Essay On Contemporary Society In Ayn Rand's Anthem

In Anthem, Ayn Rand displays how the effects of stringent government control deviates from contemporary society. Rand exposes perils that coincide with the deprival of singularity individuality. The citizens in Anthem live in a dehumanized state and exist in a dystopian society that is comparatively impractical. Based on substantial context in Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the imposition of compulsory coherence, restriction of prior knowledge, and forbiddance of love do not correspond with reality. Much of modern society comprises of embracing individuality, instead of Anthem’s inverted society. In Anthem, citizens do not have their own identities and only live as a single unit. The people repeatedly state that “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One indivisible and forever” (14). In reality, society thrives on competition. No matter if it is physical, academic, or financial competition, superiority is perpetually the goal of every human being. Modern society’s ambition for singularity is imperative in maintaining global progression, which is practically antithetical in comparison to Anthem. Oblivion in Anthem justifies the citizens’ retrograde state. …show more content…
In addition, Anthem’s society censors and condemns the technology of the past. Equality 7-2521, the protagonist in Anthem, reveals that the “Unmentionable Times” consists of times in which “the towers rose to the sky…, the wagons moved without horses…, and the lights burned without flame” (15). Anthem’s suppression of the past is an unrealistic concept that modern society would never adopt, along with the concealing of