Preview

Equality's Character in Anthem by Ayn Rand

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1169 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Equality's Character in Anthem by Ayn Rand
In the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 (Equality) lived in a society where everyone was equal and treated with disrespect. The society had no tolerance for being different and having their own opinion and ideas. People couldn’t even pursue the career they dreamed of having. They were punished for disobeying any of these “rules”. Despite Equality’s strict society, his motivations in conducting his experiments are finding individuality, starting a new revolution, finding freedom, and trying to become a scholar.
Equality’s inspiration, will, and determination lead him to spark a new revolution. After Equality found the black hole, he kept habitually going back to it, to discover new things and gain intelligence. He was finding more about himself and discovering that everyone was not the same and not everyone has the same talents in life. Even though it was against the government’s expectations about everyone being equal, Equality was happy to break the law, so he could learn more. Equality says, “And yet there is no shame in us and no regret. We say to ourselves that we are a wretch and a traitor. But we feel no burden upon our spirit and no burden upon our spirit and no fear in our heart.” (Rand 37) Equality was curious. He wanted to find out about the unknown. By showing his invention, he would spark a new revolution of light. He would inspire people to create and learn. True joy comes from what a man can do with inspiration, desire, will, to better people, and while doing that Equality learns that it will allow him to achieve more in society. Equality wanted to accomplish something by himself and prove that not everyone meets the expectations of their job. In other words that’s saying that just because you come from a poor family, doesn’t mean you’re going to be poor when you become an adult. Anyone can achieve what they set their mind to, and Equality made up his mind, he wanted to be different and he wasn’t going to give up. When Equality discovered his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “To every action, there is always opposed an equal reaction.” In this quote, spoken by Isaac Newton, he implies that every action that humans do or create there will always be an opposed response. In this story, a society created an “equality”, but in doing so, people couldn’t reach their full potential. “Harrison Bergeron”, written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., revolves around the idea that equality can help, but also destroy a society. Vonnegut describes identical and uniform human beings using symbolism that represents a bigger concept to argue futuristically that equality destroys the growth of individuals and consequently limits society.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem is about the main character Equality 7-2521 who struggles to live in a communist society. Equality is an intelligent and very ambitious person who dares to break the rules of The City. By following his heart, he discovers that he is worth a lot more than what he’s been taught. Once he and his love, Liberty 5-3000, break away from their toxic home land, they discovering the idea that individuality is more important than the collective “we”. In the woods, the two lovers find an abandoned house and they rename themselves Prometheus and Gaea. Ayn Rand chose these names because of how similar Equality and Liberty are to the mythological creatures.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anthem may seem like a purely fictional story written for entertainment purposes, but upon closer inspection there are elements of real world occurrences. Equality 7-2521 is a boy growing up like every other boy around him, meaning he lives in a world after our with little technology, and in permanent fear of the World Council who control every aspect of life, including what he should think. Equality has always dreamed of being a scientist,, but even dreaming or wanting is a crime against his brothers, as he is supposed to accept and love the job assigned to him by the Council.. While working in his assigned position, Equality and his friend International 4-8818 discover a tunnel from before the Brotherhood and the Council, where they read…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Equality stands out among the rest, he’s different, he stands out. He’s unique. He knows more. Equality is smarter and…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A young man given the name, Equality 7-2521 is living in a futuristic dark age. He is withheld from a name to prevent any form of individuality, but given a word followed by a series of numbers on an iron bracelet to be worn on his left wrist, as a form of identification by the World Council. Equality 7-2521 has made a moral discovery throughout the story Anthem by Ayn Rand, as discovering his individuality and as he has changed from one who believes that the World Council states all truth, to one who has progressed into someone with the ability to compose ideas and moral values for himself.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This one phrase shows how Equality follows his inner self, does things for the common good, how he builds friendships and is a fair individual.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story Anthem, by Ayn Rand, a person named Equality 7-2521 lives in a socialist society and struggles through countless troubles. For example, everybody in this society is one body that thinks the same. They have a motto, or the great truth, that says: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but the great WE, one, invincible and forever.” He, however, is faced with the opportunity to augment his position in this economy, though he might also be judged for his motivation when taking the opportunity.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Regardless of the novella’s motives, Anthem easily draws in the reader to Equality 7-2521’s plight and journey through Rand’s dynamic writing style and her captivating ability to have her audience get glimpses of and empathize with the character’s soul through strong imagery and meticulously organized words to give a new depth to Equality’s entries.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Equality means ensuring that everybody is entitled to equal rights and opportunities and therefore preventing discrimination.…

    • 789 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conformity goes too far it takes away a person's individuality. In the book Equality realizes as a kid that he is not like the other children in his society. He gets punished for being different and gets left out of the crowd. It shows him and others kids that being different is not good in a society. In this quote equality is being told by a teacher how is not the same as the other kids. The teacher is telling him he has evil in bones because he is different. ¨Ever have the Teachers and the 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.¨ But we cannot change our bones nor our body.¨(18) This is an important quote because it shows that being…

    • 166 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The captivating novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, concentrates on Equality’s changes in his moral assessment. In this story, Equality fights to become independent and to improve the quality of life for him and people around him. Equality, along with the other characters in this novel, thinks it is a sin to write at the beginning of the book. By the end, he has no shame in his sins and has a different moral assessment and perspective of his actions. Equality takes steps throughout the book, starting with the word “We”, and ending with “I”. He puts his instincts to the test, writing and making inventions.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ayn Rand wrote Anthem to put an many ideas in your mind. Three of them, individualism, identity, and egoism, I’ve shown light too. These ideas are not commonly thought about in our society due to the current idealogy of being a part of the crowd or fitting in. Many children are taught to treat others like they want to be treated. This idea is direclty related to equality, an idea which Ayn Rand exaggerated in Anthem. Currently the world is pushing for equality among everyone, but is that really a good thing? Ayn Rand exposed the dangers to a so called perfect idea for society and made sure her readers still carry values based upon self benefit . Although she used many literary tools to show these ideas, I choose to focus on how repitition was a key tool used by…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    UNIT 503

    • 1799 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents, and believing that no one should have poorer life chances because of where, what or whom they were born, what they believe, or whether they have a disability. Equality recognises that historically, certain groups of people with particular characteristics e.g. race, disability, sex and sexuality, have experienced discrimination.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, there is a twenty-one year old man by the name of Equality 7-2521. In the beginning of the novel, he is alone in a railroad tunnel, writing in a journal. It is a sin to be by yourself and to write and think for oneself, according to the Council of Vocation. To the World Council, all men must be completely alike and they all must form one indivisible “WE”. He meets a seventeen-year-old woman named Liberty 5-3000. He falls in love with her, which is not allowed. Later on, Equality invents a “box of glass” that contains an electric light. Proud of his invention, he decides that he’ll show the World Council of Scholars. When he showed the World Council his invention, they became very angry at him because he broke a lot of laws. He then runs away, out to the Uncharted Forest. Soon, Liberty 5-3000 finds him there. She ran away from home to be with him. After many days of walking through the forest, they find a house with books inside it. This is how Equality 7-2521 discovers the word “I”. Equality reaches the important realization that “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers”. This means that in order for an individual to enjoy what he possesses, he must be away from people who stop him from doing so.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is creating an environment in which enables everyone to have the same chance to develop their talents and enhance potentials. Equality means everyone can participate in those created opportunities eliminating discrimination and prejudice.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays