...Anthem Essay In her essay “How to live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society” Ayn Rand states that in a society with zero judging there could only be two people who had initiative. They could be someone who was willing to create rational and moral judgements for society or a thug who had no moral responsibilities such as a thug who was aware of how irrational the society really is. The character from her novel Anthem Equality 7-2125 would certainly agree with her as he is a person in the former group. He was right to denounce the way of his leaders in moral terms and to leave the City. On Ayn Rand’s Essay In her essay “How to live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society” Ayn Rand states that the only way to keep society rational is to judge others and be prepared to be judged yourself. In her essay Ayn Rand states, “An irrational society is a society of moral cowards—of men paralyzed by the loss of moral standards, principles and goals. But since men have to act, so long as they live, such a society is ready to be taken over by anyone willing to set its direction. The initiative can come from only two types of men: either from the man who is willing to assume the responsibility of asserting rational values—or from the thug who is not troubled by questions of responsibility.”. This is because not judging only benefits the evil overall and not the...
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...He has denounced everything he has ever known. Impeached the contrivance of his leaders to show his brothers the life they deserve to have. In the story, Anthem by Ayn Rand, it illustrates the strong character, Equality. Equality declaims the leaders of his society “The Council” due to their concealing and cruel ways. Living in a loveless, dark age in the future, he found himself alone. Feeling alone, being what his society would call an “unpardonable sin” because he differed from his mindless brothers. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, “The laws say that none among men may be alone,ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil”(17). His brothers are always cowering in fear and sadness, making one know Equality was not only doing what was best, but what was best for his brothers, his community, thus even the world. Although Equality denouncing his leader can throw off the balance and scare citizens of his community with shock, if he hadn’t taken a stand his brothers would have continued to be depressed. His brothers are depressed due to being unfairly placed into...
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...corrupt. Ayn Rand, the author of the novella Anthem, strongly believed that in order to have a progressive and stable economy, a country must have a free market. This belief is supported by the history of many post-communist countries. The Russian federation is one of the most well known post-communist countries. This is because once a free market was introduced, the countries scientists and scholars had a chance to develop innovations and advance society. With the freedoms...
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...The world described in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem is technologically primitive, which Equality 7-2521 attributes to mankind’s absence of individuality. Society believes that “‘We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE,’” which displays the extent to which men have lost their individuality. Equality 7-2521 blames this “worship of the word ‘We’” as the reason that “all thought, all science, [and] all wisdom perish[ed] on earth.” When men are no longer able to pursue their ideas, but rather comply to the wishes of mankind, there is a distinct absence of science and technology. The government in Anthem strives to maintain the status quo, which is displayed during Equality 7-2521’s presentation to the Council of Scholars, where the Scholars explain their reason for a lack of new inventions: “Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past. . . but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandon their ideas, as all men must.” The Council of Scholars then describe how Equality 7-2521’s invention would “wreck...
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...ANTHEM QUESTIONS Chapter I – Response 1 In a well-organized paragraph, describe the society in which Anthem is set. Some areas to consider are the political structure, degree of technology, social relationships, quality of life, and education. ALSO comment on the following: ➢ Would you want to live in this society? Explain why or why not. ➢ How would your teachers react if you had Equality’s “curse”? ➢ Why do Equality’s teachers disapprove of his quick mind? Chapter II – Response 2 . Re-read the account of Liberty 5-3000 on or around page 38. Which character traits are revealed in this brief description? . Find several examples of the ways in which this society tries to obliterate each individual’s mind (and self!) by quashing personal choices, desires, and values. . Of the whole range of feelings possible to man (joy, excitement, anger, embarrassment, etc.) why is fear the prevalent emotion in this society? Explain the following terms-- WHAT do each of these terms symbolize? If you think about it, they are easy to label. The Great Truth, the Unmentionable Times, the Uncharted Forest, the Evil Ones, the Great Rebirth Chapter III – Response 3 Clearly, up to this point and beyond, Ayn Rand intended Equality to stand out from his “brothers.” Explain how she accomplishes this by contrasting Equality’s physical qualities and character traits to those of his fellow men. . What...
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... This is the dystopian setting of George Orwell's 1984, Ayn Rand's Anthem, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, where the motif of collectivism and control works to convey the message that collectivism and control make totalitarian control second nature. Totalitarian control through collectivism plants its seeds through childhood brainwashing. In the book 1984, brainwashing is carried out through organizations such as the Junior Spies and the Junior Anti-Sex League. Winston says, "… by means of organizations...
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...In Ayn Rand's novel Anthem, the author describes how a man's oppression can not contain Equalities desire for freedom much like The Cave. The claims are supported by Rand’s illustration of Equalities long journey to becoming an individual and likewise in The Cave. As the prisoner escapes the cave and enters the real world to discover what he thought of the world was not true. Rands purpose was to point out the flaws in society - (For the coming of that day shall i fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor - Rand; page 104”, while Plato showed the flaws in humans by believing what they see and not what they know! Both authors write in a very serious tone for readers interested in Science Fiction novels....
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...Imagine a world with no freedom where there is no individuality and equality. Plot of Anthem by Ayn Rand, she talks about this place where is no freedom. The citizens of this place did not even have names, they had numbers and had to do everything together no matter what it is. Equality 7-25271 one of the citizens, is a very interesting man he thinks that each one should be treated as an individual. He started to do things that he should not do like have his own project to work on, spend time with himself alone, and get caught and go to jail. “We put a piece of copper and a piece of zinc into a jar of brine, we touched a write to them, and there, under our fingers, was a miracle which had never occurred before, a new miracle and a new power.”(Rand 52-53). Equality was cutting open a body of a dead frog, the leg was moving. The frog had been hanging on a wire of copper, and it had been the metal of the knife which had sent a strange power to the copper through the brine of the frog’s body. After a lot of exploration equality discovers light which he decides to work on individually to invent a light bulb....
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...In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem the main character, Equality 2-2521, and the girl he’s into, Liberty 5-3000, are very similar but at the same time they have many differences. The novella focuses on Equality the whole time. It focuses on him from his younger years where he was always different from his brothers, and his later years where he transgresses a lot. He knows he’s different and when he finds a secret subway he’s able to practice experiments and learn. He then builds a light and when he shows the city council they reject it. Equality then goes to live in the uncharted forest where he and Liberty then find a house and live out their life. Equality and Liberty are similar in the fact that they both have an understanding of the world they...
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...Have you ever felt like someone was watching you or knew what you were going to do next? This is how Equality 7-2521 was treated when he was assigned to the Home of the Street Sweepers in Ayn Rand’s book, “Anthem.” In the communistic society that Equality was living in, there was someone in society that had to try to make sure that the system kept its order. While Equality was growing up, his instructors saw that he was smarter than his fellow classmates and didn’t always like to follow the rules. This is why Equality got assigned to the Home of the Street Sweepers, because they knew that he was going to revolutionize the society too fast. This is a problem because if too many people resided behind him and he decided that he did not like something...
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...Anthem by Ayn Rand Author's Foreword |F.1 |This story was written in 1937. | |F.2 |I have edited it for this publication, but have confined the editing to its style; I have reworded some passages and cut | | |out some excessive language. No idea or incident was added or omitted; the theme, content and structure are untouched. The| | |story remains as it was. I have lifted its face, but not its spine or spirit; these did not need lifting. | |F.3 |Some of those who read the story when it was first written, told me that I was unfair to the ideals of collectivism; this | | |was not, they said, what collectivism preaches or intends; collectivists do not mean or advocate such things; nobody | | |advocates them. | |F.4 |I shall merely point out that the slogan "Production for use and not for profit" is now accepted by most men as | | |commonplace, and a commonplace stating a proper, desirable goal. If any intelligible meaning can be discerned in that | | |slogan at all, what is it, if not the idea that the motive of a man's work must be the needs of others, not his own need, | | |desire or gain? ...
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