Anthem Anaylsis

A dystopian society is one that is woven by imperfections. These flaws throw off the state of equilibrium. To create equality, everyone has to be the same. However, a place without differences is far from fair. The society in Ayn Rand’s Anthem prohibits individuality. Diversity is a sin. The government inflicts extreme punishment on those whom attempt to be unique. All people are part of a whole; something larger and greater. Thus, they refer to themselves as “we” instead of “I”. If they strive to break that bond, they will disrupt the entire system. Consequently, they are banned from having any individual thoughts. Repetitive messages are instilled into each person’s mind day by day:

We are one in all and all in one.

There are no men but only the great WE,

One, indivisible and forever.

There is one forbidden word, a word that would cause humans to destroy the supposed utopia. That word is “ego”.

Ego, the Latin word for “I”, is a strong component that helps to build the plots for most novels and films with utopian societies. Most of these stories are about how a world of sameness is influenced by the protagonist who causes the people to obtain their own individuality. The Giver by Louis Lowry tells of a community in which every stage of each person’s life is planned out ahead of time. They are chastised for their dissimilarities and even killed if their peculiarities are severe, once again destroying any trace of individualism. The people in the community are oblivious to any other places and customs other than their own, much like in Gary Ross’s film, “Pleasantville”. At first, the people in these stories do not know of anything other than what goes on inside their own communities. They believe that they are satisfied with the conditions in which they live. As they learn the ways of the outside world, they begin to long for their own identities. As each character develops into an individual, the utopia breaks apart.

Though tales of utopias are fictitious, many of the issues that are conveyed relate to the real world. In many countries, there are laws that forbid people to speak their own opinions about the government, especially under tyrannical rule. In other countries such as the United States of America, citizens are allowed to express their feelings about the ruler ship of the President and even have the opportunity to participate