History Literature / Anthem

Not to be confused with the Japanese HeavyMetal band, the Creator/NealStephenson {{Doorstopper}}, Literature/{{Anathem}}, or [[VideoGame/Anthem2019 the upcoming video game]].

* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted. Even if Anthem's society doesn't think so, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped loners are awesome!]]

Not to be confused with the Japanese HeavyMetal band, the Creator/NealStephenson {{Doorstopper}}, Literature/{{Anathem}}, or [[VideoGame/Anthem2018 the upcoming video game]].

''Anthem'' is a novella by Creator/AynRand ([[{{Doorstopper}} contrast with]] ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''). It touches on the usual UsefulNotes/{{Objectivis|m}}t themes, but it has a more fantastic, sci-fi setting, and it's pretty much the concentrated embodiment of TheEvilsOfFreeWill. In the future, humanity has fallen into a [[{{Dystopia}} dark age]] brought on by the evils of collectivism. Individualism and freedom have been stamped out to the point where speaking the words "I, me, my, mine, ego" is a crime punishable by death. Society is ruled by several dictatorial Councils that outlaw all new ideas and inventions; as a result, science and the arts have stagnated.

The book is the secret journal of [[YouAreNumberSix Equality 7-2521]], in which he recounts his youth and tells of his emancipation from Ayn Rand's {{dystopia}}. He had been born with a "curse" -- [[RebelliousSpirit a strong sense of curiosity, eagerness to learn and question everything, and an unwillingness to subordinate himself to society]].

Not to be confused with the Japanese HeavyMetal band or the Creator/NealStephenson {{Doorstopper}}, Literature/{{Anathem}}.

* CardboardPrison: [[spoiler: The protagonist is put in this. Justified trope, in that the captors didn't imagine that anyone would dare escape.]]
* CrapsackWorld: This is a world with a severely reduced population, where lashings and immolation are used as punishments for minor offenses, where it's considered a miracle if anyone lives past 45, where children are taken away from their parents at birth and raised in state orphanages, where curiosity and individuality are harshly discouraged, and where all but the most basic technology has been lost.

* HopeSpringsEternal: The Saint of the Pyre represents this; while he's burning at the stake for saying an Unspeakable Word [[note]]I, Me, Mine, Ego[[/note]], he looks at the Hero and nonverbally calls upon him to try and rediscover those same words and the concepts behind them. [[spoiler: When Equality and Liberty, now Prometheus and Gaea, find an old house from before the collapse of society, Prometheus reflects how he plans to find others like him and found a new society based on individuality to overthrow the collectivist one he escaped from]]

* InMediasRes: The book starts with Equality hiding in a dark tunnel, he explains from the beginning why he is there.

* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted. Even if Anthem's society doesn't think so, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped Loners are awesome!]]

* LoveAtFirstSight: Equality and Liberty
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: At the end of the book, our heroes rename themselves Prometheus and Gaea, respectively]].

* OneSteveLimit: Bizarre example. All people in this world are named a fuzzy, high-sounding word followed by a serial number, but all the characters who appear in the book happen to be assigned different words. Presumably, the names are re-used when their previous owners die.
* PlanetOfHats: Everyone is the same in this world, by force.

* YouAreNumberSix: No one has names in this dystopia. They're all "Equality #". The main character is Equality 7-2521.

* CrapsackWorld: This is a world with a severely reduced population, where lashings and emulation are used as punishments for minor offenses, where it's considered a miracle if anyone lives past 45, where children are taken away from their parents at birth and raised in state orphanages, where curiosity and individuality are harshly discouraged, and where all but the most basic technology has been lost.

* HopeSpringsEternal: The Saint of the Pyre represents this; while he's burning at the stake for saying an Unspeakable Word [[note]]
I, Me, Mine, Ego [[/note]], he looks at the Hero and nonverbally calls upon him to try and rediscover those same words and the concepts behind them. [[spoiler: When Equality and Liberty, now Prometheus and Gaea, find an old house from before the collapse of society, Prometheus reflects how he plans to find others like him and found a new society based on individuality to overthrow the collectivist one he escaped from]]

* LostTechnology: Most modern technology. By the time the story takes place, Candles had only recently been rediscovered. [[spoiler: Equality rediscovers electricity all on his own. When he takes this to the House of Scholars they vote against it and refuse to look into it further, implying the technological regression isn't due to difficulty but compliance.]]

%%* PropheticName: Liberty 5-3000

%%* IndividualityIsIllegal: Deconstructed.

* LostTechnology: Most modern technology. By the time the story takes place, Candles had only recently been rediscovered. [[spoiler: Equality rediscovers electricity all on his own]].

* LostTechnology: Most modern technology. By the time the story takes place, Candles had only recently been rediscovered.

* AuthorTract

* {{Dystopia}} - arguably of the [[MarySuetopia Straw]] variety

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Equality, at first.
* IndividualityIsIllegal: Deconstructed.
* InMediasRes
* [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation Individualism Equals Isolation]]: [[spoiler: Prometheus does have Gaea, but it's still just the two of them in the middle of nowhere]].

* PlanetOfHats

* PropheticName: Liberty 5-3000

* TheUbermensch: Equality 7-2521.
* YouAreNumberSix

* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Deconstructed. Anthem's dystopia is ''built'' on this concept. [[CaptainObvious It isn't a nice place to live]].

* NonActionGuy: Liberty 5-3000, in a gender-flipped example. She doesn't really do much except stand around looking pretty and agreeing with everything that Equality 7-2521 says.

* AfterTheEnd: Occurs centuries after the collapse of modern society. Some critics of Rand posit this as a sequel to ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', even though it was written first and [[spoiler: making ''Anthem'' would mean John Galt and company ultimately ''failed''.]]

* AfterTheEnd: Occurs centuries after the collapse of modern society. Some critics of Rand posit this as a sequel to ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' even though it was written first

* {{Dystopia}}

Not to be confused with the Japanese Music/HeavyMetal band or the Creator/NealStephenson {{Doorstopper}}, Literature/{{Anathem}}.

* OneSteveLimit: Bizarre example. All people in this world are named a fuzzy, high-sounding word followed by a serial number, but all the characters who appear in the book happen to be assigned different words. Presumably, the names are re-used when their previous users die.

* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: Prometheus, Gaea]]

* OneSteveLimit: Bizarre example. All people in this world are named a fuzzy, high-sounding word followed by a serial number, but all the characters who appear in the book happen to be assigned different words.

* TheUbermensch: Equality 7-2521, a.k.a. "Prometheus".

* TheUbermensch: Equality

* DystopianEdict: The words "[[spoiler:I, me, my, mine, ego]]" are forbidden on pain of death.

* LanguageEqualsThought: Inverted. The banning of first-person singular pronouns is a ''consequence'' of the society's philosophy of collectivism rather than the ''cause'' of it.

''Anthem'' is a novella by Creator/AynRand ([[{{Doorstopper}} contrast with]] ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''). It touches on the usual UsefulNotes/{{Objectivis|m}}t themes, but it has a more fantastic, sci-fi setting, and it's pretty much the concentrated embodiment of TheEvilsOfFreeWill. In the future, humanity has fallen into a [[{{Dystopia}} dark age]] brought on by the evils of collectivism. Individualism and freedom have been stamped out to the point where speaking the words "[[spoiler:I, me, my, mine, ego]]" is a crime punishable by death. Society is ruled by several dictatorial Councils that outlaw all new ideas and inventions; as a result, science and the arts have stagnated.

* {{Pride}}: Subverted in that the prideful upstart is actually successful.

Not to be confused with the Japanese Music/HeavyMetal band or the Creator/NealStephenson DoorStopper, Literature/{{Anathem}}.

''Anthem'' is a novella by Creator/AynRand ([[{{Doorstopper}} contrast with]] ''AtlasShrugged''). It touches on the usual UsefulNotes/{{Objectivis|m}}t themes, but it has a more fantastic, sci-fi setting, and it's pretty much the concentrated embodiment of TheEvilsOfFreeWill. In the future, humanity has fallen into a [[{{Dystopia}} dark age]] brought on by the evils of collectivism. Individualism and freedom have been stamped out to the point where speaking the words "[[spoiler:I, me, my, mine, ego]]" is a crime punishable by death. Society is ruled by several dictatorial Councils that outlaw all new ideas and inventions; as a result, science and the arts have stagnated.

* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Deconstructed. Anthem's dystopia is ''built'' on this concept. [[CaptainObvious It isn't a nice place to live]].

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