Selfishness And Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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Anthem is a fictional work written by the célèbre philosopher and author, Ayn Rand. In the story, the protagonist, a boy named Equality 7-2521, begins to question the utopian community built around him, an action triggered by the accidental discovery of knowledge kept from him. Rand is characteristic for her depiction of communism through her writing, considering she reflects her own negative personal experiences with that particular governing system. The proposition or focal point of Anthem is interrelated to her ideologies in her essayist work. Particularly her framed report, "How Does One Lead A Rational Life In An Irrational Society?" The unorthodox belief that selfishness and individualism are virtues much more significant than altruistically …show more content…
Such proposition was openly supported by Ayn Rand, in her philosophy based essay "How Does One Lead A Rational A Life In An Irrational Society?" In her writing, Rand conjured an unorthodox ideal, suggesting that selfishness is a virtue of the human nature. She wrote, "One must never fail to pronounce a moral judgement"(1).Contrary to altruistic point of views, Rand argued that humanity is in its own right to judge, to find mistakes within others. Only this will be enough to restore a broken society, accordingly to her. In the novel, this philosophy lead to the consciousness of the fact that the life Equality had been living up until then was empty and void of all the treasures in life. Once Equality found the power of individualism within himself he began to question the pillars of his society. It was incomprehensible to him how such wonderful findings could be kept hidden from a …show more content…
By denouncing them morally, he allowed himself to find happiness and freedom. In Rand's essay, she wrote, "To abstain from condemning a torturer, is to become an accessory to the torture and murder of his victims"(7). Rand philosophized that the importance of denouncing a greater evil served the purpose of facilitating the quest to freedom, justice and ultimately, happiness. At the beginning of the novel, Equality synthesized the focal point of his society by saying, "And if you a not needed by your brother men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies"(22). The leaders of his utopian world created a reality where individualism was rejected entirely, and serving others was the purpose of life. However, by doing this, they limited the growth of their subjugated population, leading them to a pitiable state of existence rather than living. Had our protagonist not declined the limited lifestyle the community offered, he'd be in the same existential crisis he was in before, yearning for something he could not have. Thus, his analytical negative denotation of this system lead to the end of his
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