Anthem Individualism Analysis

Philosophy, what role does it play in one’s life, what are people ready to sacrifice for it.In Anthem, there is an ongoing battle between two major philosophies, Individualism and Collectivism. The novella shows the key aspects of these two philosophies, but has a strong bias towards individualism. This due to the fact that the structure of novella is based on these two philosophies. When someone’s philosophy changes, that also means that his perspective on the world also changes. Philosophy and point of view are rely on each other. If one believes there is no god, then they would an atheist. Same logic applies if someone believes that nothing exists, they are regarded as Nihilists. Also, why philosophy plays a big part in one’s life. A big
In collectivism one’s single life does not matter, it is the survival of the group and its stature that matters. Throughout the novella Equality 7-2521 is taught and told to only care about the well being of his brothers. Equality, due to his intelligence, has seen beyond collectivism and has realised there is something more important than your “brothers”. “If this should lighten the toil of men . . . then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men.” (77) this quote; which was said by the scholars signifies a key aspect of collectivism, that all men should work for the benefit of their brothers. Equality has worked with the intention to benefit himself, he wanted to learn and become smarter. However, later on he tried to share that information with the scholars, leading to his expulsion from the community. During this part in the novella individualism starts to sprout and give off it’s effect. Equality realises that he should start caring about his own well being and stature, rather than focusing only on his community. Even though the novella tries to elaborate on these philosophies, it still has a biased towards individualism. Throughout Anthem, the main character (Equality) discovers Individualism and tries to change his community. Then he tries to introduce it to the ones that are of knowledge, “Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past . . . but when
Every decision that is made is influenced by philosophy. Like religion, philosophy is a person’s meaning in life. Every action that one commits is in regards to his/her philosophy. Without a philosophy to follow, people tend to not understand life or what their purpose in life is. Within Anthem philosophy plays a big part because it does not just give structure to the plot, it helps people understand the transition that occurs between philosophies as well. During equality’s transition he realises that there is much more to learn and that he has lived in the dark most of his