2023_Anthem_Essay_Winners

For the following statement from Anthem, explain its role in the story, its relation to the themes and message of the story, and its relevance to your own life: “Indeed you are happy,” they answered. “How else can men be when they live for their brothers?”

Observing Equality’s happiness, a member of the Home Council tells him “Indeed you are happy… How else can men be when they live for their brothers?” These words, however, do not accurately capture the true cause of Equality’s happiness, as his joy stems from selfishly pursuing a relationship with Liberty. As this shows, the altruist-collectivist premise underlying the quote is false since humans exist for their own sake and not for the sake of anyone else. They are intrinsically rational beings entitled to create conditions advantageous for their survival, wellbeing, and happiness. However, by brainwashing people with collectivist ideals, the authorities reduce them to instruments, their value defined by their practical usefulness and their individuality stripped away. Consequently, the authorities effectively suppress any possible dissent and maintain a grip on power, while citizens suffer from feelings of hopelessness due to their inability to serve their self-serving desires. Therefore, the statement made by the Home Council functions to display the corrupt collectivist ideology through which evil tyrants rob people of happiness and preserve their authority.

Claiming that happiness is a natural outcome of virtue of altruism, the Home Council’s statement reinforces the following collectivist notion: “We are nothing. Mankind is all… We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the state” (21). The government claims that virtue must be exercised to achieve happiness; however, in Equality’s society, there is a reversal of virtue and vice, with what is objectively virtuous labeled as a crime and vice versa. The authorities claim that self-neglect in the pursuit of collective good is virtuous, while individual values pursued for survival are evil. According to this false moral ideal, happiness should be achieved when individuals are enslaved to the common good, when they relinquish the ability to improve their life conditions, when they commit themselves to self-destruction.

However, death is not a natural human pursuit, and it is due to such artificiality of collectivism that makes happiness elusive in Anthem’s society. For example, the City denies people the freedom to use their resources as they see fit, when in reality, humans have an inalienable right to use their possessions to meet their life goals. As a result of using their values for selfless goals, people betray themselves and lead a life devoid of fulfillment. Moreover, by suppressing people’s rational faculty, which is man’s only means of survival, this society prohibits people’s pursuit of knowledge needed to navigate the world around them, understand their place in it, and make informed decisions to support their own lives. Consequently, the world is replete with uncertainties and mysteries to most citizens, which makes them constantly anxious and restless. Equality observes that “All is not well with our brothers” with “Fraternity 2-5503…who [cries] suddenly, without reason, in the midst of day or night” and “Solidarity 9-6347… [who] scream[s] in their sleep”(47). Also, the protagonist notices that “the eyes of our brothers are dull…[and] the shoulders of our brothers are hunched”(46). Despite the apparent emotional distress of the citizens, they are not even aware of their own unhappiness because they do not know that an alternative emotional state exists. Due to their ignorance and inability to think, they are unable to remedy their situations and continue blindly obeying the authorities.

In actuality, happiness is an emotional state that naturally follows the fulfillment of life’s objective values, from basic necessities to human dignity. One is happy when life is good, not when it is crumbling down. Hence, selfishness, which is a basic attribute for self-preservation, must precede happiness. Equality’s journey in the novel also demonstrates this idea. Contrary to the words of the Home Council that happiness is for selfless men, Equality attains happiness when he commits to his own nature–by focusing on his selfish desires and liberating himself from selfless concerns, such as his brothers and social regulations. For instance, Equality derives joy from his personal interactions with Liberty. He says, “When we[I] think of them, we[I] feel of a sudden that the earth is good and that it is not a burden to live” (40-41). Also, after selfishly studying in the tunnel each night, Equality finds “the first peace we[he] [has] known in twenty years” (37). He is rewarded with a sense of pride and empowerment as he “feel[s] as if with each day our[his] sight were growing sharper than the hawk’s and clearer than rock crystal” (36). Similarly, after independently inventing the lightbulb, he exults in his power for ingenious achievements that can meet his own needs and lead to a successful state of life. His pure joy creates a positive feedback loop, as he seeks out more joyous activities, which allows him to gain insight into his own desires in the process, which then encourages him to fulfill those personal values and derive greater pleasure.

In the end, Equality grasps the truth that happiness is a selfish pursuit and disregards the collectivist teaching that men are happy when they live for their brothers. He runs away from his society that is incompatible with happiness to not only protect his inventions from being destroyed in the hands of the evil, foolish scholars, but most importantly to preserve his life, which is his greatest value. Liberated from the morality of selflessness, he is able to pursue his right to life and happiness in the Uncharted Forest, using natural elements that await his commandments, ready to give “great gifts” to be used to advance his life (93). While the environment created by the collectivist City was designed to oppress life, Equality seeks to act on his knowledge to “rebuild the achievements of the past” (99) and flourish as a formidable human being the way that any dignified man should.

The notion that happiness is a selfless sacrifice underpins not only Anthem’s dystopian society, but also the community of my family. When I was in elementary school, my parents encouraged me to explore my genuine passions; however, upon my entrance to secondary school, they expressed their expectation that I pursue studies in the medical field in college. For my long-term happiness, I acquiesced to my parents’ rules to be a good daughter at the cost of my real desires. I perceived abandoning my interests as a temporary sacrifice that was essential for growing up and finding real, practical success. However, after reading Anthem, I could raise the question: how can I earn my own happiness when I’m killing some parts of myself with permanent effects and caging myself to the expectations of my parents and society? By eventually becoming a doctor, I may appear happy in the eyes of others, but personal joy cannot be attained by achieving other people’s goals.

Evidently, the quote by the Home Council–“Indeed you are happy…How else can men be when they live for their brothers?”–is proved wrong by Equality’s achievement of happiness in his quest for self-discovery. As the protagonist ultimately realizes, happiness should not bear relation to others. I also proclaim that I am my own authority and nothing else matters but my happiness. Only I can grant my own happiness through self-awareness and acting in accordance with my genuine values.