Example of 'Anthem Essay Contest': Analysis of Rand’s Philosophy

The Anthem essay contest is an annual essay competition for high school students, organized by the Ayn Rand Institute. The contest is based on Ayn Rand's novella, 'Anthem,' a dystopian fiction work that portrays a society where individualism and free thought are strictly forbidden. For this paper I have discovered for myself this novel and its main features. 

The philosophy that Rand presents in her novel Anthem is the importance and significance of the power of individuality, and the impact it has on an individual in society. Looking at how the main character in the novel, “Prometheus”, discovered the freedom of finding himself and his own voice and opinion in the end, we can see that Rand strongly supports individuality and democracy in a society.

I personally agree with Rand’s philosophy presented through this novel. Looking back at history, The Occupy Movement in Wall Street raised issues like social and economic inequality. Corporations of the government were corrupt, especially the financial services center which greatly and negatively impacted the lives of those who lived there. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and new forms of democracy. The people had decided to stand up for their views, though many were arrested in the process. This has forced the government to listen to the people and their wants and needs; the protesters, which were mostly students used the catchphrase “We are the 99%” to illustrate the severe gap between the rich and poor. In Rand’s novel, it is written “The moment we understood what the word meant, the book fell from our hands.”; with context, the word is “I”, and Equality realises the power and importance of individuality in a society without. In the occupy movement, it shows perfectly the power of individuality and how the protesters on Wall Street had used that to tell the public their personal views. The Occupy Movement was the people’s fight for justice, and so it links to the novel. It also supports Rand’s theories since it emphasizes on the importance of a voice from individuals, and that there is nothing wrong with fighting for what one believes in.

Another event that links to the philosophy of the novel is the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong in 2014. This is another example of how citizens came out onto the streets to make their voices heard. During these four months, protesters used ways such as occupation, hunger strike, and internet activism to strongly state their views. In Anthem, we learn that Equality escapes into the forbidden forest to get away from the horrible society he was in; “We run and run, as far as our legs can go, and we realize we are in the forbidden forest', “We do not stop, for we know no men will follow us here”, linking to the Umbrella movement, protesters have used extreme ways to oppose the government, like hunger strikes. Like how going into the forest is a first step into how Equality discovers individuality, the Hong Kong protesters have started using ways to speak out against the government and learn to not be afraid of voicing opinions.

The last example that supports Rand’s theory is not an event, but a historical figure, Martin Luther King Jr, who had fought all his life for the equal rights of the black community. He was unfortunately assassinated for his actions, but his life, and what he fought for strongly relates to the novel. As a black man living in the States at the time, he had no voice, and had a low social status. Already, this is similar to Equality within the novel, as the character was of low social class, as was seen as unimportant. Martin Luther stepped out and bravely spoke out about equality of whites and blacks, and quoted famously, “I have a Dream”. In other words, Martin Luther was one white man against his society, but his voice was eventually heard and the development of equal rights began. This links and supports Rand’s theory as again, it illustrates the importance of individuality, and that it is even strong and brave to voice opinions outside of the norm.