Anthem: Thought and Man Essay

Submitted By teetee321
Words: 779
Pages: 4
Open Document
How are we to live life if we are taught that we are not better than the food we eat? Ayn Rand grew up in Soviet Russia under communist rule. She wrote Anthem and created a character name Equality 7-2521 as a way of telling people that we do have a mind and can think for ourselves. A man having their own mind isn’t as simple as what Equality 7-2521 was taught. He was taught that his brothers and he were one. They have no mind of their own and no purpose for life. Equality 7-2521 couldn’t think, speak, or dream without being scared the Council of Scholars would find out. Equality 7-2521 soon realizes that each man does have their own thoughts. We all have different thoughts and opinions. Each man has to have a mind because without it they are just a tool and not a human being. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 learns what it means to be free and not compared to his brothers. As Equality 7-2521 finds freedom, he realizes that you exist for your own sake and not any else’s. He runs into the Uncharted Forest, collapses, and then recognizes that everything the Council of Scholars told him is a lie. As Ayn Rand wrote “A world where each man will be free, to exist for his own sake” (Rand 104). This is when Equality 7-2521 understands that he wasn’t put on earth to serve and do whatever his brothers say. Equality 7-2521 discovered a house in the Uncharted Forest and learned how different the world was during the Unmentionable Times. He had just learned in a manuscript he discovered, that people years ago lived for their own sake too “The structure whose every beam had come from the thought of some one man, from the depth of someone spirit, such spirit as existed but for his own sake”(Rand 107). Years ago people could be their own person and could do whatever they wanted, but now they have to live by rules and be treated like each other. Throughout the story Equality7-2521 has been using we and they when he is talking about himself or other people. Close to the end of the story he learned to use me and my, from books someone wrote centuries ago. Finding a little house in the Uncharted Forest was the best for Equality 7-2521 and Liberty because they found a room filled with books. Realizing that you are one person and not many “Man, not men” (Rand 104). It was important for Equality 7-2521 to understand that he is singular and not plural because he is no longer compared to his brothers. Now he is independent. Before Equality 7-2521 ran away to the Uncharted Forest he used to feel guilty about the “sins” he has done, but now he knows that what he did was right. He just wanted to know more about the world outside of where he lives. Equality 7-2521 always knew that
Show More

Related Documents: Anthem: Thought and Man Essay

Comparing Ayn Rand's Anthem And The Reign Of Terror

Anthem is connected to real world events like the Reign of Terror on September 5, 1793. You had to follow the laws and rules of the government or they would be punished. They have no individual rights in Anthem because they are a group and work for the brothers and that's what they do. In the Anthem it says this "He declared to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for this is the right of man, and there…

Words 468 - Pages 2

Anthem Essay

Anthem Essay In the book Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, uses syntax and diction to show how with knowledge and new emotions, Equality gains complex thoughts that cannot be expressed in the language of the Anthem society in order to show the power of language. When Liberty suddenly says, “We love you” to Equality, it triggers one of his newly found emotions for Liberty. Equality gains complex thoughts that couldn’t be expressed because of his Anthem society vocabulary. Equality replies to Liberty…

Words 424 - Pages 2

Transcendentalism In Anthem, By Ayn Rand

the Transcendentalists, which can be shown in Anthem by Ayn Rand. Transcendentalist beliefs are thoroughly expressed throughout all of these writings. The belief that nature is within all life and inanimate objects is a prominent principle that the Transcendentalists follow. In Walking, by Henry David Thoreau, this principle is reiterated throughout the text. Thoreau states that…

Words 587 - Pages 3

Objectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

In the novel Anthem, Rand hated and feared the governments’s collectivizing and dehumanizing of individuals. Objectivism can produce advances in the areas of technology, even so, if the real world is similar to Anthem, furthermore everyone puts the group over an individual, it would hampers their ability to be advanced. Ayn Rand tries to insinuate that objectivism is good, and not being accompanied by it, the society would falls apart. In addition, with this term called collectivism preventing men…

Words 254 - Pages 2

Essay On Anthem And Totalitarianism

The authors of 1984 and Anthem both demonstrate their disgust with totalitarianism and collectivism through similar methods in their books. Through the experiences of their protagonists and the environment around them, 1984 and Anthem are both able to portray the evils of collectivist thought; despite the differences between the books. The setting of the two books depicts a bleak picture of censorship, propaganda, and total restriction of freedom. For example, in Anthem, the students are forced…

Words 952 - Pages 4

The Collective Community In Ayn Rand's Anthem

your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers.’ But we cannot change our bones nor our bodies.” (Anthem 18). Throughout Anthem, the Leaders’ goal is to have complete control of the citizens, and to condemn those that would “disobey” their orders, such as Equality 7-2521 out growing his peers. Collective societies believe in equality, therefore they enforce…

Words 710 - Pages 3

Harrison Bergeron And Anthem Comparison

The Thoughts of the Curious Have you ever wondered if it was possible to make everyone in the world equal? In two both “perfect societies”, Harrison Bergeron and Equality 7-2521 struggle to face the facts that their different. Although they may be a threat to society, they come to find more truths and secrets in their lifestyle. In Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” and Rand’s Anthem, there are many similarities within Equality and the curiosity within both characters. Harrison Bergeron and Equality…

Words 504 - Pages 3

Summary Of Anthem By Ayn Rand

it can be hard to escape their power without major consequences taking place. Ayn Rand, the author of “Anthem,” shows us that escaping a lack of freedom comes with time and effort. In the story, Equality discovers that there is more to life than what he’s been living. In the process of exploring freedom, he runs into some conflict, but has hope in getting the majority of freedom. In “Anthem,” the people living in the society want to experience freedom and what life in their own mind would be like…

Words 616 - Pages 3

Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

In chapter 12 of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality 7-2521 discovers the true value of human pride and individuality. Equality 7-2521 and the Golden One change their names which symbolizes the abandoning of their collectivist views. Equality 7-2521 realizes that man must live for himself, not for another. Man, not men, are more prosperous when they take pride in themselves. Equality 7-2521 finally apprehends his thirst for knowledge and his true value. Equality 7-2521 states, “I understood my blessing thing…

Words 245 - Pages 1

Compare Contrast Essay Ahmad Malik

Separation “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it”(Malcolm X). The right to act, speak, talk and be given information should never be retained from any sole being. However, in Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 these rights are contained by the government to change the opinion of the individuals before they have the knowledge to oppose. Anthem talks about Equality 7­2521 living in a world which is total equality/ total collectivism. Fah…

Words 807 - Pages 4