Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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“Anthem” was written by Ayn Rand (Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum), who was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia the year of 1905. During this time period, the Russians were under the strict rule of communism. Although Ayn Rand had relocated to the United States years later, she had understood the severe desperation that came with wanting to have individual freedom. As Ayn Rand wrote in “Anthem”, Equality 7-2521 is the envisionment of her real-life desperation to obtain true individualism during those difficult years spent in communist Russia. Although the individual freedom of Anthem doesn’t necessarily apply to our society, the mentality of the not being able to reach our full potential mains the same. As an example, in the story “Anthem”, the citizens believe that they were restricted to whatever occupation the Council had decided to give them as a career. …show more content…
“But we cannot change our bones nor our body. We are born with a curse” (Rand, 18) As seen in “Anthem” and within our society, these people believe they are born with a curse since they were born into a certain line of work or a lower class lifestyle. Yet, many successful individuals who also had to endure difficult upbringings, such as Jim Carrey and Oprah Winfrey, never allowed for their personal hardships to hold them back or to determine their life plans. As Equality 7-2521 had gone against the Council, he decided to stay strong to his personal beliefs and found the power necessary to follow his own