freedom many of us still have not achieved through the reader's appeal to their emotions.…
The hardest type of change is that which we ask for and deem necessary, especially when we feel as though we will not be heard or seen by those we hope to reach; when we are the minority or the oppressed. It takes an immense strength and will to make that type of change happen, but it only takes one person to start it. The amazing thing is that seeing the power of one stand up to the majority sparks others to have the power and courage to do so as well. This spark, spreading like fire is not easily extinguished; fighting it only makes it grow stronger; it is only calmed by achieving the necessary change it burns for. The Declaration of Independence, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and A Vindication of the Rights of Women all…
Independence Day, since the first signing of the Declaration of Independence, has been a nationwide victorious day filled with cheer in celebration of the United States gaining freedom from the British Crown. The Declaration of Independence stated itself that, “[they] hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are the Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” but what’s not commonly grasped is that the effects of the Declaration of Independence did not at all do what it was expected of. Frederick Douglass, however, did realize the results were unsatisfactory.…
Throughout the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the society in which Equality lives strongly discourages individual effort. Instead, Equality is constantly told that only things done collectively with all his brothers can be good. Anything that does not include all is evil. When Equality discovers the forbidden word, “I”, he finds the joy one can experience by recognizing individual accomplishments. When Equality says “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers” he is realizing that while living in his collectivist society he was never truly free and to be truly free he must make decisions based on his own interests.…
To be in full control of a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. A man’s mind and the knowledge that a man has is his most powerful weapon. By depleting the mind of knowledge, a man cannot be in control of his own self and therefore is more easily conquered. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, the leaders and society in her book seek to accomplish control by choosing the jobs for the people, keeping the word “I” unknown, and maintaining a sense of unity from birth.…
Society, in its original purpose, formed to serve the community. It consisted of individuals working towards the benefit of the group, as well as themselves. Although, overtime, society’s intent changed. We, as a society now, collectively attribute to everyone becoming blindly ambitious towards reaching a position complacent to the existing state of affairs. Yet, one, or even many influential people can rupture the societal control and attain true freedom. Such individuals can even liberate many others around them. Moreover, various works of art and literature display how someone submits to the status quo over time or refuses to conform to society’s standards. For instance, Bobbie Harro details how people become placid and content with the…
In the novel The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and real life, some people stand up to oppression and prejudice while others don’t. Different things allow people to do this and sometimes it can be different for each person. In the novel, We see two main people standing up to the system of oppression in South Africa. Mrs. Boxall stands up to prejudice and oppression by starting the Sandwich Fund, an effort dedicated to giving clothes and supplies to the needy families of South Africa and the families of the prisoners in Barberton Prison. Mrs. Boxall was only able to stand up in this way because of the unique opportunities she had in the first place.…
Imagine if your own government controls every aspect of your life. Well, in the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand that is how it is. In this book they live in a dystopian society which means that their way of life is corrupted. Their government or council as they call it, in the book tells them how to act. They tell them that you cannot even think about themselves in the first person, meaning they can’t say I or me at all. Their society is a collectivism, so they think about the group over themselves. Nobody can even have any relationships with anybody other than their gender. The government should not have the right to control an individual because, they hold people back so they can’t reach their full potential, it is not fair to tell people what they can think about, and finally it not right to tell people who they can talk to.…
Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom, Vol. I. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.…
American society, since the beginning, has always been built around the strength of one word; Freedom. Yet, somehow, “freedom” always seems to fall short of its whole significance.…
As individual’s we are not limited to just singularly enriching or challenging a community of group. Our role is not definitive; there is not a concrete set of parameters that must be adhered to, thus, our impact on a community or group is multi-layered. Individually we all have an ability to govern our contribution and influence on a community or group, which is determined by the way in which we perceive, and more importantly, act upon our personal views of a communities or groups’ systems, values and principles. Ultimately, every individual has the capacity to synonymously enrich and challenge a community or group. Moreover, they do not have to challenge a group per se, but can accompany this challenging of conformity with enriching the community, making it better off and richer and adding value to it from their involvement. Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It,’ Jim Loach’s ‘Oranges and Sunshine’ and Armin Greder’s ‘The Island’ convey how individuals have this potential and choose to act accordingly due to personal beliefs, morals, consequences or even unknowingly.…
The relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed is not strictly divided, but rather one that is constantly intermingling. The oppressor is, often times, also the oppressed. Although oppression is dehumanizing for both parties, it is possible to become free. In order to become free, however, one must must fight for it.…