The Government In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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An orderly government means an orderly society, which may result in the absence of conflict which could ultimately transform the world into a peaceful place. The stronger and wider-spread the influence of the ruling government, the longer conflict may cease to exist and that peace will prevail. Therefore, the only logical course of action is to generate absolute power for the government, allowing the spectrum of things under their control to expand to all facets of life. Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem, explores a dystopian society revived from chaos through the actions of a powerful, repressive government analogous to the ideal peacekeeping government described. This government successfully establishes a working society, absent from the terrors …show more content…
This technique is specifically used to manipulate citizens with the fear of repeating the past mistakes of mankind that would restore the world to its former apocalyptic state. The collectivist society described in Anthem inculcates trepidation into its citizens to keep them abiding by the rules; “ There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak” (Rand, 46). Rand emphasizes the power of fear and its ability to control and connects this influence to the obedience and compliance of all citizens. Equality explains that this fear influences the actions of his brothers, forcing them to give into the oppressive force of the totalitarian government. The rules against looking others in their eyes, drives all to bow their heads and hunch their shoulders, causing them to look as physically small and weak; paralleling to the power and control they hold over their own lives. This underlying fear lies within all members of the society and was planted in them by the government to foster acquiescence into all citizens. Likewise, In The Giver the world is controlled by government leaders known as the Elders who instill submission in all. In this utopian society, …show more content…
The government wishes to efface from human nature all thoughts of individuality by dictating all elements of personal life, striving for a community where a single person cannot distinguish anyone as better, worse, or different in comparison to others. With the suppression of individual thought and everyone regarded as and thinking as one entity, the government can effectively bend peoples will into submission and retain authority over their citizens. The authority of the government in Anthem allows them to determine the names, jobs, place of living, information held, language used, and the technology available to all its citizens. Early on in the citizen’s lives they are taught to follow the government, known as the Council, blindly in all decisions they make, including the ones about an individual’s personal life. Equality grew up surrounded by the influential beliefs of those around him; taught to never question the authority and decisions of the Council. The Council uses their influence to suppress its citizens by molding them into a fragment of a group, with one mindless brain that was taught to believe it can only function as a whole; erasing necessity for individual thought or action: “‘Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave… You shall do that which the Council of
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