Being An Individual In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Improved Essays
In the book Anthem being like everyone else is what they want you to be. They don’t want you to be your own person and they don’t want you to make your own decisions. They want to pick everything for you, and to be honest, who could ever live like that? Being like everyone else would be boring and nobody would be unique. The first consequence of not being an individual is not being able to pick what career field you go into. In Anthem they have certain houses people are assigned to live in or work for. In the book, Equality 7-2521 is assigned as a StreetSweeper where he meets his friend International 4-8818. Equality wanted to be more than a StreetSweeper, he wanted to show what he can. In that situation though, he didn’t have a choice.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, the main character, Equality 7-252 lives in a society where individualism does not exist. From the day they are born till the day they they no longer exist, everyone is the same. When Equality Is given the life mandate of street sweeper, he wishes was a scholar instead. Equality Begins sneaking away to a tunnel to do what he truly loves, studying nature. Equality Soon discovers electricity and light made from it.…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book, Anthem, is about a twenty year old male, who is six feet tall and named Equality 7-2521. His society that he lives in has made him feel as if he was different and being different is the worst transgression to commit. The saying "Curiosity killed the cat", was almost the fate for Equality in this novella and his ego saved him from this tragedy. Equality has always felt like the black sheep in his society and ego plays a huge role as to why he feels this way, throughout the book it is shown through the lack of ego in his society, as well as equality coming more in touch with his egotistical side, and lastly the word "I" becoming more understood.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality renounce his relationships, reputation, and citizenship in order to achieve wisdom, freedom, and individuality. His determination illustrated that immense sacrifice is necessary to stand up for individual beliefs and to attain happiness. When he left his community, Equality gave up his friendly relations. Left behind were those that he worked with such as International, one of Equality’s best friends, and Union, who was familiar to Equality even though not as well liked by Equality. He also would have surrendered his relationship with the Golden One, if she hadn’t followed him into the Uncharted Forest in the first place.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He is growing farther away from the morals he was taught as a young boy. Equality will meet a girl in the story and they will eventually move to the forest and live together. Equality 7-2521 is being treated just like everyone else in his town. He does everything with them and is never separate from his “brothers.” (paragraph-8. Chapter-1)…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most important parts of Anthem was the immorality of the collectivist society in which Equality grew up. In his society, one was not permitted to choose a career, choose a lover, or choose where one lived. Everything was decided for the society and no one had a choice on most aspects of their lives. In the first chapter of the novel, Equality explained how he was told by the teachers, “Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave the Home of Students. You shall do what the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you.…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Individuality in Anthem Society influences the way people think and behave throughout their entire lives. However, the dystopian novel Anthem by Ayn Rand presents a society that controls the behaviors, actions, and even thoughts of their citizens. Rand’s two main characters Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 represent common archetypes found in many other literary works. These archetypes help Rand develop the theme that suppression of individuality depletes peoples’ happiness because it is an essential part of humanity.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By cause of its nature, scientific and technological progress will thrive in an environment where free thinking is allowed and encouraged. In Anthem’s totalitarian society, science and technology is incredibly rudimentary. Their latest invention, the candle, was presented and accepted 100 years ago; they haven’t invented anything in at least a century. When Equality 7-2521 presented his valuable discovery to the Council, they treated him unfairly by disregarding the invention’s many benefits for the society and focusing on the inventor’s so-called “wrongdoing”. The Council condemned Equality for his audacity to disobey the rules that confined him to be a thoughtless, street-sweeping drone.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anthem Essay In Anthem there are a lot of things that are misconstrued, including the wording in the book. Once you get past the wording it turns out to be a fantastic book. Ayn Rand has thought everything through and Anthem has been very well put together. Though, there are some questions that I have, and I am going to break the questions down.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    88% of the people feel threatened when other drivers use cell phones yet 67% of people continue to use cell phones. In Anthem there is no high technology like now days and they do not have any family. In Harrison Bergeron everyone is “ Equal ’’. They do have technology and family. There handicaps keep them from unfair advantage of their brains.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Have you ever thought what if you couldn’t pick your job or what you wear? Well this is what the book of Anthem was all about written by Ayn Rand. The humans that resided in this city could not choose anything. They were told where they had to work based upon how they did in school.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equality 7-2521

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    No individuality just follows the rules and controls Today, people live their lives however they want to, but how about living in a society where everyone is completely equal with no sense individuality? In Anthem, the council decides what is best for the city. The rules are here to maintain the citizens and keep them to be fair as possible. But Equality 7-2521 will change everything about that because he’s tired of living in a society where it controls his life style.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equality 7-2521 is taught from his “first breath” that “ everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from one is evil” (Anthem 85). He is brainwashed by the society to believe the “world council is the body of all truth”(Anthem 2). These ideas are planted into his mind at the beginning of his existence and haunt him throughout his life. Eventually, Equality pursues individuality and finds the truth about his society.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In every society there are a set of rules people follow by to either be controlled or to feel like they fit in their society whether it may be in education, home, or just in life. In one society you must look a certain way to be considered beautiful in most eyes, be a certain size to be considered perfect to be a model who are people who others look up to, wishing they looked like them, a certain gender to be considered stronger and have certain rights, and you must be careful and not say certain things or people will be offended and be disgusted with your opinion. Although not everyone will follow those strict rules and may rebel. Anthem is set in a dystopian future, where there are very strict rules that are set in place where you can not say the word “I” because they must refer to their brothers, who are equal to them and forced to love them. If they speak of “I” they will then be punished to death.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anthem Primarily focuses on one man’s journey to become an individualist while The Soul of an Individualist focuses on mankind as a whole. Even though they focus on different things, both agree that Collectivism as inferior to Individualism. The Soul of an Individualist agrees that Individualism is not about being selfish, but about giving yourself cause to work.. “The creators were not selfless. It is the whole secret of their power - that was self-sufficient, self-motivated, self generated.”…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Egoism In Anthem

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imagine not having your own goal in life. My goal is to become successful. I wouldn't want to share that with anybody, but myself. Imagine not being able to get away from anyone. Well, this happened to Equality in the book, Anthem but in America, you can do whatever you want alone.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays