Essay Contest

The city that Ayn Rand creates in Anthem has countless rules and controls. This society believes that every person should live for and only for their brother, but Equality 7-2521 is "The Unconquered One" and has trouble following these rules. The book is based on the rules that were being put on Russia during the reign of communism. Ayn Rand wrote this book in order to inform her readers about what potentially could occur. The rules represented in this novella are based on the restrictions that Rand had to face. These rules existed for the wellbeing of men. The council's believed in strength in numbers. They wanted to create all men equal, and thought that solitude was the root of all evil. "We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible, and forever." (Anthem pg.19) The council's tried to eradicate all individualism, and personal thought. The society controlled every movement, thought, and action of those who were burdened with living in the city. Equality 7-2521 was always an individual. He committed sins, which we take for granted today. I believe that Rand was trying to warn society of what could arise in the future. The rules mainly exist for one basic purpose to eliminate one and focus on "WE."

The controls the society puts on their people are incredibly strict. They expect the men to live with no individual thought. This is extremely impossible because human nature creates men to think for himself, and for his wellbeing. Throughout the novel Equality secludes himself from his brothers, and begins to live for himself instead of for his brothers. He notices that thinking for himself, and having ideas is a powerful and fulfilling obsession. The society controlled every aspect of the people's life. They abolished anything that would make one person stand out from one another. The society was trying to create a world without war, and create