The Power Of Equality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Improved Essays
What does Equality finally understand about his society when the Council threatens to destroy his invention? How do they respond to his invention? Think historically as well be specific.
In the novella "Anthem" by Ayn Rand, Equality is enlightened about his society when the council threatens to destroy his invention.
From the threatening of the destruction of Equality's invention, he understood that they are confined and in bondage to working with others while suppressing their opinions and beliefs.
For example, the Collective 0-0009 first response to the invention of Equality's invention was " we have much to say to a wretch who have broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy! How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Equality believing his discovery would be accepted and helpful to his society made the decision to I believe Equality was right to do so. Equality found who he was and the way society was meant to…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    So because Equality is so smart he thinks he is better than everyone else. Which kinda refers to Ayn Rand's philosophy Equality makes himself smarter and smarter in his quest for knowledge. I kinda pushes him to make and do the experiments that he does. Also another thing that pushed him is him knowing that his invention will impact his brothers and sisters. He says this in Chapter five page sixty , “Our discovery is too great for us to waste our time in sweeping the street’.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Equality 7-2521 knows his invention will benefit mankind, he did not intend for it's purpose to be that. His primary motivation is the need to prove that he is the greatest of the people, who contributed even as a measly street sweeper. Equality should be motivated this way, because in a world where everyone is limited in their thinking to benefit man collectively, Equality has no such burden. Throughout "Anthem" it shows that when the scholars have had the mindset of collectively helping mankind advance, they are then limited and refuse to accept more radical idea's. However, through history the theory is often shown that when countries advance in technology and new inventions the primary motivation is greed.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He tried not to understand what the teachers were teaching him. His downfall was that Equality always remembered what the teachers taught him. Equality could even know what the teachers were going to say before they even spoken a single word. Equality even tried to pair his self with a boy named Union, who was known as half brain, so he could act and talk the same as Union did so the teachers would not find out that his mind was more superior to others. More than likely, the teachers found out his plan.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever felt controlled by someone? Equality 7-2521 and his brothers have felt controlled by the government of their society. In Ayn Rand's Novel, Anthem, the individual does not have very much power. The individual is not allowed to express himself, and is punished on account of expression, which is why the individual lacks potential and capability. First, Expression is not allowed which is one of the reason that the individual falls short when it comes to power.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So we walked to the door, and we threw it open, and we stepped together into the House of the Unmentionable Times. They were amazed by everything in the house from books to articles stuff they have heard about but nobody has sense for years and now they were touching and looking through them. (Chapter 10, paragraph 8) What Equality 7-2521 now knows about his life and that he needs to care more about himself and a little less on others. Equality now knows that he himself is a person and he can look at himself now and know he can be more than just a street sweeper and do good things like invent new machines and things to help better his home and do what he likes to do not what the council tells him to do.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equality Learns about electricity and creates what he calls his “Light Box”. Equality hopes that when he presents his “light box” to the council that they will see him as smarter and send him to the House of the Scholars. When Equality presents, the council sees it as though it was for himself instead of for the society. Thus showing that Equality had created his own ego. This suggests that if others were to also have their own ego, they might be able to create more things and get the council to see that inventions created by individuals could improve…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 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

    Have you ever wondered what it is like to live in a world where we are equal? Well today you hear about a fiction book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. In the book Anthem there's a man named Equality who is different than everyone else and everyone is supposed to look and be the same. Him being different he got picked on alot in school by his teacher. Now he is a street sweeper which was not his job of choice the government picked his job for him.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you read the amazing and inspiring story “Anthem” by Ayn Rand. Read this essay so you can learn about Equality aka The Unconquerable. In this essay I am going to talk about the invention that Equality had created, his greatest invention. Then I am going to talk about his main primary motivation into making his invention. Next I will talk about if it is right for him to be motivated this way.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even though Equality has discovered his personal feelings, he still has trouble escaping the indoctrination of collectivist ideals. According to society, the whole book is a terrible sin; people cannot write, let alone one person. This law pervades the altruistic society because the World Council wants to be assured no one can put their own thoughts on paper. Equality knows writing is “base and evil. It is as if [he] were speaking alone to no ears but [his] own,” (17) which is the greatest transgression of all in his society.…

    • 211 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anthem is a book that was written by Ayn Rand in 1938. The setting is in a communist community in the future where man has entered another dark age. One man in the community, Equality 7-2521, is different from all his brothers and tells himself that he is cursed because he speaks unspeakable things and wishes for things no men wish for. The community they all live in has many rules and nobody has any freedom. The new society that Equality will create will have three main rules that are free agency, anyone can think anything, and you can refer to yourself as “I” and not “We”.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equality laughs when he remembers that he is “the damned” because he is now able to be curious and to prefer others. In Equality’s society the government chooses his life mandate. The government puts more educated people in lower levels of education. He is a street sweeper, but his mind is made for much more.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Since technology improves living conditions and greatly aids humanity, when society possesses a strong background of scientific knowledge, society flourishes. Citizens become creative, open-minded and innovative, and in these environments, humanity has the opportunity to reach new heights. However, in Ayn Rand’s futuristic novella, Anthem, Equality 7-2521, the protagonist who flees his society after suffering oppression at the hands of his totalitarian government, lives in a technologically primitive society that revolves around the idea that one should place others before themselves. Equality lives in an environment in which science cannot flourish. Anthem’s technologically primitive society implies that an oppressive, change-fearing, narrow-minded…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equality is extremely intuitive in the way he interacts with the world. He is intrigued by the field of science and nature. This was made clear when he was willing to risk his own life and comfort to perform experiments with electricity (a transgression in many forms). Equality is an utterly passionate human being. His passion bled through in his work with electricity and his desire to protect his creation.…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays