Pratt Institute

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…

The Unfortunate Human Tendency to Conform (An anlysis of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and a quote from Colin Wilson) The much debated topic of the independent and dependent nature of human beings plays an interesting role in the theme and plot of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and is the main idea in the quote from Colin Wilson. Some argue that the group is redundant without first developing the individual. This is certainly Rand’s, and by extension Roark’s approach. The antagonist, Toohey promotes the…

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…

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…

The difference between Roark’s path to success and Keating’s path to failure is their independence. Well, In Keating’s case his dependence. In Rand’s eyes, Keating is a completely dependent person. Keating lives not for himself, but for other people in his life. The most notable of which being his mother. Roark, however, is completely independent from others. Roark lives for himself and only himself. He does not let anyone get in the way of what he wants and never settles for less. This is why…

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper is a very famous artwork that was made in 1942. The artwork features a bar on a street corner and appears to be the only store open at the time on the street. The bar is not busy at all, there are only 4 people featured in the artwork including the bartender. A man and a redheaded woman sit together on one side of the bar, while a man who is alone sits on the other side of the bar. The bartender is dressed in all white and is reaching for something behind the bar. The…