● In the society of Anthem, individuals are persecuted for their pursuit of knowledge. Why do you think this is? What lessons can be drawn from Anthem about how we should think about the pursuit of knowledge in our world today, especially in the face of social opposition?
“We are nothing. Mankind is all … We exist through, by, and for our brothers who are the State” (7). This mantra is repeated by Equality and his peers at the Home of the Students, introducing readers to a society where collectivist ideas prevail and all singular pronouns, along with it the idea of individuality have been stolen from its people. We follow the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, in his pursuit of scientific knowledge and experience the brutality that ensues. The society that he inhabits is characterized by collectivism and heavy censorship, enforced by the ruthless laws that the Council has implemented. “There is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone” (4), Equality muses in the very first pages of the book. While it may seem that only scientific knowledge is systematically denied in the world of Anthem, it is rather self-knowledge that triggers the wrath of the authorities.
In a society where its citizens and their thoughts are kept under meticulous control, the prospect of the very same citizens gaining sudden knowledge of one’s own beliefs, thoughts and motivations is a disaster. Self-knowledge itself requires that the holder views themself as an individual, a philosophy that is routinely and methodically oppressed by the Council. However, looking inside oneself is not the only way to attain consciousness, hence why the Council oppresses the pursuit of scientific knowledge as well. “How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers?” (22), a Scholar explodes. This oppression of scientific discoveries is carried out under the guise that men are not allowed to be superior to their brothers.
The reason that those who pursue knowledge in the dystopian society portrayed in Anthem are persecuted is because they are after a specific type of it. They wish to know themselves, and the collectivist state fears that possibility so much that it vehemently hunts down and punishes anyone who dares stray beyond the daily toil.
Self-knowledge is a direct opposition to the ideals of Anthem’s society. There is a need to be introspective when discovering yourself, and introspection comes with dire consequences in the views of the Council. Equality is the very first citizen that dares to look inside himself; this exploration manifests in the form of a diary. “We have much to speak of to ourselves, and we hope we shall find the words for it in the days to come. Now, we cannot speak, for we cannot understand” (37), Equality expresses. It is writing this diary that allows him to question the world he lives in first.
Further, the significance of this diary lies in the fact that it forces its writer to use first person. It is also the act of writing that cements Equality’s disobedience to his society, and it is ultimately his writing that accompanies him on his journey to find the EGO. Writing is a visceral act, and the Council understands that. It is often that, no matter what you are writing and how you are writing it, a piece of writing will become deeply personal. The Council must forbid this, as it may enable the individual to find their identity, hence why they define this act of writing as a transgression. Equality, through the record of his escapade and subsequent adventure through the woods, discovers himself.
Moreover, a certain degree of awareness for the environment in which one lives is necessary, for it is in those reflections that one finds where their place is. We must understand the world to understand ourselves. It is for these reasons that those of the Home of Scholars turn on Equality instantaneously when he reveals his invention, when they should have been delighted instead had they been in true pursuit of the truths of the world.
Looking outwards is also, in part, why Equality is able to recognize that there is something missing. “There is some error, one frightful error, in the thinking of men. What is that error?” (40). He displays consciousness of what men are missing continuously throughout the book, resolving that he will find the word “even if [he] has to burn for it” (23). This yearning comes into sharper focus when Equality expresses that “[he] felt torn, torn for some word [he] could not find” (41) after Liberty’s confession. “We looked too long at the stars at night, and at the trees and the earth” (11). Even as an adult, he views the world and questions it. He finds himself in his new understanding of his society, and recognizes its sole, inherent problem, leading him to rediscover the word “I”.
Knowledge other than that of the self is an easy thing to find in the world that we live in today. While new discoveries in the world of Anthem had the purpose of self-reflection, the information in our society is a tool. Such information is streamlined by corporations such as Google, who make it effortless to acquire knowledge from various sources, not all of them trustworthy. People of this age are dictated by what the people around them say, constantly convinced by fake news and sensationalized facts to “cancel” a celebrity or believe in conspiracy theories.
In this way, modern society has found its own kind of collectivism, though less cruel than the one seen in Anthem. It is often that the opinion of a majority envelops the lone voice of an individual, and those who are courageous enough to speak their mind are often blocked by the enforcers called peer pressure and lack of appropriate research. The people today may not be collective of body, but they certainly are of mind. Combine this phenomenon with the nondiscriminatory spreading of false information, and it turns into a relentless forest fire of political agitation and misunderstandings. Equality may have been contrary to the Council, but we are contrary to each other, though we have the same purpose in finding self-knowledge through awareness of the state of our world. This makes our endeavor all the more difficult.
In writing Anthem, Ayn Rand reminds us that the loss of the individual and discovery of the collective is present wherever and whenever we are. Ideologies that erase the individual so completely may seem distant, especially considering how far humanity has come since the first publication of the novella in 1938, but in truth, it is far too close. It is close in the way we intake new information, and close in the way we change depending on the thoughts of others. Anthem imparts that we must be vigilant and constantly on the guard against misinformation and lies. We must not be sedentary or relaxed, finding comfort in the thought that dictatorships and collectivism are things past. We must be curious, critical, and questioning; in short, we must be like Equality, delving into new ways of philosophical and political thought, and telling ourselves we are never safe—because we aren’t.
Writer : Nahye, Lee
Chadwick Songdo International School
Brown University
Awards : IPO 2022 Honourable Mention
IPO 국내예선 금상
Ayn Rand - Second Place
Comments