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[Type text] [Type text] Zhang 1

Fiona Zhang

Johannes

H English 9- Period 1

6 March 2012

Anthem

I understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the

sense of truth within him. (Rand 121). Are the words that follow. Equality 7-2521 never felt

guilt for his sins because he understood that no matter what society tried to do, his desire for

truth and knowledge could never be destroyed. The only time he felt human was when he sinned

and committed transgressions. So, despite all the hardship and the bloodshed he would have to

suffer for his beliefs, he was satisfied. He comes to understand that his actions were neither

actual sins nor transgressions; he could not be punished for merely being himself, for being a

human, for pursuing happiness. Society saw the best in him as the worst because the best in him

could not be the best in everyone else.

Furthermore, the Dalai Lama once said, As free human beings we can use our unique

intelligence to try to understand ourselves and our world. But if we are prevented from using our

creative potential, we are deprived of one of the basic characteristics of a human being. (Dalai

Lama 93). Equality was being deprived of being a human being. When he tried to understand his

world, he was oppressed. When he tried to experiment in the tunnels, he was taken away and

brutally beaten, when he was young, he was reprimanded for asking too many questions, and

when he sought to become a scholar, he was forced to become a street sweeper. Equality could


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not have felt guilty for his actions, because no matter what, a human will always be a human and

nothing else. Being human means one will be curious and inquisitive.

Prometheus understands that if he wants to feel human, he cannot be oppressed in his

society. He realizes that the prerequisite to happiness is to be human; that the definition of being

a human lies in the word, I, and that We cannot exist without I. He understand that he

cannot sin if he is simply being himself and doing what he is born with. The whole reason for

his being is to seek his own joy and not to be enslaved by his birth, by his kin, by his race

(Rand 102). When a man has his rights taken away, he becomes nothing more than a moving

body. If man chooses to exist, he cannot be subjugated by another. Repression carries dire

consequences, an example being Solidarity 9-6347 who lives without fear in the day," but

screams "Help us!" at night.

Society regarded the best of him, or anyone, as sinful because it was not the best in

another and difference was forbidden. In this society, to be legitimate and moral meant giving up

every human right, to assimilate with the monotonous universal we. Equality was human in

a society where everyone else were shapeless, blobs of existence. Equality was different from

the others, he dared to love, dared to think, dared to dream, and most of all he dared to be human.

He could only enjoy life if he could satisfy his desires. They feared that if he could spread his

ideas, their totalitarian control over society would disappear. Everything that Equality believed

in went against the dogma of society, We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our

brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State.

(Rand 15).


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In a society where it was sinful to be human, Equality was the only one who dared to

rebel. The only time when Equality felt like he was a human was when he sinned and he realized

hat would not possible be happy without sinning first and therefore he felt no sorrow. Society

saw his individuality and his humanity to be a manifesto of self, of the forbidden word I and it

scarred them. Equality naturally stood out of the crowd and for that he broke the golden rule of

society. In the same sense, Rand left Communist Russia, to come to the United States, could she

be alluding to her own life?


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Works Cited

Dalai, Lama. Universal Responsibility:1993, Speech.

Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print.

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