In Ayn Rand's "Anthem," civilization had lost the understanding of freedom and individuality. Only one person along with a few friends dared to fight against the conformity that had become the norm. Throughout human history, there have been many people who have tried to force others to confirm to a set of rules and regulations. Conformity can be seen in India's caste system, the introduction of school uniforms, and in today's capitalistic society. There have been revolutions started by a person or group that overthrew the idea that society must confirm to a certain hierarchy in order to function properly. The Indian caste system, though still around in a more weaken state, is now seen as something that destroys rather than help society.
In "Anthem," the Council of Vocations assigned each person work which "is to be for the rest of their days." (Rand) This could be compared to the Indian caste system of the past. In India, people were placed into different castes. A person's assigned caste was given at birth, and they were to stay in that caste for the rest of their lives. Marrying someone from a different caste would often mean death. The characters in "Anthem" had similar rules. They were assigned jobs they had to do for life. Marriage wasn't allowed so there was no way for a person to move up or down the job ladder. In his essay "Free Will and Determinism in Anthem," Onkar Ghate points out that anyone who is able to go against or resist the "metaphysical indoctrination" from the slave society in either the caste system or the society within "Anthem" to realize that he or she had free will would have "collectivist morality descend[] upon him." (Ghate 233) Therefore, majority of society both in "Anthem" and in India's caste system, never seen any reason to question the status quo of the time until well known figures such as Gandhi spoken out against such practices. In a similar way, "Anthem" society could be seen in how many school systems operates.
Equality points out "It is not good to be different from our brothers" (Rand) Rand's society in "Anthem" has a set rule and time for everything that all must follow. Equality goes against these rules and times when he finds the tunnel. In order to explore the tunnel he had found and to continue his discovery of electricity, Equality would skip going to the three-hour play. However, he forgot to keep track of the time once and was punished for not revealing his whereabouts to the council. He was beaten and thrown into jail. Many school systems require student to confirm to a set of rules. Students need to be in class at a certain time and raise their hand before speaking. Failure to follow school procedures results in various types of punishments.
While some people may argue that conformity is needed in school to keep order and properly teach students, others have argued that such conformity has served only to limit a student's individuality. A great example of this is an argument about school uniforms. According to GreatSchools.org, school uniforms serve as a deterrent against gangs and bullies. However, a school uniform does not allow students to express themselves as individuals through their clothes. Some schools prefer not to implement an uniform requirement. Instead, they allow the students the freedom to choose what they want to wear. By doing so, these schools allow students to express their individuality and creativity through their clothing styles. In the United States, society tends to confirm to the idea that capitalism is beneficial to the entire society.
In "Anthem," carved into a marble stone was written the following words: "We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible and forever." (Rand 19) The society in "Anthem" is rejecting individuality and accepting the conformity in order to work for the greater good of their society. They believed that only a select few held the knowledge necessary for the advancement of their society. However, this was clearly not true since Equality was able to discover electricity on his own. By discovering electricity, Equality has created a gap between his fellow brothers and himself.
Likewise, in today's capitalistic society, it is assumed that if each person were allowed and able to work for her or his rewards society would benefit as a whole. While it is possible that this assumption is true, looking back on the United States' history, an unrestricted capitalistic society would only lead to a widening of the gap between the poor and the rich. This widening of the social gap isn't the result of personal abilities but of the rich population a tendency to keep their money within their own families as well as within their own social circle simply because of self-interest.
In the past, the United States was dominated first by families who had only their self-interest in mind and next by large monopolies that the only goal was to make more money for the owners and those in charge. As a result of these actions, the United States government implemented anti-trust laws. Additionally, there was an increase in federal regulations. These actions did not help Americans. Instead, the new laws and regulations only serve to create a more restrictive system where law dictates self-interest. People decided to rise against the inequality between the social groups and self-interest of the rich by creating the "Occupy Movement." In a similar fashion, Equality had decided to create a society that was free from the dictatorial ways of the Council and free any conformity.
The idea that a society needs to give up individuality and confirm to a set idea or value have been proven to be wrong throughout human history. Ayn Rand's "Anthem" serves as a reminder to society that both the population and the individual are important. Forcing individuals into a confirmed collective would only serve for situations such as India's castes system, the use of uniforms, and a restrictive capitalistic system to prevail.
Works Cited
"Do Uniforms Make Schools Better? - Defining your ideal school." GreatSchools. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2014. <http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/121-school-uniforms.gs?page=all>.
Ghate, Onkar. "Free Will and Determinism in Anthem." Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem. Ed. Robert Mayhew. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2005. 225-2254. Print.
Rand, Ayn. "Anthem." Gutenberg. Public Domain, 1 Mar. 1998. Web. 1 Nov. 2014. <www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1250>.
