Ayn Rand, in the novel Anthem, is saying that governments that persistently insist on conformity in thinking present dangers not only to certain individuals, but to societies as a whole. When a government tries to distance people from their individuality in order to group them, all personal ideals are eliminated. Conversely, when individuals are noticed and respected, conformity is not necessary.
Anthem: Individuality vs. Conformity
The novella Anthem by Ayn Rand is the story of an individual's search for identity in a society based on conformity. Set in the future the story's protagonist, Equality 7-2521 is a street sweeper whose great sin is to have personal ambition. Equality 7-2521 is born into a collectivist society in which everyone's life is controlled by various councils of social planners and disciplinarians and in which the use of the word "I" has been forbidden. Every individual is "we," the perfection of "equality." Lacking any avenue for private thought and initiative, this would be utopia is so miserably poor, intellectually and materially, that its heroes of technological progress are "the twenty illustrious men who had invented the candle."
Equality 7-2521 rebels against this cult of interchangeable parts and the lowest common denominator and hides in order to conduct scientific research in a secret tunnel that contains relics of the Unmentionable Times. With help from discoveries he makes among the ruins of the preceding civilization, presumably our own, he reinvents the electric light. He offers his "power of the sky" to the World Council of Scholars, but they treat his achievement as an act of rebellion. He flees to the wilderness and with the help of a like-minded woman, Liberty 5-3000, starts to build his own society, a place of freedom to which dissidents can come and begin to recover the world that was lost.
Equity 7-2521rejects the norms of his society because of the oppression placed on individuality. His motivation to develop the electric light can be seen from a number of aspects. On one level he hopes his invention will make life more comfortable for his "brothers." He also is seeking redemption for breaking the laws of his society by keeping the tunnel a secret and doing unauthorized experiments. Ultimately, the work gives him a great deal of personal pleasure and a certain amount of pride. However, these feeling are forbidden in his world. Equality 7-2521 eventually comes to the understanding that his invention "…is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good of our brothers. We built it for our own sake. It is above all our brothers to us, and its truth above their truth" (p. 85).
Rand's book explores the danger of governments using the pressure of conformity as a way control their citizens. The Councils constantly monitor the world they created. Equality 7-2521 has no choice in what he does. The Councils decide every aspect of his life. Yet some tingle in his mind motivates him to stand alone and discover a unique approach to living.
Throughout the novel Equality 7-2521 struggles with his need to spend time alone, write for his own benefit, and create for his own purposes. It is not until he is forced to leave society that he begins to thrive. In society all are drained of their energy and sapped of their creativity until they become shapeless, faceless blobs made inarticulate by fear of rejection by the group. By contrast, those capable of thinking on their own exhibit strength, fearlessness, and self-assurance. Toward the end Equality 7-2521 declares, "I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is mine theirs to covet" (p. 110).
The oppression generated by the Councils prevents any expression of individuality. All people are coerced into thinking and speaking alike. Rather than be separate from one another, the citizens refer to themselves as "we" or "them" to prevent any instance of nonconformity. For Equality 7-2521, being a classified object is unacceptable and he rails against it. He cannot allow his life to be wasted by the limitations placed upon him by society. "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it...Neither I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs...I am a man" (p. 109-110).
Equality 7-2521believes there is something the government is trying to hide, however, the only way he can verify his thoughts is if he flees the city. It is through this quest to discover what the Councils are hiding from the citizens that leads him to realize answers in himself. His realization is that he is not the same as everyone else, that he is his own person.
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