Ayn Rand's "Anthem" and Objectivism

Ayn Rand

     Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism is communicated strongly in Chapter 11 of her novella Anthem. At this point, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, has escaped from his roots in a collective society emphasizing herd conformity and elimination of the self. He discovers an abandoned home in the mountains with the woman he loves and begins using a word he has been searching for over the course of years: "I." This finally allows him to articulate his ideals:

     "...my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end." (Chapter 11, pg. 109-110)

     "I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others." (Chapter 11, pg. 110)

     Equality's ideals mirror Rand's Objectivism, where an individual's happiness is their highest goal, and where no one should sacrifice themselves for others or sacrifice others for themselves. He is much happierliving for himself in the mountains than as part of the collective society: "Through the years ahead, I shall rebuild the achievements of the past, and open the way to carry them further, the achievements which are open to me, but closed forever to my brothers, for their minds are shackled to the weakest and dullest ones among them." (Chapter 12, pg. 116)

     Rand's philosophy is realized in other parts of the novella.

     Equality's discovery of electricity was precipitated by his individual desire to investigate how natural phenomena worked, experimenting with wires in the tunnel from ages before. He tried to present his findings to the Council of Scholars, but they rejected him based on the values of collectivism. Said one Scholar, "'How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers?'" (Chapter 7, pg. 80) In a sense, Equality has been sacrificed by the Scholars to preserve social order. Thus, collective values which may have been meant to further society have ended up only holding it back, and Objectivism would have been the better approach.

     An example where happiness is the end itself, in accordance with Objectivism, is Equality's love for Liberty 5-3000, whom he calls "the Golden One." The Council of Eugenics attempts to find a reason for every pairing of two humans, with the intent of sacrificing an individual's choice in the matter in exchange for better offspring. Equality calls the experience at the Palace of Mating, where the selective breeding takes place, to be "ugly and shameful" (Chapter 2, pg. 42). This is in stark contrast with his experience with the Golden One in the Uncharted Forest:

     "And that night we knew that to hold the body of women in our arms is neither ugly nor shameful, but the one ecstasy granted to the race of men." (Chapter 9, pg. 95)

     Remember, he chose to express his love for the Golden One for his own happiness's sake, perhaps at the expense of the gene pool. But surely this experience is preferable to that of the Palace of Mating.

     Now, with the evidence presented by Anthem, my English teacher surmised that, perhaps, when a character acts selfishly against the prevailing vices of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself; an expression of Objectivism, of sorts. In Anthem, Equality does away with the collective society's grip on him and begins to rediscover humankind's progress with his loved one. Moreover, he plans to aid others in finding his happiness:

     "I shall call to me all the men and the women whose spirit has not been killed within them and who suffer under the yoke of their brothers. They will follow me and I shall lead them to my fortress. And here, in this uncharted wilderness, I and they, my chosen friends, my fellow-builders, shall write the first chapter in the new history of man." (Chapter 12, pg. 118)

     It is not difficult to interpret these actions, performed simply because he wished to, as virtues: desire for progress, commitment to family, and most of all, wishing to bring others to his own level.

     This exhibition of selfishness resulted in a win-win situation for Equality and the people he plans to bring with him to the mountains. The problem with Objectivism and the idea that when a character acts selfishly against the prevailing vices of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself is that selfish actions do not always result in these win-win situations.

     Suppose Equality felt no need to have other people with him in his new society. Still going the length to rescue them from the collective society would be a lose-win situation, where Equality has to put his life on the line in order to rescue people he has no need of being with. This, I believe, is true selflessness, although the end result is the same as the selfish actions described in Anthem.

     But consider this same version of Equality, who felt no need to have other people with him in his society. What if he just didn't rescue the other people? This would be a win-lose situation, where Equality is spared the danger and trouble of rescuing the people, but the people are still stuck in the collective society. It's hard to find virtue in this last scenario, since he is leaving these people - some of whom clearly wish to escape due to their unexplained cries - to the collective society. Yet, if this is how Equality felt, Objectivism and my teacher's supposition would both endorse this course of action. This is in stark contrast with the modern-day virtue of fulfilling your duty to your fellow humans.

     Thus, virtue is always demonstrated when acting selflessly, but not always when acting selfishly. Therefore, my teacher's supposition is only true in specific cases, but substituting selfless for selfish would make the statement true.