Ayn Rand's Anthem, Our Future
Anthem, Our Future
In contrast to our present day society in which we are moving towards collectivism, Ayn Rand’s Anthem depicts a collectivist society which is disrupted by Prometheus, the protagonist, ensuing in the creation of a newfound individualistic society separate from the original civilization. “The will of the Council is above all things” (34) in Prometheus’ society; they dominate the people’s occupation, living situation, and the knowledge they have access to. In an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, The Soul of a Collectivist, Toohey describes to one of his victims, Peter, his methods of possessing the souls of all men. Toohey’s mission is to take every individual’s soul and turn them into one whole for him to control …show more content…
The way I interpret equality is that we are all the same species; human. The amount of respect we are treated with should be based on our accomplishments and attitude not our race, gender, or beliefs. In Anthem, conventional wisdom has it that “[w]e are one in all and all in one.” (19) Besides their occupations, the expectations are the same from each person in Anthem. They believe that everything they do is for the good of all men and never for their individual selves. Prometheus “strive[s] to be like all [his] brother men, for all men must be alike” (19). Similar to the Council, Hillary Clinton, one of the presidential candidates stated, “…everyone has a place, if…you do your part, you contribute to the community. That’s what America is.” People are so often discriminated for being different that a great deal of them would conform to a collectivist society in which they would all be treated the equally in a split second. Although Americans are encouraged to be an individual, we still are too often criticized for being who we are and speaking our minds. Our desire to be accepted by society can lead us straight into collectivism. If everyone wants to be treated equally among their peers, we will move towards the idea of complete equality among all: collectivism. Anthem’s collectivist society prohibits individualism and it is frowned upon to differ from others. Prometheus is an outcast in the society and “[was] born with a curse” (18) because he looked different from the others and was intellectually curious unlike the rest of
In contrast to our present day society in which we are moving towards collectivism, Ayn Rand’s Anthem depicts a collectivist society which is disrupted by Prometheus, the protagonist, ensuing in the creation of a newfound individualistic society separate from the original civilization. “The will of the Council is above all things” (34) in Prometheus’ society; they dominate the people’s occupation, living situation, and the knowledge they have access to. In an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, The Soul of a Collectivist, Toohey describes to one of his victims, Peter, his methods of possessing the souls of all men. Toohey’s mission is to take every individual’s soul and turn them into one whole for him to control …show more content…
The way I interpret equality is that we are all the same species; human. The amount of respect we are treated with should be based on our accomplishments and attitude not our race, gender, or beliefs. In Anthem, conventional wisdom has it that “[w]e are one in all and all in one.” (19) Besides their occupations, the expectations are the same from each person in Anthem. They believe that everything they do is for the good of all men and never for their individual selves. Prometheus “strive[s] to be like all [his] brother men, for all men must be alike” (19). Similar to the Council, Hillary Clinton, one of the presidential candidates stated, “…everyone has a place, if…you do your part, you contribute to the community. That’s what America is.” People are so often discriminated for being different that a great deal of them would conform to a collectivist society in which they would all be treated the equally in a split second. Although Americans are encouraged to be an individual, we still are too often criticized for being who we are and speaking our minds. Our desire to be accepted by society can lead us straight into collectivism. If everyone wants to be treated equally among their peers, we will move towards the idea of complete equality among all: collectivism. Anthem’s collectivist society prohibits individualism and it is frowned upon to differ from others. Prometheus is an outcast in the society and “[was] born with a curse” (18) because he looked different from the others and was intellectually curious unlike the rest of