Selflessness In Ayn Rand's Anthem

"Everyone is so, not only ourselves here--the things that existed before are no longer valid, and one practically knows them no more.distinctions, breeding, education are changed, are almost blotted out and hardly recognizable any longer. Sometimes they give an advantage for profiting by a situation;--but they also bring consequences along with them, in that they arouse prejudices which have to be overcome. It is as though formerly we were coins of different provinces; and now we are melted down, and all bear the same stamp. To rediscover the old distinctions, the metal itself must be tested. First we are soldiers and afterwards, in a strange and shamefaced fashion, individual men as well."

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.

Have you ever heard common phrases such as “every man for himself”? Phrases like this are common sayings that have been knitted into our vocabulary which demonstrate our egotistic nature. From a young age, we’ve been told that we must take care of ourselves first, because no one else will. On the contrary, the book, Anthem, presents a society that is shockingly different. From not being able to use the pronoun, “I” to the idea of living only to serve to serve fellow men, the altruistic, “we” society presented in Anthem is the exact opposite of America’s egotistic, “me” society, due to the fact that we are a capitalist society and because of our society’s competitive nature.

By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.”(21) The Council wants everyone living for themselves so that there is no feeling for others that can create people to figure out things the Council does not want the people in the community finding out. Breaking any of the rules the society has set up can lead to very harsh punishment or even death.

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.

These fallacies serve to justify their existence. They also maintain it as well, yet not very well. The fallacies also provide the basis for which Equality could escape and eventually dismantle their society. As the reader can see, this essay has provided a thorough overview of the collectivist society in Anthem, its creation, maintenance, and flaws, one can only hope that it will be enough to stop one from

This individualism thrived during the Revolutionary War as the Americans created their own democratic nation in response to a monarchy that would not allow them to govern themselves (Bellah 142). Individualism fueled the American dream of bettering one’s life using one’s own grit. It was the defining ideology that led pioneers out west to start afresh. Up until the 1950s, however,

Religion has been long intertwined within the roots of the nation since the conception of the United States. It began with the Puritans who fled religious persecution and settled in the New World, to the Founding Fathers who cited God in the Declaration of Independence. While the constitution legally separates church and state, God and religious symbols have always played a part in all major political events and institutions. Robert Bellah refers to this phenomenon in his work, “Civil Religion”, as civil religion, a term he borrows from Jean Jacques Rousseau. According to Bellah, civil religion is an attempt at defining the American experience through a set of religious beliefs, symbols and rituals.

In the novella Anthem, individual rights and freedom do not exist. The word “I” is prohibited to be spoken by men. Equality 7-2521 is a street sweeper of the city and he is different from the others in the society. Equality is more intelligent, taller, learns quicker, and he enjoys learning about science; especially how things move and work. Since the word “I” is the unspeakable word, Equality uses the word “We” to resemble that he is doing these actions .

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.

Collectivism and Selfishness in Anthem Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon.

Absolutely everyone serves the society for what he or she was educated into or conditioned for and this idea connects to Marx’s quote to attain a stage of social balance hence the motto, “ Community, Identity,

Losing your individuality for the sake of the stability of the masses. Individualism is not possible because of the style of government seen in Brave New World. Social stability is the end goal of all societies, the Brave New World was stable but at a great cost to its citizens. This book

However, he fails to realize that collectivism still exists outside his tunnel of intellectual and individualistic refuge. Thus, the council is horrified by his invention using personal thought and they mock and ridicule him, even threatening to burn him at the stake. One member of the council, International 1-5537, points out the major issue with Equality’s invention, saying “what is not done collectively cannot be good” (Anthem 73). The Council fails to understand the basic idea that Rand proposes in “The Soul of an Individualist” in which she says that “no work is ever done collectively, by a major decision. Every creative job is achieved under the guidance of a single individual thought” (Rand).

It conveys the message that the common goal of a society will eventually be achieved if every one of us in the society adheres to a certain standard. But the fact is, not everyone will submit himself/herself to a communal cause. And it is apparent that Fuller’s ideological mindset somewhat inherits