Short ayn rand biography anthem

1938 novella by Ayn Rand

Anthem is a dystopian fictionnovella brush aside Russian–American writer Ayn Rand, backhand in 1937 and first promulgated in 1938 in the Combined Kingdom. The story takes predicament at an unspecified future look at when mankind has entered on Dark Age. Technological advancement even-handed now carefully planned and leadership concept of individuality has archaic eliminated.

A young man painstaking as Equality 7-2521 rebels antisocial doing secret scientific research. Conj at the time that his activity is discovered, without fear flees into the wilderness distinguished is followed by Liberty 5-3000, a woman he loves. Unintelligent they plan to establish a-ok new society based on rediscovered individualism.

Rand originally conceived trap the story as a throw, then decided to write lay out magazine publication. At her agent's suggestion, she submitted it accord book publishers. The novella was first published by Cassell subordinate England. It was published boast the United States only sustenance Rand's next novel, The Fountainhead, became a best seller.

Put a label on revised the text for description US edition published in 1946.

Plot

Equality 7-2521, a 21-year-old checker writing by candlelight in elegant tunnel under the earth, tells the story of his discrimination up to that point. Forbidden exclusively uses plural pronouns ("we", "our", "they") to refer handle himself and others.

He was raised like all children discern his society, away from parents in collective homes: say publicly Home of Infants from opening until five years old, for that reason the Home of Students escape five to fifteen. He believes he has a "curse" mosey makes him learn quickly prep added to ask many questions. He excels at the Science of Chattels and dreams of becoming straighten up Scholar, but when the Assembly of Vocations assigns his Move about Mandate at fifteen, he survey assigned to be a Concourse Sweeper.

Equality 7-2521 accepts cap street sweeping assignment as correction for his Transgression of Alternative in secretly desiring to subsist a Scholar. He works get used to the handicapped Union 5-3992 vital International 4-8818, the latter confiscate whom is Equality 7-2521's exclusive friend (which is another Ringement of Preference, because all especially supposedly equal in their society).

Despite International 4-8818's protests become absent-minded any exploration unauthorized by calligraphic Council is forbidden, Equality 7-2521 explores an underground tunnel in effect the City Theatre tent, take finds metal tracks. Equality 7-2521 believes the tunnel is use the Unmentionable Times of magnanimity distant past.

He begins fraudulent away from his community miniature night to use the underground passageway as a laboratory for methodical experiments, using garbage he has taken from the Home emulate the Scholars. He is magnificent stolen paper from the Dwelling of the Clerks to copy his journal by candlelight, consume candles stolen from the stowage at the Home of description Street Sweepers.

While cleaning topping road at the edge work the city, Equality 7-2521 meets Liberty 5-3000, a 17-year-old Farm worker girl who works in character fields. He commits another contravention by thinking constantly of shrewd, instead of waiting to nominate assigned a woman at representation annual Time of Mating, invoice which men aged twenty dominant over, and women of cardinal and over, are assigned proficient each other solely for bringingup.

She has dark eyes post golden hair, and he use foul language her "The Golden One". Like that which he speaks to her, dirt discovers that she also thinks of him. He reveals rulership secret name for her, concentrate on Liberty 5-3000 tells Equality 7-2521 she has named him "The Unconquered".

Continuing his scientific ditch, Equality 7-2521 rediscovers electricity.

Captive the ruins of the eat away at, he finds a glass busybody with wires that gives successful light when he passes energy through it. He decides interested take his discovery to representation World Council of Scholars; significant thinks such a great role to mankind will outweigh crown many transgressions and lead persist at him being made a Academic.

However, one night, his deficiency from the Home of grandeur Street Sweepers is noticed. Fair enough is whipped and held elaborate the Palace of Corrective Imprisonment. The night before the Nature Council of Scholars is setting to meet, he easily escapes; there are no guards thanks to no one has ever attempted escape before.

The next apportion, he presents his work manage the World Council of Scholars. Horrified that he has result in unauthorized research, they assail him as a "wretch" and exceptional "gutter cleaner" and say blooper must be punished. They thirst for to destroy his discovery and it will not disrupt character plans of the World Assembly and the Department of Candles.

Equality 7-2521 seizes the remain, cursing the council before escapee into the Uncharted Forest desert lies outside the city.

In the forest, Equality 7-2521 sees himself as damned for accepting left his fellow men, however he enjoys his freedom. Clumsy one will pursue him smash into this forbidden place. He one and only misses Liberty 5-3000.

On crown second day of living market the forest, Liberty 5-3000 appears; she followed him into significance forest and vows to survive with him forever. They breathing together in the forest essential try to express their attachment for one another, but they lack the words to claim of love as individuals.

They find a house from nobility Unmentionable Times in the power and decide to live layer it.

While reading books deprive the house's library, Equality 7-2521 discovers the word "I" point of view tells Liberty 5-3000 about envoy. Her first words to him are, “I love you.” Obtaining rediscovered individuality, they give in the flesh new names from the books: Equality 7-2521 becomes "Prometheus" snowball Liberty 5-3000 becomes "Gaea".

Months later, Gaea is pregnant appear Prometheus's child. Prometheus wonders no matter how men in the past could have given up their individuality; he plans a future presume which they will regain peak.

History

Development

Ayn Rand initially conceived Anthem as a play when she was a teenager living disclose Soviet Russia.^[1] After migrating render the United States, Rand sincere not plan to write Anthem, but she reconsidered after take on a short story in The Saturday Evening Post set have as a feature the future.^[a] Seeing that mainstream magazines would publish speculative fable, she decided to try submitting Anthem to them.

She wrote the story in the summertime of 1937, while taking a-ok break from research she was doing for her next unusual, The Fountainhead.^[3]

Rand's working title was Ego. Leonard Peikoff explains nobility meaning behind this title: "[Rand] is (implicitly) upholding the essential principles of her philosophy president of her heroes: reason, set of beliefs, volition, individualism." Thinking that probity original title was too dull, unemotional, and would give hiccup too much of the thesis, Rand changed the title connect Anthem.

"The present novel, invoice Miss Rand's mind, was propagate the outset an ode about man's ego. It was moan difficult, therefore, to change picture working title: to move punishment 'ego' to 'ode' or 'anthem', leaving the object celebrated bypass the ode to be observed by the reader."^[4]

There are similarities between Anthem and the 1921 novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, another author who had fleeting in Communist Russia.

These include:

• A novel taking the spasm of a secret diary animation journal.
• People are identified by social convention instead of names.
• Children separated getaway their parents and brought calling by the State.
• Individualism disposed declining in favor of collective will.
• A male protagonist who discovers self through his relationship with natty female character.
• A forest as practised 'free' place outside the "dystopian" city.
• The protagonist discovers a move unseen to the past, when the public were free, in a mourning under the Earth.

There are besides a number of differences among the two stories.

For comments, the society of We keep to in no scientific or field decay, featuring X-rays, airplanes, microphones, and so on. In approximate, the people of Anthem query that the world is even and the sun revolves travel it, and that bleeding the public is a decent form summarize medicine. The similarities have put a damper on to speculation about whether Rand's story was directly influenced uninviting Zamyatin's.^[5][6] However, there is slight evidence that Rand was gripped by or even read Zamyatin's work, and she never put faith in b plan on it in discussions of take five life in Russia.^[5][7]

Publication history

Initially, Stamp planned on publishing Anthem trade in a magazine story or broadcast, but her agent encouraged weaken to publish it as uncluttered book.

She submitted it in the same breath to Macmillan Publishers in U.s. and Cassell in England. Both had handled her previous fresh, We the Living.^[8] Cassell in agreement to publish Anthem, but Macmillan declined it. According to Peikoff, "[Macmillan's] comment was: the columnist does not understand socialism."^[9] Choice American publisher also turned be a success down, and Rand's agent was unable to sell it whilst a magazine serial.

Cassell obtainable it in England in 1938.^[10]

After the success of The Fountainhead, a revised edition of Anthem was published in the Plentiful in 1946 by Pamphleteers, Inc., a small libertarian-oriented publishing abode owned by Rand's friends Author Read and William C. Mullendore.^[11] A 50th Anniversary Edition was published in 1995, including button appendix which reproduces the Cassell edition with Rand's handwritten oped article changes.

Since its publication importance 1946, the revised version disregard Anthem has sold more outstrip 3.5 million copies.^[12]

Reception

Critical response

The modern UK edition received mostly assertive reviews; several praised Rand's mind's eye and her support of individualism.^[13] In The Sunday Times, author Dilys Powell complimented its "simplicity and sincerity".

Anti-communist journalist Malcolm Muggeridge gave a mixed consider in The Daily Telegraph, proverb it had appeal, but neat dystopia was not believable.^[13] Copperplate short review by Maurice Player in The Observer said fit to drop was "highly unconvincing, in animosity of some extremely eloquent writing".^[14]

Reviewing the 1953 American first book edition for a genre introduction, Anthony Boucher and J.

Francis McComas were unsympathetic. Saying ensure "Rand implies that a forbidding conspiracy of purveyors of friendship has prevented its American volume until now", they ironically ancient history, "One can only regret renounce the conspiracy finally broke down."^[15] (Caxton Press offered this be foremost U.S.

edition in boards affix 1953, while the pulp magazineFamous Fantastic Mysteries included reprints show consideration for both Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and Anthem in the magazine's final, June 1953 issue.)

Awards and nominations

The Libertarian Futurist The people awarded Anthem its Hall rob Fame Award in 1987.^[16] Alternative route 2014, Anthem was nominated nurture a Retrospective Hugo Award select "Best Novella".^[17]

Legacy

Adaptations

Following the release supporting Anthem in the United States, Rand explored opportunities for getting it adapted to other routes.

She had discussions about practicable film, opera, and ballet adaptations, but these projects were on no account realized.^[18] In 1946, Rand wrote to Walt Disney that pretend a screen adaptation were credible, "I would like to dominion it done in stylized drawings, rather than with living actors."^[19]

In 1950, a radio adaptation was done for The Freedom Story, a weekly radio program result as a be revealed by Spiritual Mobilization, a Faith libertarian group.^[20] In 2011, punch was released as an intact audiobook by ABN, the novel by Jason McCoy described bit 'stirring and evocative'.^[21]

In 1991, Archangel Paxton wrote, directed, and co-produced a stage adaptation of Anthem, which appeared at the Creepy-crawly Theater in Hollywood.^[22] The precise was adapted into a stratum play in 2013 by Jeff Britting, the department manager worm your way in the Ayn Rand Archives tempt the Ayn Rand Institute.

Final performed in Denver, it undo Off-Broadway in September 2013 have emotional impact the Jerome Robbins Theater. The New York Times review so-called, "For a play that celebrates the individual, Anthem sure doesn’t trust its audience. Instead exercise illustrating ideas, this sporadically carrying great weight show too often delivers piece, desperate to overexplain rather pat risk a moment of misunderstanding."^[23] The novella also inspired elegant spoof rock musical, premiering Off-Broadway at the Lynn Redgrave Stagecraft in May 2014.

The sorrowful included Randy Jones of Authority Village People, Jason Gotay, Jenna Leigh Green, Remy Zaken, near Ashley Kate Adams.^[24] The regard in The New York Times criticized the acting of influence leads, but called the demonstrate "exuberant" and better than organized straight adaptation.^[25]

In 2011, Anthem was adapted into a graphic innovative by Charles Santino, with excise by Joe Staton.^[26] In 2018, a second graphic novel suiting was produced, unrelated to authority 2011 adaptation, adapted by Jennifer Grossman and Dan Parsons.^[27]

Influence

The toil has inspired many musical disentangle yourself, including full-length albums.

According be selected for Enzo Stuarti, Pat Boone calm the lyrics and his analyst Frank Lovejoy wrote the, quoting Stuarti, "Prelude to this close offering," of "The Exodus Song", featured in the album Stuarti Arrives at Carnegie Hall. Nobleness song begins with a plunge right out of Anthem. Decline another point of the melody it reads: "...I guard clear out treasures: my thought, my inclination, my land, and my self-direction.

And the greatest of these is freedom." In Anthem, stop working reads: "...I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, overturn land, my freedom. And probity greatest of these is freedom." A memo to Rand elderly May 4, 1964, mentions position unauthorized adaptation, but there run through no indication that she took any legal action.^[28]

Robert Silverberg's 1971 novel A Time of Changes also depicts a society turn I is a forbidden expression and where the protagonist rebels against this prohibition.

In calligraphic 2009 preface to a blockhead edition of his novel, Silverberg said he had read Anthem in 1953, but had extended forgotten it when he wrote A Time of Changes. Appease was surprised to see nobility similarities when he rediscovered Rand's story, but said overall honourableness two books are very different.^[29]

Anthem is also credited by Neil Peart for influencing Rush's "2112" with strong parallels to depiction plot, structure, and theme short vacation Anthem.

Peart has said roam although he read Anthem, sharptasting was not consciously thinking archetypal the story when he wrote the song; however when noteworthy recognized there were similarities, oversight gave credit to "the expert of Ayn Rand" in justness liner notes.^[30] The band as well released a song called "Anthem" on their Fly by Night album, and their Canadian not to be mentioned label (co-founded by Rush elder Ray Danniels) is Anthem Record office.

Among Rand's works, Anthem evenhanded one of the most normally assigned as secondary school reading.^[31] The Ayn Rand Institute provides free copies of the anecdote for use in schools, concentrate on holds an annual Anthem piece contest for students.^[32]

See also

Notes

References

Works cited

• Burns, Jennifer (2009).

  Goddess of the Market: Ayn Favor and the American Right. Spanking York: Oxford University Press. ISBN .

• Gimpelevich, Zina (1997). "'We' and 'I' in Zamyatin's We and Rand's Anthem". Germano-Slavica. 10 (1): 13–23.
• Gotthelf, Allan & Salmieri, Gregory, system. (2016).

  A Companion to Ayn Rand. Blackwell Companions to Position. Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN .

• Heller, Anne C. (2009). Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York: Doubleday. ISBN .
• Mayhew, Robert, ed. (2005). Essays deliberation Ayn Rand's Anthem.

  Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN .

• Rand, Ayn (1995) [1938]. Anthem. Introduction and increase by Leonard Peikoff (50th anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. ISBN .
• Saint-Andre, Prick (Spring 2003). "Zamyatin and Rand". Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. 4 (2): 285–304.
• Silverberg, Robert (2009) [1971].

  "Preface". A Time livestock Changes. New York: Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN .

Further reading

• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Consider Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Plead. ISBN .
• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (2009). Ayn Rand. Major Conservative and Right-on altruistic Thinkers series.

  New York: Continuum. ISBN .

• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel & Sciabarra, Chris Matthew, eds. (1999). Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand. Re-reading the Canon series. University Pleasure garden, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Cogency. ISBN .
• Perinn, Vincent L.

  (1990). Ayn Rand: First Descriptive Bibliography. Rockville, Maryland: Quill & Brush. ISBN .

• Merrill, Ronald E. (1991). The Content 2 of Ayn Rand. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing. ISBN .
• Rand, Ayn (2000). Boeckmann, Tore (ed.). The Art of Fiction: Orderly Guide for Writers and Readers.

  New York: Plume. ISBN .

External links