Anthem Essays

Anthem Theme Of Equality
Theme of Anthem by Ayn Reed is not to think as a group but rather as individuals. The book clearly
shows this through chapter 11 when Equality 7–2521 discovers the word I and thinking as an
individual. Also in the introduction the reader sees that the book was first called Ego then later
changed to Anthem the name Ego was a representation of the main point of her book. In this world
an ego or selfishness would be frown upon be of the way of the time. After the unmentionable Years
the world was rewritten and given a great amount of equality. An old saying Sums up this perfectly, "
there can be to much of a good thing" and that is true of Anthem be chase with so much equality no
one can be themselves and have their own thoughts. A quote that
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

Conform. Do not deviate. The only joy that one may experience is the happiness one shares with
one's brothers. These phrases illustrate the world of Anthem, in which a young man struggles to find
his place in a world of collectivism. Ayn Rand's dystopian novella Anthem employs effective
metaphors and well–placed diction in order to ardently claim that individuality holds the key to
separating those who justifiably earn the joys of life from those who demonstrate unworthiness.
The ingenious and vigorous use of metaphors reveal to the reader how crucial division between
the laudable ones and those who live in contempt is and the role that possessing a unique identity
plays in that. The book explains that each man should be left alone "in the temple of his spirit",
and one should let it be "untouched and undefiled", distinguished by their personalities and traits.
(Rand 79). By likening a man's spirit to a temple, it establishes that every man's spirit exhibits
sacrality. This comparison implies that a man may not dirty others' hearts just so their own soul
shines brighter by contrast. Soon afterwards, these thoughts are tied to the word "we" when it is
written that the pronoun should "never be placed first within man's soul" or else it will "become a
monster", one that is inherently evil (Rand 79). When the word "we" equates to a monster, the
reader sees that not retaining individuality and submitting to the will of many leads to being like a
monster taking root inside of men,

Essay about Anthem
Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7–2521, the protagonist, struggles for
self–identification living in a collectivist society. Equality believes that individuality is an eminent
aspect of one's life because individuality defines and outlines who a person is. It is difficult for
Equality to endure live with people who support collectivism and who reject his ideas. For example
when Equality invents and exhibits the light bulb, the World Council rejects it and tells equality that
it is a sin to work on something alone and not share it with his brothers. By the end of the novella
Equality comes upon the perfect place for him to live, the Uncharted Forest, where he finds a house
from the Unmentionable Times and for the...show more content...
Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7–2521, the protagonist, struggles for
Equality to endure live with people who support collectivism and who reject his ideas. For
example when Equality invents and exhibits the light bulb, the World Council rejects it and tells
equality that it is a sin to work on something alone and not share it with his brothers. By the end of
the novella Equality comes upon the perfect place for him to live, the Uncharted Forest, where he
finds a house from the Unmentionable Times and for the first time he looks at his reflection in the
mirror inside the house. Later he finally discovers the meaning of the word "I" instead of which he
has always used the word "We" to refer to himself like all the other collectivists did. Anthem is a
novella written by Ayn Rand, in which Equality 7–2521, the protagonist, struggles for
Equality to endure live with people who support collectivism and who reject his ideas. For
example when Equality invents and

Anthem Analysis
The story of Anthem takes place in some unspecified future in which freedom and individual rights
have been obliterated. Equality 7–2521, the protagonist, is a street sweeper who finds a tunnel
where he conducts his science experiments. Throughout the book we see him change and move
towards individualism as he discovers how capable he really is. Ayn Rand uses vast amounts of
literary devices to describe the evolution of Equality 7–2521. In the dystopian novella, Anthem, Ayn
Rand expresses epochal symbolism and poetic personification in order to passionately display the
individual's superiority over the collective. Rand uses epochal symbolism in The Anthem to
describe many places in the book. For example, The Uncharted Forest is in part a symbol of the
unknown. It embodies all those mysteries in the world that Equality 7–2521 says he wants to learn
about over and over again in the opening of the novella. And importantly, Equality 7–2521 can only
start to figure out those mysteries on his own because "Beyond the plain there lies the Uncharted
Forest, about which no man must think about" revealing that Equality 7–2521's society refuses to
enter it, just as it refuses to actually learn about nature through the pursuit of science(Rand 15).
Equality 7–2521, on the other hand, does enter it, just as he also is driven by science to inquire into
reality with an open mind. Rand also describes the invention of light. The most important instance of
it centers on Equality 7–2521's invention of a light bulb. Equality 7–2521 creates the electric light by
himself, in an underground tunnel, where the "Circle of light lay on the stone before us" His action
of bringing forth the light "from the night of ages" suggests his wider role as a light–bringer to his
society(Rand 43). Originally he takes on this role for himself literally. He wants to share his
invention with the others, to improve their quality of life. But towards the end of the novella, he
adopts it in a higher figurative sense as well. He swears that he will be the one who will spread
hope and freedom to those who suffer under the burden of collectivism. And he adopts the name of
the god from Greek mythology who brought fire from the gods to men "His name was

Anthem Essay
Anthem Essay
As one reads Ayn Rand's significant quotes from the story of anthem, there is always a main theme
that is trying to escape, just as Prometheus escaped in her story. All three of the listed quotes work as
a trio to sing that We; as society, works to defeat individuality. The quotes emphasize that we cannot
survive without individualism and being alone brings out our unique personalities. It is true that all
the quotes work as one, but at the same time they have their own individualism. Each quote holds a
purpose of its own and the author wants to express the quote to each persons understanding.
Rand's quote, "The word 'We'... crushes all beneath it, and that which is...show more content...
When he makes himself happy he feels as if he has completed his mission in life. "My happiness
needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end." This
quote is Prometheus' statement to society that he does not care about making everyone better, but
that he cares for each person to individually improve themselves. Prometheus wants every person to
find the happiness within themselves.
"I think. I am. I will." A quote by Ayn Rand that is similar to Rene Descartes quote, "I think
therefore I am." This quote tells society that Prometheus can do anything by himself. He does not
need the "we" of society to complete a task. Prometheus can think independently and wants to
express himself as one individual. "I will," illustrates that he will and can do anything. Prometheus
believes, just as Rene Descartes does, that if he can think by himself, he is able to live by himself.
As he is alone he is thinking by himself, therefore he is alive and able to express himself as he truly
is.
The main quotes of Anthem were written with a real purpose. Ayn Rand had the mission to write
these significant quotes so that each person would make their own meaning out of them. Rand
longed for someone to allow their individualism to bring these quotes to life with these quotes, do
not listen to what theme society has placed

Anthem Epilogue Essay
Life has fared well since Gaea and I have lived in this house. There are now others in houses
surrounding us. These are my friends that I returned to rescue, International 4–8818 being one of
them. He is now called Apollo. We are happy here, all of us. The others are learning, albeit rather
slowly, yet they learn to say I instead of we. It is my hope that, before my first child is born, they
will all say I so that he or she may only know this and not the cursed we. It has been a couple of
weeks, and our first child has arrived: a girl. We have decided to name her Aphrodite, for she is the
symbol of the love between Gaea and I. We will teach her to be the symbol of love for our newworld
to learn. They must know that love is an important...show more content...
What an interesting idea. Aphrodite is growing quickly. She appears to thrive on the attention she
gets from us: her mother and father. Strange words those, but also true in our case. It is odd to
know that we are the parents of a child; one that we will watch grow up and become a leader of
our new world. That is a great future to behold. Apollo came to us today. He is to be a father soon
as well. We have wished him the best of luck at being a father. We all only hope that the generation
we raise can be happy and that they know how to lead their own lives without depending on
everyone else. Apollo has had a son. He has chosen to name him Hephaestus because he will build a
strong nation. Hephaestus and Aphrodite play well together. Perhaps one day they will start a
family, a generation, of their own. That is what we have become, our separate world up here on
the mountain. We have become a family: the people we share our happiness with, our sadness
with, our victories, and our defeats. Family is the truest group in which you can remain your own
person and yet be part of a whole. Our family continues to grow. Many of our new world have
chosen to have children. Our children grow as well. Some have become old enough to start
learning and understanding our new found way of life. They embrace it quickly and easily. It is
amazing. I am happy for this. The wonders never cease. Tonight, we all saw something truly
amazing: a light

Book Analysis: Anthem
Anthem 2–Chunk Schaffer In the book, Anthem, there are two central societies that Equality
experiences; both societies can be represented a song. "Paint it, Black" by The Rolling Stones can
represent the overall feeling of the first society that is controlling and wants everything to be the
same; it is apparent when Equality is in the home of the students and all of the students and teachers
are reciting, "'We are nothing. Mankind is all'" (Rand, 21). The song "Paint it, Black" explains how
the singer wants everything painted black and all the same; likewise, the book shows the students
and the teachers utter the prolonged statement every night that says that the only thing that matters
is the society, and everyone is the same because everyone

Anthem Analysis
Freedom of thought is the ability to freely express oneself from independent of others' viewpoint. In
Anthem the society finds that the freedom to express one's thought is not acceptable. The society in
Anthem is called collectivism, it has gained complete control of the society and freedom to express
oneself no longer exist. Individuals are not allowed to do anything without the consent from society.
The main character of Anthem, Equality 7–2521 explains the society he lives in, new ideas are not
welcome because they bring in human expression and individuality. Equality 7–2521 said early in the
book," It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down on
paper no others are allowed to see...There is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone."
(Rand 17). The theme of freedom to think from Anthem is similar to Inherit The Wind, for the
reason of fighting for the ability to think. For Anthem it is a sin for an individual, such as Equality
7–2525 to have freedom of thought and convey one's identity (individuality).
The quote in the paragraph above begins Anthem by Equality 7–2521 explaining he is did something
wrong. He describes the law from collectivism and how the world that he lives in tightly controlled.
The law hinders people from doing what they want to do, say, or think. In the quote Equality 7–2521
repeats the word "sin" twice to emphasize the fact that the actions he is performing is a sin against
the society in which

Equality In Ayn Rand's Anthem
The fiction novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, begins as equality takes a journey to individualism. He
begins by writing how wrong he is to be writing what he is, how much of a sin it is. To be thinking
as his own, and as an "I". Ayn Rand is from Russia, which is a communist society. As Rand was
growing up in this time frame, she had made the time to give herself an education which was
frowned upon as she was a woman. She was not given a sense of "I" it was the normal thing for
women to stand back and watch. To continue deeper into the book, Equality's eventual assessment of
his writing on his own, changed from being a sin to being and individual activity, from the
beginning to the end of the book. Equality 7–2521 has committed several sins...show more content...
Liberty, a peasant girl meets Equality and in a sense helps him find himself and correct his morals.
His plan is to sneak out during the social interaction time to his secret tunnel underground where he
writes after he stops writing in his room. One night he forgets to keep track of his hour glass and
continues writing and experimenting with his light box and gets caught. He gets thrown in a cell
block until he informs the council of his sins, holding this information, to him, is morally wrong in
the eyes of the council. Anthem is a communistic society, so the council controls any and everything
occurring within. According to http://www.governmentvs.com/en/totalitarian–countries/model–58–4
Totalitarian nations include, China, North Korea, India, Uzbekistan, Austria, Germany, Belarus,
South Africa. Meaning these nations are controlling the states by not letting them take part in certain
aspects of their own life, just as in Anthem. By the beginning of the book Equality knows that
sinning is morally wrong and he should not take part in it. The council forbids any form of self
interest or anything to do with thinking about oneself to prevent individualism, but by the end of the
book things turn out differently for the better sake of

Anthem Essay Examples
Anthem Essay I believe that Ayn rand was trying to tell us that people will blindly follow the
people that are ahead of them in life. Some examples are when they started this new age of humanity
they made sure that everyone was equal although some being more equal than others. Then they also
completely got rid of some things like freedom, individualism, and the free use of electricity. Even
though some people might not agree, Having a government that controls what you chose works
because people who are scared and are not leaders can be led astray from what is right. The first
point is that humans will do almost anything to stay alive as a race. An example of this is when one
world burns a new world rises from the ashes and a new take on...show more content...
They also think that electricity is a gift from above and should only be used at certain moments
and ceremonies. In today's world we are free to use the words I and Me and any other personal
pronouns that would indicate any kind of personalization. Although people don't rebel against it
so why change it? This brings us to our third and final point of the thesis is that when you have a
system of government that you like and other people don't do anything about, why change it? In
anthem everybody apart of the civilization thinks that their lives are normal because that is what
they are used to. Since everybody is used to it they are all ok with it. And because they are all ok
with it nobody wants to rebel and try to change it. Except for the people that are different. Then
they end up realizing what is right and going into the forbidden forest to start a new. Because the
world will do whatever it takes to remain alive they will change to try to make that not happen, like
taking away past world freedoms including individuality, freedoms of all kinds, and even the things
we took for granted like electricity. And this won't change unless there are enough people willing to
change it or to shake the followers from the

Thesis On Anthem
Anthem Essay Contest "It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put
them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil... We have broken the laws" (17).
Thus begins Anthem by Ayn Rand, a novella about a future collectivist society and a man named
Equality 7–2521. Though the story takes place in the future, all technology that came after candles
and glass has been taken away. The word "I" has ceased to exist in anyone's vocabulary. Every
person must agree on everything and feel like everyone else. To accomplish 'cleansing' the evils of
mankind, society lead its people to believe that nothing can be done independently. The story is told
through the eyes of Equality as he purposely defies the laws...show more content...
"I understood the blessed thing which I had called my curse. I understood why the best in me had
been my sins and transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins" (98). This quote is
about Equality's epiphany about his curiosity he had had his entire life, proof of the twisted logic
the collectivist society used on civilians to make them identical. Since Equality was feeling the
best he had ever felt once being free from the collectivist reigns, he was bewildered with the reality
of being 'shunned' or as his civilization would call him, 'damned'. Equality laughs, "For the first
time this day, we remembered that we are the Damned. [...] We are writing this on the paper we had
hidden in our tunic together with the written pages we had brought for the World Council of
Scholars, but never given to them" (80). Equality assesses that running away from the law didn't
come with any consequences that he isn't willing to live with. He was no longer scared to be judged
on his thoughts or creations. He comes to the conclusion that nothing is worth giving up

Essay On Anthem
Ideologies are meant to be shared and learned throughout a society to encourage the spread as well
as competition of ideas. Through Anthem, Ayn Rand warned of the dangers of blindly and
unquestionably following an ideology; the dangers to society that unexamined loyalty to a belief
system cause to society are upholding oppressive and dehumanizing morals, decreased quality of life
and the government taking advantage of their citizens
Corrupt governments, such a the one in Anthem, use laws and its citizens' ignorance to dehumanize
them thus detaching them from their senses of identity. One way in which the government
influences identity is through education. As Equality quotes his teachers in his journal to describe
men's place in society...show more content...
It is not good to feel too much joy nor to be glad that our body lives. For we matter not and it must
not matter to us whether we live or die, which is to be as our brothers will it. But we, Equality
7–2521, are glad to be living. If this is a vice, then we wish no virtue." (Rand 11)
The citizens of Anthem are not happy and until society changes, they can never be. Quality of life is
having something to live for and human condition is actively looking for it for yourself. In Anthem,
government tells the citizens what to believe and how to think, making it impossible for them to
have an authentic quality of life. The government taught them that their lives are disposable and do
not have much value. This decreases of life because these people cannot achieve true happiness due
to the ideologies they follow unquestionably and trust. They do not have anything to live for save
existence itself and they do not understand how much they are affected by that. Decreasing quality
of life because of blind beliefs in a society's ideologies is just as bad as these people being taken
advantage of by their system of government.
The citizens of Anthem are consistently being used by the government because they choose to
ignorantly believe their society's opinions. At the end of the story when Equality tries to analyze
why his society is so corrupted, he summarizes his thoughts by writing "What is freedom? Freedom
from what? There is nothing to take a man's

Anthem Literary Analysis
Om Desai
Mrs. Thixton
English1 PAP
10/1/2017
Can Love Affect a Person's Convictions? The story of Anthem takes place in dystopian future in
which freedom and human rights have been obliterated. Equality 7–2521, the protagonist, is a street
sweeper who finds a tunnel where he conducts his science experiments which are considered a sin.
Throughout the book we see him change and discover how capable he is through a multitude of
literary devices. In the novella , Anthem, Ayn Rand utilizes vivid imagery and a profusion of diction
to frenetically emphasize the idea of love. To begin with, Ayn Rand utilizes imagery to attract the
reader to show what love really means.Equality 7–2521 is genuinely awed by Liberty 5–3000's
physiognomy because he remarks "[her] body was straight and thin as a blade of iron. [her] eyes
were dark ... with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt. [her] hair was golden as the sun; [her]
hair flew in the wind, shining and wild, as if it defied men to restrain it"(Rand,23–24). The Golden
One is defined with very precise word choice, because she's unlike anyone else he had ever seen.The
mode is settled because he seems to really be attracted to the absence of fear and guilt he sees in her
eyes.Equality 7–2521's introductory incident of love is exquisite as "[he] stood still; for the first
time did [he] know fear, and then pain...[he] stood still as [he] might...spill this pain more precious
than pleasure "(Rand,24) although he is experiencing immense levels of pain, the love he feels is
far greater than he had ever felt. It's also astounding that this is the first time Equality confesses he
is afraid of something.This sets the tone of the book because he doesn't mind the pain because the
thrill of being there is all he can ponder about.Soon they get closer to each other and, "When [he]
touched [her], it was as if madness had stricken [them]...as...[they] pressed [their] lips [together]...
and then [her] arms closed around [his]"(Rand). Equality eventually runs away from the city to the
Uncharted Forest because the society doesn't accept his ideas and The Golden One follows him.
Both of them end up in the Uncharted Forest and then engaged in a passionate show of love
described by

Anthem Equality
Main character, street sweeper of the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand named Equality lives in a society
where men were bound to work together as a collective society, their government forbids them from
working individually, which makes it a sin. Equality was motivated by altruism and broke the law of
man not working alone and reinvented electricity by himself, he was motivated by his love for
science, wanted to help his brothers and also did it to increase pride in himself.
Equality was motivated by altruism because he wanted to help his brothers and contribute
something to his society, since Equality's community is all about giving and caring about other
and not caring about yourself they are required to recite " we are nothing. Mankind is all. By the
grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the
state. Amen" (pg 21).
They recite this before going to bed to remind them they are nothing without their brothers which
tells us that Equality was trying to help his brothers and since candle is one of the greatest discovery
in Equality's community, Equality tries to change and improve his environment. He also reinvented
electricity to increase pride in himself...show more content...
There are no men, but only the great We, One, indivisible and forever" (pg.19). The world would
be a better place that everyone would wish to live in, I really do know equality did broke some of
the rules to invent something incredible which he thinks can help his brothers. Equality was
motivated to help his brothers and also increase pride in himself he also did it out of the love he
had for science. He also wanted to contribute something to his society since candle is one of the
greatest invention in Equality's

Anthem Summary Of Anthem
Anthem is about a man named Equality 7–2521 who finds a subway underneath his corrupt city to
learn. While he is down there he discovers the power of electricity and figures out how to use it.
When he tries to show his city they punished him and he ran away with The "Golden One" and
found a home which they wished to start a new life, but Equality found out to understand the word "
I" and finds out the truth behind the "Utopia" he lived in for all his life. Anyone who is different
gets punished. The City has so many rules and controls because they are there to keep the people
unaware of the truth, to keep people down a certain path and to keep their "Utopia" a great place
and Equality would have many rules and controls. The first reason this city has so many rules is
that they want to keep everyone from finding out about the truth. The city and world leaders don't
want people to know about "Ego" because they're master plan to keep the society from worrying
about themselves and only be part a "we" and have nothing to do with "I". If the people figure out
that life is not just about we and start helping ourselves, then there is no purpose to the city
anymore. Thinking about only people as a we and not I seems like a phenomenal idea, but not
everyone the same and we have to explore personally to do it. "We are in all and all in one. There
are no men, but only the great WE, one indivisible and forever."(19) This shows that the people are
taught only we and know nothing of I. The

Anthem Vs Anthem
Societies are different in many ways. The society that Anthem is based around is a collectivist
society, in this society everyone is treated equal. Equality 7–2521 didn't care for this type of society
organization. He discovered a tunnel that had been left from the unmentionable times, and they were
instructed to have no affiliation with the unmentionable times. While in this tunnel he made some
gave discoveries, one of these discoveries was electricity. He later presented this finding to the
scholars, they didn't not appreciate his assertiveness with his new finding, so he had to leave fearing
his life. He ran into the uncharted forest and eventually found a house from the unmentionable
times. Furthermore our society today, there democracies and people were free to go wherever,
whenever. They could get any job that they pleased. People were free to make new discoveries, they
could experiment to find new things whenever they pleased. During this time...show more content...
One similarity between the two times was both had organization to the society that they lived in.
During the current age that Equality 7–2521 is living in they had your job based on what they thought
was right for you, they generally grouped the smart people together, and then not so smart people
grouped together in different jobs. This is the same way they do it in our society today the smarter
people generally are grouped together, they tend to have the same jobs, and the not so smart
people tend to have the not so good job, but they are grouped together. Another similarity between
the two societies is, they both tend to have some very similar jobs. They both had people that
would research to try and find new things that they hadn't ever discovered before. They also had
jobs like Equality 7–2521, people clean the streets in both times. Another job that both times have in
common, is correction jobs, in the prisons and detention

Equality Revealed In Ayn Rand's Anthem
Anthem Essay No "I" and no "you", just "we." How could we live in a world like that? Ayn
Rand's book shows a twisted and different form of collectivism. Everyone is told what they have
to do for the rest of their future. Children are not even allowed to know who their parents are and
are never given the chance to meet them. Although, only one shines in the society that no one else
may see until now. Equality finds it difficult to find individualism in his life and in the rules of his
society. Equality eventually finds individualism in escaping, to a haven of his own, from his odd
society. Equality can then find peace with himself and can live in a more individualistic life in his
newfound house with "The Golden One" in the forbidden and...show more content...
He realizes he had everything to fear from the twisted society that he lived in. Equality had
trusted himself enough to completely let go of his old society, to leave everything behind and
adopt a new culture. He must have trusted himself immensely to have done this. He also realizes
humans are much too smart to govern that society and wonders if they were just too afraid to
contradict their government or just did not trust themselves to try and overthrow it. Equality
realizes he should be confident in himself. He is a very headstrong person and is not persuaded
so easily. That is why he had left his society in the first place. Equality would like to live as an
individual where he would not work together for the common good, as a group, but where he
alone will work as an individual in his new society that he will soon create. Ayn Rand's novel puts
Equality in a great position to start his new life with his new family. Ayn Rand's story gives hope
to all who want not to be conquered by their government and to have a say in what they believe in.
If your government or society doesn't like what you have to say, then it shows you can also walk
right out the door if you don't like what is happening. When you become a collectivist, you lose
your individuality and almost become a slave and or a robot to the government and society. You lose
your creativity and

Anthem Essays

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Custom Paper Writing Service

More from Custom Paper Writing Service (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Anthem Essays