Leonard McCoy

Sinister Motivation Ayn Rand’s book, Anthem raises the question what would life be like in a completely equal and unknowing world. In a society where there is no individualism and the Council of Vocations controls life; one man rises up and protests the ideas of this society. Equality 7-2521 learned rather quickly in the Home of Students, unlike the rest of them, he understood lessons before they were spoken; however this was considered a sin in society. Within the community no man is…

One of the most interesting symbols in Ayn Rand's book Anthem is the lack of "I." The main character, Equality 7-2521, lives in a society where there is no "me" or "my." There is only "we." This absence, the negation of the individual, is predicated on the idea that "It is a sin to think words no others think. . . . It is base and evil" (17). Even speaking "I" is an act punishable by death. Throughout this work, Rand draws on the absence of "I" in order to illustrate the overarching theme of…

Part A: Dystopia Essay In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand the word “I” is lost and there is no individual because people are slaves to the society's system in which everyone's lives are being controlled by the government. The individual cannot survive in this world of Dystopia because it is a sin to set yourself apart from everybody else. In the novel it says: “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else” (pg. 101). This quote shows the concept in which…

“To be free a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. This and nothing else” (101). These words proclaimed by the main character Equality 7-2521 in the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand show the dynamic realization made in conclusion to the character’s struggle. Throughout Equality’s mental journey in the story, he develops many thoughts such as these. Thoughts questioning his society and its morals. Thoughts questioning the very foundation of the world he lives in. “We are one in all and…

Creating Free Will and Individuality in an Oppressive Society In the excerpt titled “The Soul of an Individualist” from Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead she writes, “Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators — the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors — stood alone against the men of their time.” She also mentions these individual creators got nothing but hate in response for their…

Annie Leonard, best known for the creation of an animated documentary about the life cycle of Stuff and entitled “The Story of Stuff”, explains in a namesake book the polluting process through which the Stuff is created and eventually dismissed. Her message is clear: we not only have too much Stuff (she prefers not using the word goods, “since goods are so often anything but good”), we also do not use it properly. Annie Leonard is an American environmental activist whose greatest aim is the…

You think, therefore, you are a criminal Equality smashed a window with one bare hand, grabbed his invention with the other, and leapt out of the broken window to save himself and his invention from the angry mob of so-called intellectuals who could not understand him or his genius gadget. From there he runs straight into the uncharted forest. The protagonist is trying to escape from the dystopian society imagined by Ayn Rand, in her novella Anthem. Equality, the central character of the story,…

Leaders of a society in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, are unfairly rude, giving Equality a change of mind to think for himself. Leaders are also defined as a council whom are very strict on rules and laws. Consequences end to lashings to the back, to the end of the book Equality is lashed for not telling the council of his where abouts. Anthem is based on the future events which got that society where they are at now. Children grow up without a parent figure, never having a bond with a adult…

In the story “Anthem”, by Ayn Rand, collectivism plays a big role. The people are restricted by the collectivist government, the leaders banning freedom of speech and freedom of thought. The people are punished if they are to think for themselves, or go against the regime. Collectivism is the belief that the group should take priority over individuals in it, which is the main belief in the society that Equality 7-2521 lives in. It is the inverse of Individualism. The people in the society all…

Sometimes Rules Are Evil “Some rules are nothing but old habits that people are afraid to change”(Therese Fowler). In Anthem, Equality 7-2521 feels that he has to follow the guidelines of his collectivist society. However, towards the end, Equality becomes dynamic and no longer thinks about following society’s rules. Equality’s eventual assessment of his sins is correct because he should be allowed to enjoy some very basic rights such as thinking and writing by himself, talking and loving any…