Anthem Essay

In many real and fictionalized totalitarian societies, children live apart from their families. Why

would dictatorial leaders enforce this living arrangement?

“I am. I think. I will,” (Rand, 1946, p. 94) writes Equality 7-2521, the protagonist in Ayn

Rand’s novel, Anthem. He says this once he discovers the meaning of the word “I.” Up until this

point, he had always used the word “we” to refer to himself. This is because Equality 7-2521

lives in a society that rejects individualism, in favor of collectivism. Anthem is set in the distant

future, where collectivism has taken over and any sign of individualism is banned.

Collectivism is very similar to totalitarianism, which is used by dictatorial leaders that

commonly choose to separate children from their families. The main reason for this is to prohibit

the children from feeling any sort of individualism, supporting the choice of the word “I” as the

Unspeakable Word in Anthem. Additionally, this is done in order to allow the leaders to raise the

children according to their principles, instead of allowing the parents to raise them freely. Doing

this allows the control of the child’s education, too. When the children are away from their

family, they can be taught what the leaders want them to know.

Totalitarianism can be defined as, “a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute

dictator,” according to Princeton University’s WordNet (2010). This means that totalitarian

societies control every aspect of man. If parents were allowed to raise their children in their own

way, the totalitarian rulers would not have any control over how the children act and what they

become when they grow up to be adults. This is why, in a totalitarian society, children are taken

away from their families and are raised and taught by state-sponsored teachers. Additionally, this

allows the totalitarian leaders to choose what kind of job the children will be doing when they

Justin Mariner

1/14/14 4B

become adults. In the end, all people will be raised to do a certain job, and the leaders will

control all aspects of human life.

Separation of children and family allows for the leaders to teach the children what they

want them to know. This differs from leaving the children with their family because doing so

allows for them to be taught information that the leaders do not want or need them to know.

When the leaders control the children’s educations, they can decide, more importantly, what not

to teach them. Generally, in a totalitarian society, it is important to hide certain information from

children during their early ages. According to peteyeo, an author on WordPress, “Education has

been a device of totalitarian regimes since the first millennium” (2012). This can be related to the

methods used in Anthem to make it so nobody, except the Scholars, had any knowledge of the

word “I.” The Scholars simply did not teach anybody what that word meant, or the fact that it

was the Unspeakable Word.

The key point of both collectivism, in Any Rand’s Anthem; and totalitarianism, in

dictatorships today; is the rejection of individualism. Individualism can be defined as, “a belief in

the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence,”

according to Princeton University’s WordNet (2010). Dictatorial leaders’ choices to separate

children from their families take away their personal independence, therefore removing the

ability for them to be individualistic. Equality 7-2521 says, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By

the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who

are the State” (Rand, 1946, p. 21). This clearly represents the lack of individualism in Anthem,

because not a single person, save the Scholars, shows any sign of personal independence.

There are three main reasons why dictatorial leaders choose to remove children from

their families: to control their future, to control their education, and to remove any ability for

Justin Mariner

1/14/14 4B

them to feel individualistic. The former two of these simply allow the leaders to control the

children, aiding to the collectivist feeling. The latter of these, the lack of individualism, is the

most important factor in collectivistic societies, such as in Anthem; and in totalitarianism, such as

in a dictatorship.

Justin Mariner

1/14/14 4B

References

peteyeo. (2012, November 10). Education: A totalitarian device. [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://peteyeomans.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/education-a-totalitarian-device/

Princeton University. (2010). WordNet Search – Individualism. Retrieved from

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=individualism

Princeton University. (2010). WordNet Search – Totalitarianism. Retrieved from

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=totalitarianism

Rand, A. (1946). Anthem. New York, NY: Signet