Stagnant Society in "Anthem" by Ayn Rand

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Dewji  

Abbas Dewji

March 15, 2010

Stagnant Society in Anthem

        Anthem by Ayn Rand is a story of someone who breaks away from the mindless herd of society and dares to commit all the unspeakable transgressions  . The plot takes place after mankind retrogresses to a futuristic dark age where to think and question the things around them is considered a crime  . Equality 7-2521, the main character, lives in a collectivist society where the individual does not exist, only the group, “We”  . Fascinated by discovery, Equality 7-2521 grows up wanting to be a scholar in the Council of Scholars  . When the time came he is assigned the job of being a Street Sweeper, because he is trying to be different and for thinking on his own with his inquisitive mind  .

        Equality 7-2521 is born different physically and mentally from his brothers in the rest of society  .  He writes “Ever have the Teachers and Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: “There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers”(18)  . Moreover when he sees himself for the first time notes the significant difference “Our face was not like the face of our brothers, for we felt no pity when looking upon it  . Our body was not like the bodies of our brothers, for our limbs were straight and thin hard and strong”(80)  . This curse of his, of being different, drives him to think and have a mind mentally  . He explains, “We were born with a curse  . It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden”(18)  . This is why the Council of Vocations did not appoint Equality 7-2521 into the Council of Scholars or any other highly regarded Council  . How could someone so different from the “We”, hold such a high position and role in society  . Thus, they made an example of him, saying that being different, being an individual out of the “We” is useless  .

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        Equality 7-2521’s nature is to ask questions about the things around him and to make new discoveries and inventions  . However the society around him chose to shun him for his inquisitive mind and nature  . He writes “We wished to know  . We wished to know about all the things which make the earth around us  . We asked so many questions that he Teachers forbade it” and “if we went to the Home of the Scholars, we could learn from these also  . We could ask questions of these for they do not forbid questions”(23, 24)  . Therefore, ...

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