Read “Anthem”… yes read it and not sung, because what Im talking.. typing about is the novella written by Ayn Rand and not our national anthem..bad joke..eh?..dont care.. ’cause the book isnt and thats what matters..dont it?
Well, at the outset Im glad to have found out that this authoress can make as much sense in 30+ pages as she mustered in her 700/800+ magnum opus “The Fountainhead”. I personaly liked that too actually.
Ok..Without drifting too much. The book in discussion is set in an unspecified future date.Where the human race has entered a dark era..the causes for which she attributes to the ill effects of Socialism. What seem to be the remnants of the mankind live in a society where “individualism or individuality” are unheard of..or should I say locked up terms. People are reared and brought up on the ideas of “collectivism”, so much so that references to oneself are made in plurals of pronouns such as “we”, “us”,”they” etc instead of “I”, “me” or “he/she” resulting in total absence of self identity.
So its in such a world that our hero Equality 7-2521(thats his name!) was born, an ambitious and visionary man who is not content with this world, a man who realises and finds out that there is more to the world than what is being taught to him. Tries to persuade others to make this place better. But the world ( in this case.. a few council members..who are in charge of this society) refuse to relent and serve him death penalty for treachery. Hero escapes and is joined by his lady love; settles far away from his birth home and discovers the truth about life and history of the world.
I must say “Anthem ” is a very creatively written story…initially I couldnt understand a thing in the plot..but as the plot unfolded everything made marvelous sense.
The intention to promote individualism…self- reliance, respect, identity etc was encouraging to see, but to see it culminate into an objective of giving more than due importance and glorifying the need of “EGO” was a little disheartening at the end. But having said that and knowing Ayn Rand has her own definitions in her philosophy, she might have intended well. Also the fact that the story was written at the time whe socialism had started to disintegrate the Russian empire..this philosophy could have lent towards some much needed moral & social encouragement.
Probably made more sense to that era’s common man than today’s habitual reader.
But for me the best feature, with all due respect to the authoress .. still remains the volume of the book.
K.Pawan Kumar said,
August 4, 2007 at 6:17 am
Hi Sudha, I had to delete the original post due to some formatting issue. I have put up the post again.Also Im copy Pasting your comment.
—————————————————
1. On July 24, 2007 at 11:19 am Sudha Said:
You already know that I feel that ‘Anthem’ is one of Rand’s best works.
And also, I think I already told you this–Rand uses the term ‘ego’ differently than it is meant nowadays.
She uses the word with the connotations of the original Latin–where ego means ‘I’.Taken in that context, the ending of ‘Anthem’ should make a lot more sense, now.
Also, also: From the Oxford Online dictionary–
Egoism and Egotism: it is egotism, not egoism, that means ‘excessive conceit or self-absorption’; egoism is a less common and more technical word, for an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.
K.Pawan Kumar said,
August 4, 2007 at 7:53 am
I was aware that terms “EGOISM” and “EGOTISM” are two different ones.However, I did not know the exact technical difference.
Now,If its the sentence “..glorifying the need of EGO..” that gave you an impression of me meaning or refering to “EGOISM” and prompted you to distinguish between the 2 terms. Then, I must clarify what I expressed my slight displeasure over, was the over emphasis on need for “EGO”.
Now, having refered the dictionary myself, I confirm intending to mean “EGOTISM”.
Which is what you suggested as well.
Simply put what I feel is that if too much of collectivism is bad(results in loss of individuality)the too much of “I” (EGO) also has undesired consequences.The story did the same ,went from one extreme to another, if collectivism led to this kind of dystopia, too much of “I” could also do the same.
Perhaps then there could be sequel to “Anthem”..maybe “Anthema”, delving into a world with excessive “individuality”.
Ok..this is where I stop and keep this reply from becoming sequel to my original post.
Sudha said,
August 7, 2007 at 10:08 am
if collectivism led to this kind of dystopia, too much of “I” could also do the same
No, see, this is simply a problem of interpretation.
I’m making a sweeping generalisation here for the sake of argument, so bear with me. To resume: In general, for whatever reason, the ‘greatness’ of the concept of self sacrifice has permeated itself into Indian society at a very deep level.
So this means that almost automatically, we find it a great thing when people make sacrifices for the ones they love.
That’s all well and good, but what Rand means here with her ‘individualism’ is that one should not bow down to outside pressures when in the pursuit of one’s principles.
If you remember, our hero Prometheus (I don’t remember his ‘other’ name) wanted to use his discovery of electricity to help everyone in the world, and when the Council did not see it his way, he did not give up his ideal due to the pressure of others.
In my opinion, that is what Rand is trying to propogate in her books.
Plus, you have to remember that this was the earlier work, compared to both ‘The Fountainhead’ and ‘Atlas Shrugged’. So, if you wanted to have a proper idea of her philosophy, you’d have to read her mangnum opus AS.
I shall stop my rhetoric now, and give you time to recover from the onslaught.
K.Pawan Kumar said,
August 9, 2007 at 3:35 am
Recovered..
Ok..now that i have, a tiny clarification: Treating the book very objectively,my comments stem purely from “Anthem” stand alone.
As the book precedes the AS, where,(Im informed by all those who ‘ve read it)she unleashes her philosophy in full grandeur, correct me if I am wrong, I consider “Anthem ” a preface to AS.
Probably, I should start with AS without further delays to appreciate her works at your level…and also pre- empt any of your future sincere onslaughts!
PS: I actually enjoy/appreciate your reactions.
Sudha said,
August 9, 2007 at 9:18 am
As the book precedes the AS, where,(I’m informed by all those who’ve read it)she unleashes her philosophy in full grandeur, correct me if I am wrong, I consider “Anthem ” a preface to AS.
You aren’t wrong. Perhaps my perception of ‘Anthem’ has been coloured too deeply since I read AS first and not the other way around.
That way, I seem to have approached ‘Anthem’ from a completely different view point compared to you.
Probably, I should start with AS without further delays to appreciate her works at your level…and also pre-empt any of your future sincere onslaughts!
So you haven’t even started with AS yet? What a ‘lazy burger’ you are, as my friend says!
I actually enjoy/appreciate your reactions.
You’d better!
Sruthi said,
August 3, 2009 at 10:49 am
Hi Pawan,
While I think the idea of creative expression is very important and required, the spellings and grammer should not take a beat in the process. I think the use of language is to communicate and not doing it upon its primary pillars is equivalent to no communication at all.
Regards,
Sruthi
P.S. Do you want to talk about creative independence now ?
K.Pawan Kumar said,
August 3, 2009 at 10:57 am
Thanks Sruthi, for the onslaught- at least it was coherent. Although, it would have made for much for sense & convincing if your ‘grammer’ was better than mine. Pun intended
You thanks, (creative license)
KayP