Resilience In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Through old books and past inventions he understands that being unequal to those around him is not a terrible thing. A little closer inside his mind, it seems like Equality 7-2521 has always been the

Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an affliction to be born with powerful intellectual capacity and ambition in Ayn Rand’s apocalyptic, nameless society in Anthem. Collectivism is ostensibly the moral guidepost for humanity, and any perceived threat to the inflexible, authoritarian regime is met with severe punishment. The attack on mankind’s free will and reason is most evident in the cold marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). Societal norms force homogeneity and sacrifice among all people.

Equality 7-2521 then goes back to show the Council what he invented but the Council did not accept mainly because of the thought that he was thinking as “I” not “we”. “‘Our brothers!’ we said. ‘We matter not, nor our transgression. It is only out brother men who matter.

As the novella progresses Equality transforms into an individual who isn’t afraid to flaunt his individuality. “When I shall have read all the books and learned my new way, when my home will be ready and my earth tilled, I shall steal one day, for the last time into the cursed City of my birth.” (Rand 101). Thus doing so Equality wants to educate himself and bring the others to his new home in order to create his own society where people are free to be themselves. There he and the others will embrace the word “I” and be free to become

In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, mankind is a philanthropic machine. The brotherhood nobly works together to achieve a common goal. In doing so, each man is asked to disregard his own personal means and goals. For every decision must be a collective thought and every advancement, a joint action. However, one man in this machine malfunctions.

Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 2nd, 1905. She was only twelve years old when the Bolshevik Revolution led to her father’s pharmacy being nationalized and this event birthed her hatred for communism. She then decided she would use her story-writing skills to express her disliking of collectivism and its impact on Russia. Rand later studied at the University of Petrograd, now known as St. Petersburg, where she studied philosophy and graduated in 1924 with highest honors in history. After graduating, Rand became convinced that Soviet society was not going to change favorably for her

Equality grows up with a superior intellect and ambition than all others around him, so the Council of Vocations assign him to street sweeper in the hope that Equality will give up his thirst of knowledge. He starts becoming self-aware and everyday for three hours he sits in a secret tunnel accumulating new knowledge. He

Most who read this book would not come close to thinking these actions were wrong only the numbers of people in Equality’s generation would think this. Equality’s childhood was limited just as every other person around him. Apart from a few minor distinctions from the regular drone Equality was seemingly regular. One immense difference that changed his life was his level of intelligence. This put him above others and he was punished for being superior in more than one way.

Equality defies the council of scholars and his government by studying and learning about the world. “How dare you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the mind of your brothers” (Rand 71). Equality goes against

It’s an obvious difference between taking pride in oneself and taking another's life, but where does humanity draw the line between wrong and right. In the dystopian world of Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, none of these problems are existent due to lack of individuality. This makes Equality 7-2521’s need to be an individual seem all the more drastic, no matter how innocent it may seem to readers. Equality’s need to be his own person and motivation to follow his childhood dream of being a

The next morning Equality wakes up not knowing what to do, because back at home there is a bell every morning to wake all of him and his brothers up. Enjoying the feeling of freedom, he makes his way to a stream, and there it was, his reflection. Equality had never seen himself before. Neither had anyone else from his

Equality is right to be motivated this way because for once someone who is not a scholar has invented something that the scholars have never thought of. The scholars even rejected his invention because they said it would decrease the production of candles, but truthfully they rejected his invention because they were in fear of his knowledge and intelligence. The idea of Equality’s invention came from the experiments he conducted and the days of work he tried to discover this so called “electricity”. “We forgot all men, all laws and all things save our metals and our wires. So much is still to be learned!

How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family. The Anthem society in forcing of strict laws made it easy for everyone to lose their individuality.

Equality suffers greatly from his cause. Equality’s cause is to be able to create an invention that will appease the council of scholars, and further the knowledge of the society. He also wants to use this as forgiveness for his sins. However despite Equality’s best intentions, he is persecuted for his individuality. “A street sweeper!

  The act of this society, repeating every day that they are all so equal ingrains in all the citizens’ minds that they are exactly the same.   This discourages individual growth, Equality uses this growth to create