...what is and is not allowed in the totalitarianistic society pictured in Anthem, by Ayn Rand, and proceeds regardless. While the outright and truthful account is being given at the beginning, the reader comes to understand that Equality is unsure of what the response will be to his purposeful fracture of the law. But something more subtle is apparent following the conclusion of the book: Equality’s underlying carelessness with the law. Though acknowledging his refusal to adhere to every law set forth by the Council, he still maintains his sense of apprehension. The arc Equality undergoes throughout the course of Anthem...
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...Socialism. Altruism. Communism. The great evil of collectivism bears many names, but all are based upon the same unattainable ideal: equality. The societies that embrace these totalitarian political forms, including that of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, intend to become the paragon of parity by having their citizens sacrifice their own happiness for that of their brethren. The leaders of Anthem’s supposedly egalitarian society justify this subtly sadistic method of rule with the ideals of equality, fraternity, and selflessness. The principles that blinded Equality 7-2521’s brethren to the grim reality they faced too often imbue members of modern society, especially as these standards are broadcasted by religious, social, and governmental groups. The...
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...Imagine not being allowed to be yourself due to your society telling you so and you aren’t allowed to question it. That’s how Equality is in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem; the leaders of his society disapprove of people being an individual. No one questions the logic of the leaders, including Equality, until the book concluded. He writes down his thoughts and feelings, knowing he is not allowed to, which causes him to question why they can not be who they want to be. Equality sets out on a personal journey to figure out answers why and once he gets those answers, his approving thoughts of the leaders change to critical and denouncing thoughts. Children are taught obedience, but maybe they are actually taught compliance. Equality complied for years...
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...In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, people are indoctrinated in a utopian society, the oppressive dictatorship that society has been ruled by has never seen much hostility. This is about to change because people have free will and free thought. People have not known that life could be different. But one person, Equality 7-2521, wishes for himself instead of following the collective ideology. This frightens him at first so he hides his thoughts from others. He has heard stories of torture, and even witnessed this at the young age of 10, and reports of imprisonment at the Palace of Corrective Detention. Equality is a hero that discovers the glitch in the matrix. Being a coward is about to change, all because of free will. Living under an oppressive government is like living as a soulless, mindless robot....
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...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. Laws and rules are crafted to prevent advancement and preserve relentless...
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