Eliasen 1

Morgan Eliasen
Mrs. Michaud
English
11 March 2015
Control and Sinister Motivations
Imagine a world in which there are no individuals, no personal freedom, and no sense
of the concept of I. Imagine a world in which the government has complete and total control
over every aspect of your life: your thoughts, your career, your home, and even your love life.
This is the world that Ayn Rand portrayed in her novella, Anthem. In this futuristic dystopian
society, individualism is forbidden in favor of collectivism. In other words, everything is done
for the good of all men and never for oneself. The word, I, is actually forbidden; everyone
must refer to themselves as we. No one is allowed to think for themselves or have any
preference to anything, so it only makes sense that a persons career is chosen for them by the
Council of Vocations. However, the methods of this council are questionable considering that the
main character, Equality 7-2521, is tremendously intelligent and curious but was assigned the job
of Street Sweeper rather than Scholar along with characters such as Union 5-3992, who is
stricken with convulsions and has only half a brain. It is likely that Equality was assigned the
job of Street Sweeper by the Council of Vocations, not because he is unable to perform other
higher level jobs, rather because it is a form of punishment, he is almost too curious and
intelligent, and they feel that they need to maintain their control over mankind.
Throughout the book, certain remarks by the main character infer that the job of Street
Sweeper is a lower level job assigned to those who are being punished. For example, when
describing the character, International 4-8818, Equality says:

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And also they were not liked because they took pieces of coal and they drew pictures
upon the walls...But it is only our brothers in the Home of the Artists who are permitted

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to draw pictures, so International 4-8818 were sent to the Home of the Street Sweepers,
like ourselves. (Rand 29-30)
From this quote, it seems as if Equality is inferring that being sent to the Home of the Street
Sweepers is almost a punishment in a cause/effect way; International drew pictures, which was

mmichaud 4/5/15 9:49 AM

Comment [1]: When using block quoting
in MLA format, do not use quotation
marks. Also, unlike in-text citations, the
punctuation goes at the end of the
sentence instead of after the citation.

forbidden; therefore he was assigned the job of Street Sweeper just as Equality was. Based on

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this information, it is possible that Equality could have been being punished for the

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Transgression of Preference; he was hoping to be assigned to the Home of Scholars even though
having your own thoughts and preferences is forbidden. After he admitted this transgression to
the reader, he directly says And we were punished when the Council of Vocations came to give
us our life Mandates (Rand 24). This gives the reader reason to believe that the Council of
Vocations has more sinister rather than idealistic motivations for assigning jobs to the people.
Another probable point is that the Council of Vocations might believe Equality is too
curious and intelligent to work among scholars who must share the ideas of all men. This is
supported by certain remarks Equality makes when talking about his years in the Home of the
Students. For example, he says, This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It
is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The Teachers
told us so, and they frowned when they looked upon us (Rand 21). In this society, being
intelligent or curious is not a valuable quality but rather a curse as Equality describes it. This
can be seen in the way that the Teachers treat Equality by not only frowning upon him but
lashing him more often than the other children. It would only make sense that the Council of
Vocations would continue this intelligence shaming and assign Equality the job of Street

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Sweeper rather than Scholar, so he would not be able to ask questions, keep learning, and even
get close to having his own thoughts.
This leads to the next point; the Council of Vocations needs to maintain their control over
mankind. They cannot do this if Equality is having his own thoughts, asking too many questions,
and inventing new devices by himself as a Scholar. If other men see Equality doing these things
by himself and acting on his own thoughts, they could be inspired to do the same and eventually
rise against the government which would destroy the entire system. This idea is supported by
events such as Equality convincing International to keep the tunnel they found from the council
and the Golden One following Equality into the Uncharted Forest. For example, after following
Equality into the Uncharted Forest, the Golden One tells him, We have followed you, and we
shall follow you wherever you go. If danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death, we
shall die with you. You are damned, and we wish to share your damnation (Rand 82). Equality
did nothing to compel this woman to follow him and pledge herself to him except for go against
not one, but many of the councils and leave the city. His actions inspired the Golden One to do
the same, which is exactly what the Council of Vocations was trying to prevent. It was events
like this that the Council of Vocations feared and felt threatened by. Therefore, they assigned
Equality the job of Street Sweeper out of fear of losing their control over mankind.
The entire society presented in the novella, Anthem, is obviously far from ideal. The
people in this story have no say in any aspect of their lives, but the most horrible part is that they
do not even know they are capable of having a say. However, Equality does know this deep
down, and that makes him a threat to the councils. That fact makes it clear that Equalitys life
Mandate was no accident or mistake. It was an effort to maintain power and destroy the potential
of a revolution. It is because Equality is so different and so much more intelligent than the other

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members of his society that the Council of Vocations assigned him the job of Street Sweeper out
of fear of losing their control. It is appalling what people, both fictional and not, will do to obtain
and then maintain power, but Ayn Rands message is clear; it is each individuals responsibility
to prevent this fictional work from becoming our own reality.