Anthem
By Ayn Rand
(1905-1982)
Ayn Rand’s Biography
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Anthem was written by Ayn Rand.
She was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on
February 2, 1905.
She witnessed both the Kerensky and
Bolshevik Revolutions during her teenage
years in Russia.
In order to escape the fighting during the
Russian revolution, her family went to the
Crimea, where she finished high school.
After high school, she attended the
University of Petrograd and later the State
Institute for Cinema Arts.
In late 1925. she obtained permission to leave
Soviet Russia for a visit to relatives in the
United States.
Although she told Soviet authorities that her
visit would be short, she was determined
never to return to Russia, and she never did.
In Hollywood, she met actor Frank
O’Connor, whom she married in 1929.
Ayn Rand’s Biography (cont’d.)
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After struggling for several years at various
non-writing jobs, she sold her first screenplay,
Red Pawn, to Universal Pictures in 1932.
Her first novel was We the Living.
She began writing The Fountainhead in
1935.
While writing The Fountainhead, she took a
break in 1937 to write Anthem.
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She began writing Atlas Shrugged in 1946.
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Ayn Rand wrote and lectured on her
philosophy of “Objectivism,” which she
characterized as “a philosophy for living on
earth.”
Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982, in her New
York City apartment.
Every book by Ayn Rand published in her
lifetime is still in print, and hundreds of
thousands of copies are sold each year, so far
totaling more than 25 million.
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Timeline of Ayn Rand’s Life
1905
1914
1917
1924
1925
1929
1932
1933
1936
1937
1943
1945
1946
1947
1957
1979
1982
1985
1999
1999
Ayn Rand (“Alissa Rosenbaum”) is born.
Rand decides that she wants to become a writer.
In order to escape the Russian Revolution, her family flees for Crimea.
Rand graduates from the University of Petrograd.
Rand leaves the Soviet Union and travels to America.
Ayn Rand marries Frank O’Connor.
Rand sells her first screenplay, Red Pawn, to Universal Studios.
Rand completes her first novel, We the Living.
We the Living is finally published in the United States.
Rand writes Anthem in a few weeks.
The Fountainhead is published.
The Fountainhead becomes a bestseller.
Rand begins Atlas Shrugged.
Anthem is finally published in the United States.
Atlas Shrugged is published in the United States.
Her husband, Frank O’Connor, dies.
Ayn Rand dies.
The Ayn Rand Institute is established in California.
The US Postal Service issues an Ayn Rand postage stamp.
The Ayn Rand Institute publishes Russian Writing on Hollywood, Rand’s first
formal writings.
About Anthem
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Anthem is one of Ayn Rand's earlier works.
It warns of the fears of Collectivism that characterize
Objectivism.
The novel is set in the future and has a universal, timeless
feel in its characterization of an ideal character's struggle
against a monolithic state.
In the relatively short novella, Rand sets the individual
against the collective and concludes that the rational
celebration of self is the only avenue through which
technological and societal progress can occur without the
suppression of free will.
More About Anthem
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As in the case of many contemporary writers of
dystopian/anti-utopian fiction, Rand initially wrote her novel as
a warning against Soviet Communism before the end of World
War II.
Rand rejected all forms of Collectivism as inherently flawed, a
conclusion that undoubtedly had roots in her experiences in
early twentieth-century Russia.
Unsurprisingly, given her background, Rand was a staunch
opponent of Communism before and during the Cold War.
She undoubtedly had the pro-socialist elements of the West in
mind as well as some of the more socialist elements of FDR's
New Deal when she wrote Anthem.
In her view, Collectivism led inevitably to the persecution of
people with original ideas, as well as to the punishment of the
able by forcing them to serve the state.
And More About Anthem
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As demonstrated in Anthem, Rand believed that too much
focus on the state led only to the erasure of human rights,
and through the narrator's search for the Unspeakable Word,
and through the collectivist naming system, she also echoes
the Soviet use of propaganda.
Rand believed that a collectivist society would regress into a
repetition of the Dark Ages, further adding to the dystopian
nature of her collectivist state.
In Anthem, the protagonist & narrator (Equality 7-2521) is the
embodiment of many Enlightenment and Industrial
Revolution values of individualism and progress.
Ayn Rand's writings have become popular in American
society because she implicitly celebrates the emphasis on
the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as
declared in the American Revolution.
What is an “anthem”?
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Anthem: a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism
The National Anthem of the United States is “The
Star-Spangled Banner.”
The lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott
Key during the War of 1812.
 It has 4 stanzas, but only the 1st is traditionally sung.
 It was officially recognized by the Navy in 1889 and was made
the National Anthem by Congress and President Herbert Hoover
in 1931.
 It represents the values of America:
 Freedom
 Patriotism, Justice
 Bravery, Confidence
 Victory, Triumph, Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness
Based on this information, why do you think Ayn Rand entitled her
book Anthem?
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Genre: Anti-Utopian/Dystopian Fiction
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Definition:
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Depicts a (generally futuristic) society that has degraded into a
repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian.
It has underlying cautionary tones, warning society that if we continue to
live how we do, this will be the consequence.
It is regarded as a negative utopia and is often characterized by an
authoritarian or totalitarian (ex: communism) form of government.
Dystopias usually feature different kinds of repressive social control
systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions
and constant states of warfare or violence.
Dystopias often explore the concept of technology going "too far" and
how humans individually and en masse use technology.
A dystopian society is also often characterized by mass poverty for most
of its inhabitants and a large military-like police force.
Rand’s Version of the Anti-Utopia/Dystopia:
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Ayn Rand did not believe it was possible to have a society that is
tyrannical, yet has a highly technological economy. She held that
economic progress depends upon freedom, that the uncoerced mind is
the source of technology, prosperity, and progress. Thus the collectivist
society she depicts is stagnant and primitive.
Collectivism vs. Objectivism
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Collectivism – a form of communism; the
subjugation of the individual to the group – whether
to a race, class, or state does not matter. In
Anthem, Ayn Rand will present a collectivist society
that is stagnant and primitive, and the word "I" is
obsolete.
The individual . . .
is owned by the group
has no right to a private existence
has no right to lead his own life, pursue his own happiness,
or use his own property
exists only as part of the group
Collectivism vs. Objectivism
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Objectivism/Individualism –regards every man as an
independent, sovereign entity who possesses an
inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from
his nature as a rational being. Individualism does
not mean that one can do whatever he feels like
doing; it means that every man or woman is an
individual and has the same rights.
The individual . . .
has rights
will not run anyone else’s life, nor let anyone run theirs
will not rule or be ruled
will not be a master nor a slave
will not sacrifice themselves to anyone, nor sacrifice
anyone to themselves
Communism Background Information
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Communism - a government where
the desires of the group are more
important than the individual.
People share work fairly and are
paid equally.
The word “Communism” comes
from the Latin word “Communis”
which means common or
belonging to all.
Goal: to get rid of social classes &
make everything fair for everyone.
Red Scare in the U.S.
In US history, the term Red Scare denotes two
distinct periods of strong anti-communism: the
First Red Scare, from 1917 to 1920, and the
Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The
Scares were characterized by the fear that
communism would upset the capitalist social
order in the United States; the First Red Scare
feared worker revolution and political radicalism,
the Second Red Scare feared (national and
foreign) communists infiltrating the Federal
Government.
Anthem: Key Facts, Symbols, & Motifs
Setting - Sometime in the distant future, after the
collapse of the social order because of the common
acceptance of collectivist values; location is in an
unidentified city
Protagonist - Equality 7-2521
Point of View – First Person (Plural); Equality’s POV
Symbols - Light; the forest; manuscripts
Motifs - Darkness and light/ ignorance and
knowledge/ transgression and damnation
Themes of Anthem
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Individualism or Egoism (celebration of self):
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Dangers of Collectivism:
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A martyr is one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to
further a belief, cause, or principle.
Creativity & Originality:
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The World Council of Scholars embodies one of the chief evils of
Collectivism, which is the inability of a collective government to come to
a conclusion and take action on behalf of the society it governs.
Martyrs as Heroes:
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Equality 7-2521 struggles throughout the novel with his growing desire to
spend time alone, to write for his own benefit, and to create at his own
leisure and for his own purposes.
Rand believed a man’s value rests in the originality of his mind as
expressed in his work, and the value of his work resides in his personal
investment in it.
Love and Friendship:
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Rand thinks love and friendship are not simply an irrational attachment
to another human being. Instead, they are the result of the mutual
recognition of like-minded individuals.