Fairy Tale Spotlight: Anthem [Book Review]

[Somewhat spoils the ending of the book.]

"Anthem" is a book written by Ayn Rand. It was first published in 1938. Although similar in theme to Orwell's "1984," "Anthem" is very much it's own thing with a different point to make at the end.

The story of "Anthem" revolves around a society of humans who live in a dark age after the collapse of modern society. They are forbidden to use the word "I," and they have to see themselves as only a small part of a greater group. Anybody who shows any sign of individualism is punished or even killed for it. It's freaking awful.

The story's protagonist is a man named Equality 7-2521. Yes, that is his actual name. All the names are like that. He ends up finding a tunnel from the time before everything collapsed. He keeps the place a secret and learns about a small amount of science such as how electricity works. This jump-starts him on his journey to enlightenment.

Honestly, this is a good read, but it is hard to read because it's done in the first person. Since the character can't use the word "I," it makes it a little confusing how many people are in the room within a scene. But that's the idea, isn't it? It's a society where a group of people represents the whole of humanity. Really quite horrible.

Although the story is poignant to a degree, the ultimate solution is about as misguided as the problem. It replaces the weakness of group-think with overly aggressive egoism, which seems like it would just turn us into tribal animal people over time. In that respect, I didn't care much for the ending.

It also completely dismisses religion. You can do that, but you have to give a better reason for it than this book did. It sort of just throws it out without any solid lead up to it. This unfortunately is just the author being an Atheist and putting her own opinion into her book without much effort. The real fight here was about group-think, not religion, and the two are not the same thing.

All said though, a pretty good read about a very real problem with humanity. I recommend it, especially if you have already read "1984." It's pretty short, and you might even find a free copy somewhere. Give it a read.

This blog was written on March 23, 2023.

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