I finished a book the other day.
Not a book you've probably heard of or read. It's called Anthem, and it was written by Ayn Rand.
The book is a dystopian novella, written sometime in the 1930's. The future society described by Rand has shunned any sign of individualism, and in the interest of "the common good" have strayed to the point where anything that is not accepted by the general population is deemed evil, and subsequently destroyed. The personal singular word "I" has been removed from the vocabulary. Your choices are made by your "brother men", your work is all to benefit your "brother men", and anything you think or do for yourself is a sin. It was as stark an image as I've seen painted of the extreme end of collectivism and socialism. On some degrees, very disturbing.
The main character of the story finally breaks from the bonds imposed upon him by the environment of this culture, however, and through a course of what would initially appear to be unfortunate events, ends up on his own. He finds a house from "the dark times" in the mountains, a house that would to us be recognizable as some sort of vacationing lodge. Here, in a house made for two (as opposed to the public dormitories he was raised in) he finds books written by free minds and is opened up the concept of "I". He is awakened to his own individual needs and desires. A seemingly healthy turn of events, right? He then proceeds to declare the anthem that I can only assume the book is named after.
In this anthem, he declares his awakening, and with it, his realization that in his individualism he has found his reason for existence. He has found purpose, and that nothing he does or wants should have to be based on other people. His means are an end unto themselves, that his deity is "I", or himself. After that, it starts to get positively unhealthy. The exact opposite of the extreme of his society. This is a story that paints two extremes, completely skipping the area in between. If cleanliness is next to godliness, then extremism is, at it's best, annoying. Then this character at what he would conceive is his personal best is actually very possibly at his very worst, this new attitude being a chosen one and not imposed.
It cleared some things up for me. Maybe in a book or a story, my goal should not be to show great contrast in the opposing objects that create my conflict. Maybe the contrast should instead be focused on what is right and what is wrong, because how possible is it for both opposing points to be equally wrong? Anthem, therefore, seems to me more a tragedy. In his struggle to find humanity, the protagonist eventually looses that aspect of humanity that is paramount to all; compassion.
Not a book you've probably heard of or read. It's called Anthem, and it was written by Ayn Rand.
The book is a dystopian novella, written sometime in the 1930's. The future society described by Rand has shunned any sign of individualism, and in the interest of "the common good" have strayed to the point where anything that is not accepted by the general population is deemed evil, and subsequently destroyed. The personal singular word "I" has been removed from the vocabulary. Your choices are made by your "brother men", your work is all to benefit your "brother men", and anything you think or do for yourself is a sin. It was as stark an image as I've seen painted of the extreme end of collectivism and socialism. On some degrees, very disturbing.
The main character of the story finally breaks from the bonds imposed upon him by the environment of this culture, however, and through a course of what would initially appear to be unfortunate events, ends up on his own. He finds a house from "the dark times" in the mountains, a house that would to us be recognizable as some sort of vacationing lodge. Here, in a house made for two (as opposed to the public dormitories he was raised in) he finds books written by free minds and is opened up the concept of "I". He is awakened to his own individual needs and desires. A seemingly healthy turn of events, right? He then proceeds to declare the anthem that I can only assume the book is named after.
In this anthem, he declares his awakening, and with it, his realization that in his individualism he has found his reason for existence. He has found purpose, and that nothing he does or wants should have to be based on other people. His means are an end unto themselves, that his deity is "I", or himself. After that, it starts to get positively unhealthy. The exact opposite of the extreme of his society. This is a story that paints two extremes, completely skipping the area in between. If cleanliness is next to godliness, then extremism is, at it's best, annoying. Then this character at what he would conceive is his personal best is actually very possibly at his very worst, this new attitude being a chosen one and not imposed.
It cleared some things up for me. Maybe in a book or a story, my goal should not be to show great contrast in the opposing objects that create my conflict. Maybe the contrast should instead be focused on what is right and what is wrong, because how possible is it for both opposing points to be equally wrong? Anthem, therefore, seems to me more a tragedy. In his struggle to find humanity, the protagonist eventually looses that aspect of humanity that is paramount to all; compassion.
I've never read anything by Ayn Rand, but her objectivist philosophy (religion?) is just like that—scary. (No one should take their life philosophy from a novel or novelist. Both are full of lies.)
ReplyDeleteI think Fahrenheit 451 does a much better job of articulating a decent middle ground. It starts in a more believable place and ends in one that makes sense to me. In fact, most literature today subscribes to neither extreme of any issue, but points out flaws with both.
Take Mockingjay, for instance. I'm in the middle of it, but it's pretty clear that neither the Capitol nor District 13 are ideal lifestyles. Then there's Gale, who's supposed to be a good guy, but really isn't very good. IMO, this is a reaction to the polarization of the cold war and our current political climate.
Jerk. I haven't read Mockingjay yet. Of course, I finished Catching Fire last night, and read half the first chapter of Mockingjay this morning, and already I'm starting to get the feeling that District 13 is just as controlling as the Capitol. Granted, I'm still feeling like they're controlling in a more "for the good of humanity" and compassionate way. But whateve's.
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