Ego, what do people think when this word comes to mind? Probably yourself and individuality, not communal nor in a group. In Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem she clearly develops the theme of ego. When Ayn Rand published Anthem there was a great deal of violence throughout the world. WWII was occurring when she wrote the novel. This impacted her life negatively. She traveled to various places in order to escape the cruelty, meaning she had to adapt to all the circumstances. While she was writing, and identified collectivism across the Earth. Anthem is about a dystopian society in which the individuals are not valued, and everything is in a group, as a community. The author conveys many themes, but the main theme is a man’s ego. The theme of a man’s
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In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the society is dystopian. Nobody there knows the words ego, one’s individuality, or I because everything is communal. People don’t and cannot refer to themselves; they refered to “we”, as in many, more than one. Ayn Rand said in her book, “And a man will go on. Man, not men” (Rand 104). Rand is trying to state that you should put yourself first than other people and that you should stand out as one individual, not as a whole. To stand out in the collectivist society and determine yourself to be able to succeed. Equality 7-2521, defends his work as if it was a part of him. When Equality 7-2521 goes to the Council of Scholars with the electricity he had created, the members of the group declined the light. Equality stood up and said that they can do whatever they want with his body if they accepted the electricity. The readers can see that he is willing to defend his work even if it took him to death. The light symbolizes truth. The theme of a man’s ego is also denoted from Anthem when Equality finds the books and starts to learn knowledge from the world. Ayn Rand states, “We found a room with walls made of shelves, which held rows of manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling. Never had we seen such a number of them, nor such a strange shape. They were not soft and rolled; they had hard shells of cloth and leather. We glanced through the pages, and we saw that they were written in our …show more content…
We see that Rand prefers for an individual to rise than to rise as a society. The message that Rand is trying to convey is to put yourself first than others and to distinguish yourself from the collectivist world, in which everyone is the same. Rand is defending one’s individuality and the importance it
In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the society is dystopian. Nobody there knows the words ego, one’s individuality, or I because everything is communal. People don’t and cannot refer to themselves; they refered to “we”, as in many, more than one. Ayn Rand said in her book, “And a man will go on. Man, not men” (Rand 104). Rand is trying to state that you should put yourself first than other people and that you should stand out as one individual, not as a whole. To stand out in the collectivist society and determine yourself to be able to succeed. Equality 7-2521, defends his work as if it was a part of him. When Equality 7-2521 goes to the Council of Scholars with the electricity he had created, the members of the group declined the light. Equality stood up and said that they can do whatever they want with his body if they accepted the electricity. The readers can see that he is willing to defend his work even if it took him to death. The light symbolizes truth. The theme of a man’s ego is also denoted from Anthem when Equality finds the books and starts to learn knowledge from the world. Ayn Rand states, “We found a room with walls made of shelves, which held rows of manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling. Never had we seen such a number of them, nor such a strange shape. They were not soft and rolled; they had hard shells of cloth and leather. We glanced through the pages, and we saw that they were written in our …show more content…
We see that Rand prefers for an individual to rise than to rise as a society. The message that Rand is trying to convey is to put yourself first than others and to distinguish yourself from the collectivist world, in which everyone is the same. Rand is defending one’s individuality and the importance it