...Egoists are often thought of as being full of themselves or believing that the world revolves around them, but is that really the case? In the novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the main character demonstrates egoism as being a healthy amount of self-confidence and individualism. He shows that egoism is not negative, rather it should be encouraged. Egoism provides us with individualism and with individualism, we gain a reason to live. We realize that the have a role on the Earth and that we are a human being with rights and a chance to make a difference. The narrator in Anthem shows a perfect example of egoism and the reason why egoism is not something to be ashamed of. I believe that in the novel, Anthem, the main character, Prometheus, is an egoist....
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...isolation comes reflection. An individual’s thoughts spark new innovations that will advance and cause development in the world. Ignorance of new ideas can cause a society to remain stagnant. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, demonstrates that denial of originality can result in a lack of change. A collectivist society will never evolve and progress. When a society lacks originality and thoughts by the individual, there will be no room to advance. If officials forbid working alone, the only ideas they will come about will be those of their own. They choose to only accept the ideas of the group, but all people thinking the same thing is impossible. Rand demonstrates the weakness the scholars show by sharing a statement about their rules. “‘What is not...
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...Ayn Rand “I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.” (Rand. 58). Ayn Rand treasured her personal beliefs, which were reflected through her writing. Rand lived in two distinct countries: Russia and the United States, during her lifetime. Ayn also lived during a time where many major global events occurred. A very unique and interesting childhood and adult life, subjective beliefs and philosophies, and major events occurring in the world around her were all factors that contributed to Ayn Rand’s perspective and style of writing in her infamous novel, Anthem. Ayn Rand, the oldest of three daughters, was born on February 2, 1906 (Gladstein. 3,4). Rand’s given birth name was Alisa Zinovievna...
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...In Ayn Rand's dystopian, novel Anthem, the author shows that society or individuality is not acceptable. Neither is personal freedom and independent thinking. This is shown throughout the book as the characters are assigned numbers not names, and individualism is forbidden. They are not allowed to call each other by pronouns. The world depicted in Ayn Rand's Anthem can be seen as just a book, but not a direct production of the future. “There's nothing to take a man’s freedom from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.”(Rand 92) In this quote Equality 7-2521 says that individuals are free on their own unless another man disrupts them with the man's expectations based on their life. The author sees this brotherhood...
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...Athena Garcia Mrs. McClary English 4, P.4 10/30/17 Gaea Women throughout time have been pushed to the side as they are thought to have a lower status in society compared to men. This has been like this starting with the time Greeks lived to today in our world. Men have almost always been the dominant beings. Ayn Rand’s Anthem she questions the societal norm of women in a world of dystopia and male dominance. With the idea that women are to be a obedient and nurturing females Ayn Rand's portrayal of women in Anthem steers women into a place of inferiority. One way that women are thought to be inferior is when it comes to the women’s responsibilities to society created in Anthem they are obviously unfair. When it comes to the government,...
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...commend him for his contributions to their society; inevitably, however, Equality recognizes the impossibility of his situation as the council berates him and denounces his invention, claiming that since it had not been devised in cooperation with his brothers, it was a sinful abomination that needed to be destroyed. Utilizing her characters as a means for presenting her ideas about morality, Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem illustrates a fundamental truth about the necessity of an objective moral framework within a society. Similarly, in her essay How Does One Live a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?, Rand poses her ideology that morality is objective and an absolute essential to a functional society. In both her essay and in Anthem, Rand explores the necessity for an objective morality in society, blah blah blah, and blah blah blah implications of a society....
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...Free Will in Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” Ayn Rand’s short novel, “Anthem,” depicts a collectivist society where any thoughts are only considered good if they are thought by everyone. Individuality is considered a sin. Children are taken from their parents and raised in a collective unit. One’s vocation is not decided by the individual, but rather appointed to them by a group. The main character, Equality 7-2521 (Prometheus), is a free thinker who longs to learn all he can in hopes of making a contribution to his town, and being promoted to one of the scholars. However, when he presents his discovery (electricity) to the “World Council of Scholars” the group is terrified because they have never seen anything like it before. Prometheus is scorned, rejected, and sentenced to be burned at the stake because of his choosing to think as an individual. Free will is something that many people take for granted these days, but in the world...
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...Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem connects to our society and history. The novel and our society both have groups of jobs and laws that have to be followed. Also, the novel and our history both involve communism. To begin with, Anthem and our society both have groups of jobs. Equality 7-2521 states, “They called the Students’ names, and when the Students stepped before them, one after another, the Council said: “Carpenter” or “Doctor” or “Cook” or “Leader.”” (Rand 10). This quote shows that the group of jobs in the novel, are present in today’s society. In conclusion, this quote supports the idea that Anthem has a connection with our society. In addition, Anthem and our society have laws that have to be followed. Equality 7-2521 says,...
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...Zinn’s style. Rand says, “Altruism is evil” (Ayn). Altruism is the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Certainly not what Rand stood for, but Howard Zinn did. He believed in being there for your neighbor, friends, family, or others who needed you. Rand’s Objectivism was also not a loving and caring philosophy. She never once said, “Remember your friends and family, they are the ones who will be there when you fall.” Consistent with a display of selfish values, those were her ideas, “what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine.” Her ideas lacked generosity and faith or religion. Difficult as it may seem, she was said to be a nice old lady who has been just like a cuddly grandma, that's hard to imagine. Wikipedia says of Objectivisim, “that the only social system consistent with this morality is one that displays full respect for individual rights embodied in “Laissez-Faire Capitalism”, and that the role of art in human life is to transform humans' metaphysical ideas by selective reproduction of reality into a physical form—a work of art—that one can...
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...Anthem: A Mind above them all Ayn Rand's Anthem is the story of a human in discovering personal growth and what he is inside and a quest for something he has never sought for before. Our protagonist equality struggles to find meaning in this life and understands his own unique nature. The only issue is the dystopian society, he lives in, they produce rules and control everyone’s lives within the society. An equality was always different than others and ended up breaking the rules that were bound to set him and his mind and chains. Many rules were set, some that made no sense and provoked anyone from branching out to a different life than everyone else is living. The rules of equality society were made in order to make sure that all the...
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...Ayn Rand's Anthem depicts a completely collectivist society which is similar to the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry a futuristic society that had removed pain, fear, war, and hatred. Equality 7-2521 and Jonas are both in a society where they had no choice in what job was given to them. Equality was given the job of street sweeper due to his compliance to the council, while Jonas received the job of "The Receiver", which is the most trusted job in his society. It is one person suffering the knowledge of the past to make sure history will not repeat itself. Both characters were given their lives with no control over it. Past and present day societies treat their people in a similar way to Lois Lowry's Giver and Ayn Rand's Anthem's dystopian...
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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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...Throughout Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 in conflict himself on how to think in his society. The totalitarian government controls the progress of technology and prohibits the flow of new ideas from other people that would strengthen the society as a whole. The council knew about the Unmentionable Times, and if everyone has the ability to think like Equality 7-2521, without fear, they would be more advanced in the field of science and technology. In the society of Anthem, technology is very outdated and primitive. This implies that the society does not have the necessary qualities that science and technology needs to progress and prosper. Comparing Anthem to the society that Ayn Rand was surrounded by, they are both primitive in their technology and willingness to accept foreign ideas. During the communist reign...
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...One very prominent area of a society is its technology. The technology of a society can determine a lot about it, including its way of life. In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem the technology is very primitive. There is no electricity, so they live by candle light. There are strides made by the character Equality 7-2521 to improve this. After much hard work, Equality is able to recreate the light bulb. By the way this story is written, you can gather how Rand feels about science, technology, and advances in these areas. From her writing, you can presume that Rand is for technology, science and its improvements. In Anthem, Equality represents technological advances and those who seek them. He sees a lightning bolt and tries to recreate it so humans...
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...Ayn Rand’s Anthem takes place in a society that discourages individual thoughts and actions. The author herself was living in Europe as World War II was breaking out. Most of the people in Europe then were thought of as a whole, not as individuals. Ayn Rand felt as if she were being encouraged not to think individually, and wrote Anthem to warn people about the dangers of not being themselves. The characters in the novel are kept ignorant about any individual ideas by the rulers of their society, the Council. This prevents the people from asking questions and keeping them in the Council’s pocket. They are not allowed to say the word ‘I’, instead using the collective term ‘we’. They make their people repeat the same phrase over and over again...
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