Anthem (SparkNotes Literature Guide) (SparkNotes Literature Guide Series) - Softcover

Rand, Ayn; SparkNotes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586638254 ISBN 13: 9781586638252

Publisher: SparkNotes, 2002

Synopsis

Equality 7-2521 lives in the Dark Ages of the future, when all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, all traces of individualism have been wiped out. But the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in Equality 7-2521's breast, though he doesn't know what to call his passion to think and choose for himself, other than sinful. In a world where he is punished for being better than his brothers, he finds a tunnel from ancient times where he can be by himself to write and think. He discovers electricity - and the miracle of the love that a man can have for a woman.

About this title

Review

A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly. ("The New York Times")

About the Author

Ayn Rand (1905-1982), was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, Rand immigrated to the United States in 1926. She worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood and had a play produced on Broadway in 1935-1936. She first achieved fame in 1943 with her novel The Fountainhead, which in 1957 was followed by her best-known work, the philosophical novel Atlas Shrugged. Rand's political views, reflected in both her fiction and her theoretical work, emphasize individual rights (including property rights) and laissez-faire capitalism, enforced by a constitutionally limited government. She was a fierce opponent of all forms of collectivism and statism, including fascism, communism, socialism, and the welfare state, and promoted ethical egoism while rejecting the ethic of altruism. She considered reason to be the only means of acquiring knowledge and the most important aspect of her philosophy, stating, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."

Edition details

• Publisher: SparkNotes
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1586638254
• ISBN 13: 9781586638252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80