Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand. The story is set in a futuristic and communist-based society and follows main character Equality. The society is focused on the betterment of the collective sense of man, instead of the individual. Rand has used her childhood of growing up in Soviet Russia to craft a captivating society. Equality is clearly mentally and physically different than those around him, which is frowned upon by those in his community. The idea of the collective mind is shown perfectly when Equality is shamed for being taller or smarter, even though it has no relative detriment to the society.
The author escaped from communist Russia as a child and her escape is clearly reflected in the novela. The novela beautifully shows the transition from living for those around you as a collective and living for yourself as an individual. The novela however more accurately shows the struggle to fight the communist nature the characters were raised in. The characters use “we” and “our” to refer to themselves but towards the end of the story the characters adopt the use of “I” and “me”. This is a powerful change that mirrors Rand’s escape from communism and the collective, as well as the start of the characters creating an individual identity.
Although his society held the idea over his head, Equality realized that his own happiness was more important than what he had been taught. The text tells us, “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them”, and “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” These two quotes show the mental transition from Equality being a captor of the communist society to being free of the chain of his brothers and the hero of his own fate. This change is not an easy one however. In the picture above, you can see the mental and physical isolation that lead Equally to leave, but only through the struggle against the principles in which he was raised was Equally able to escape.
I have learned a great deal from Anthem. The story has taught me much about following the crowd and what is conconciderted the “norm” if you will, verses what you think is right and what you want to pursue. I have learned above all else, that it is not worth sacrificing your goals and passions for the approval of the others around you, even if it is difficult to do so.
More about Ayn Rand
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