Anthem

One of the most prevalent themes/ideas in the novel was the value of the individual and their individuality. Equality rises against everything he is told by the people running the society. He is supposed to be doing his job and his job only. Equality is taught to not meddle in other areas of life because he has one purpose-to work for the good of the whole. It is not important for Equality to be individually satisfied as long as the whole society is functioning properly. Equality is such a likeable character because he rebels agaisnt this collectiveness. He is different though from the stereotypical, problematic rebellious character. He does not go about raising an army to overthrow the government or igniting the fire in other peoples' souls with invigorating speeches; he simply thinks for himself. He realizes that he can accomplish and ponder on his own, without the help of his brothers. He realizes that there is not so much we as there is I.

"The word 'We' is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. It is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages. What if my joy if all hand, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey? But I am done with this creed of corruption. I am dont with the monster of 'We', the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood, and shame. And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. This god, this one word: 'I'" (Rand 97).

Wow, that was a long quote, but nonetheless quite a useful one. It is so important because it shows Equality coming to a realization of the power of I. He finds it so powerful that he compares the word I being a god. To place this individuality on such a high pedestal, proves just how much he was isolated from the idea of himself. He was taught to love We, but in this quote, Equality is cursing We. He sees the word with a negative attitude. Equality resents ever being associated with the dirty, foolish word. The light shed on his situation by his discovery of light sends a direct beam of bright, focused light right onto the letter I.

Out of the four books we have read, Anthem, was probably my least favorite. I never really got a chance to throw myself into it because it went so fast. It was like a two-night read. We did not have much discussion on it and I thought the plot was pretty simplistic. There was perfect order to the plot with each thing getting resolved before the next section began. Despite these critiques I did enjoy the themes Ayn Rand presented in the novel, especially individuality. I love everything about individuality. It was great to read how she created a society without, but also created a main character to retrieve what was lost and regain back his individuality.