Tyranny in Anthem Essay

A Tyrannical End

In Anthem, a novel by Ayn Rand, a collectivist Society keeps its members subjugated by using force and constant indoctrination. The hero of Anthem, Equality, struggles with the ideals of the collectivist society because his values are not in accord with them. Ultimately, Equality is able to free himself from the Tyrannical end by understanding the falseness of its metaphysical premise and realizing his own individualism.

At most, the collectivist society is able to maintain power and control over its subjects by the use of force. Disobedient members can be sent to the Palace of Corrective Detention and lashed, as is the case with Equality. For extreme infringements they can be burned alive, like the Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word .The wielding of such punishment helps the society keep its authority. The society also manages to keep its subjects in line through brainwashing. As equality writes, Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from the one is evil. Also, as children, they are forced to recite, By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers, meaning that the only Reason they have for living is service to each other. In opposing the society, one is opposing everyone. Every collectivist society rests on the idea that the many are good and the one evil, from the law that none may have a preference for a type of work For the Council of Vocations knows... where you are needed by your brother men.... And if you are not needed by your brother men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies. . . For instance, he likes the Science of Things for the enjoyment it gives him, not for the benefits that others can derive from his studying.

At first, equality completely accepts the collectivist morality and consequently struggles to subdue his desires. The heavy influence of the doctrine is shown through his sense of guilt at committing the Transgression of Preference and his relief and pride at being able to suffer for it. Gradually, however, equalities emotions contradict his conscious premises. As he commits more acts that he thinks to be immensely evil, like being alone and doing work for the sole reason that he wants to, he is untroubled. As he writes at the end of the first chapter, The evil of our crime is not for the human mind to probe and help and yet there is no shame in us and no regret. His writing shows, however, that he still accepts the legitimacy of collectivist morality, if only consciously. Equalitys stance towards collectivist morality evolves from utter belief to mere conscious acceptance. Equality does not begin to actually struggle against collectivist morality until he meets the Golden One. After coming to know her, he begins to feel glad to be living, writing, If this is a vice, then we wish no virtue. Here he still gives credence to collectivist morality but decides that he would rather not follow it if it means sacrificing his happiness.

What follows is his progressive rejection of various tenets of collectivist doctrine as they conflict with his observations and his happiness. As Equality becomes increasingly aware of his power, his being, and the enjoyment he can have, he loses respect for the ideas and laws that have governed his life, as when he discovers electricity, writing, No single one can possess greater wisdom than the many Scholars.... Yet we can.... We forget all men, all laws, and all things.... So long a road lies before us, and what care we if we must travel it alone! equality, however, never questions the validity of collectivist morality. His attitude is still like that of a precocious, rebellious childhe consciously thinks the ideas he is struggling with to be right but chooses to act on his intuitions. The last vestige of his acceptance appears at the end of chapter seven, after his flight from his community. He writes, We have torn ourselves from the truth which is our brother men.... We know this, but we do not care.

Equality is able to fully reject collectivism when he realizes the immense delight that he can have in living for himself. When he awakens the first morning in the Uncharted Forest, completely free to do as he wills, he feels the urge to frolic, to jump and roll and laugh. Then, the Golden One joins him, consummating his happiness, and in the face of such joy he says, Let us forget their good and our evil, let us forget all things save that we are together and that there is joy as a bond between us. This event marks equalitys complete, conscious rejection of collectivism. In experiencing such profound happiness he does not attempt to sacrifice it as he originally did but embraces it, renouncing the ideals that would condemn his joy. Nonetheless, he still struggles with collectivism, much in the way that a cured patient might attempt to find the cause of his disease. As he writes, There is some error, one frightful error, in the thinking of men. What is that error? We do not know, but the knowledge struggles within us. He discovers the error on understanding the word I. The metaphysical basis of collectivism is, There are no men but only the great WE. The moral basis is, We exist through, by and for our brothers. The implication is that things that exist have the right to exist, and things that do not exist have no right. Since only we exists and not individual men, individual men do not have the right for themselves. Equality comes to understand, however, through the word I that individuals do exist, and thus have a right to live for themselves, to take pleasure in things essentially self-centered and self-serving.

The collectivist society in Anthem has a strong moral grip on its subjects. The hero Equality is able to break that grip through his devotion to his own happiness and finally through his recognition of the existence of individuality to stop this tyrannical end.