Cato Institute

Ayn Rand had written a story called Anthem as her way to warn that depending on others will be our downfall, but I disagree. Her ethical egoism outlooks on life is what drives her to believe that man should be self reliant, using others makes you a “looter,” and accusing conservatives of being, “Futile, impotent, and culturally dead,” (Ayn Rand’s Long Journey to the Heart of American Politics, paragraph 7). This idea is, to me, flawed because this country and it’s developments have come from…

‘’When there is, there is a way’’ The novel, Anthem, published in 1938 by Ayn Rand is set in the future when society is a communal dictatorship. Rand wrote this novel during the great purge in Russia. Anthem tells us our individuality is crucial. Ayn Rand wanted to show us how important that individuality is and what life can become without it. You may find yourself asking, ‘’what is society exactly about’’? This society basically enslaves the mind. It is illegal for them to do such actions.…

“It was when I read the first of the book I found In my house, that I saw the word I”(98). It was that moment that Equality 7-2521 realized that he knew and discovered freedom and the word “I”, Also characters in Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Kurt Vonnegut's “Harrison Bergeron” set their freedom and escape by going to journey and figuring out thing that they don't know about their society.The ways that their dystopian societies affected them on their escape is that first of all, their society is really…

Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a rebuttal of collectivism. The ideology of collectivism is heavily criticized in Rand’s novella where the oppression of an individual is summarized in the following statement, “What is not done collectively cannot be good” (Rand 73). Collectivity robs the people of their individuality and uniqueness, attributes that are disregarded in Anthem. The need for everything to be done collectively in order to be beneficial for the society is a fallacy. Reaching a full consensus…

In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Equality 7-2521 is faced with a lots of problems. In the begining, Equality is living in a collectivist society, where morals dictate that any individual act is a sin and should be severely punished. But still Equality doesn’t like the life of togetherness, and as a result he wants individuality. As the story goes on, his morals begin to change from those he learned to ones he finds in his own mind. In his last journal he says that all the guilt and shame he felt…

A world without an I Ayn Rand wrote this book during the 1960’s during the First world war. She was born in Russia in 1905 just a few years before the war between Russia and the U.S started. During the time that Ayn Rand began to write about the novel, it was during the chaos that Russia was going through. In Russia there was a big problem in the community, something that Ayn Rand wanted to fight for. In 1926, she left Russia to move to the U.S, she left for Russia because they were treated…

The 1860’s and 70’s marked the beginning of the biggest art movement since the Renaissance, Impressionism. In the beginning, paintings in the impressionist style were sharply ridiculed for their “sloppiness” and “disrespect for tradition”. Impressionist artists were banned from exhibiting at the Paris Salon, the largest and greatest art event in the world at the time. This exclusion only fueled the artist’s passion and resolve to show the world the beauty of the new style. Perhaps the most…

In the story of Anthem, by Ayn Rand, The theme is pushing toward, people shouldn't fear the unknown but look towards it for hope. She uses fear to shape the society into a dystopia, because people blindly obey and if they fail, they are punished which gives them something to fear. Which is why she is pushing the idea that people shouldn’t have to fear the things outside of their territory but instead look to it for something new. Rand wants people to understand that people have always been…

In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand portrays the collectivist society as the antithesis of a Utopia. Collectivism Is the belief in the interdependence of all beings and stresses the importance of the group over the importance of the individual. Rand realizes the theoretical good in collectivism, but illustrates how the downfalls are far greater than the advantages. Rand uses the protagonist, Equality, to demonstrate how the ideas of collectivism, though with good intention, ultimately sacrifice…

Equality Revolution “I” a word that is banned in equality 7-2521 society, where there is no individualism yet instead collectivism. In this book equality 7-2521 is living in a collectivism society and he slowly rebels against this. What are a few reasons why he starts to rebel? These reasons are that he was curious, fell in love, and individuality. To begin with one of the reasons he slowly rebels against his society is he was curious and had desired to learn things. For example, Equality…