Topic > A Tyrannical Government: The Cause of Family Influence in Anthem

When tyrannical governments rule societies, they must eradicate possible threats to their power at all costs to remain in power. The underlying dangers of the power of such governments may be as common as the relationship between families in society, which the authoritarian power must take extensive measures to remove. In the book Anthem, Ayn Rand shares the story of Equality 7-2521, a man who lives in a totalitarian society that separates children from their parents at birth and prevents any formation of relationships considerably close to familial bonds. Despite these conditions, Equality forms relationships that challenge government ideas and further affirm why tyrannical leaders in power would want to isolate citizens from forming relationships or family bonds. In the book Anthem, Ayn Rand states that a dictatorial leader would impose an isolated lifestyle in order to instill his own laws in citizens from a young age to prevent a decline in zeal for government and ultimately inhibit the formation of a single identity. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Early in the novel, Rand demonstrates how totalitarian societies separate children from their families to raise them according to their own principles. More specifically, when Equality 7-2521 was born, he and all other children his age were immediately taken to the Home of Infants and raised by Teachers who strictly enforced the Council's morality. Growing up with the Teachers was difficult for Equality due to his inability to integrate with other children, which resulted in further punishment for him. He describes, “we were whipped more often than all the other children” (Rand 22). Equality was whipped more frequently than others because of his inability to belittle himself and behave identically to his peers. The Teachers who raised him were easily able to identify that he was an anomalous individual whose behavior would be problematic to their society's ideals, so they found it necessary to cruelly scold him. The frequent whippings of equality demonstrate how when one's behavior is monitored closely, it is easier to identify flaws that need to be corrected to adhere to a certain ideal. Subsequently, Uguaglianza elaborates the principles that were instilled in him since birth. He says, “'If you are not needed by your brother men, there is no reason why you burden the earth with your bodies.' We knew this well, in our childhood years” (Rand 22). Equality reflects the fact that the Council and teachers understand and are very familiar with this principle. When he was young, he was constantly reminded that his existence was meaningless if it wasn't for the good of society. Through Equality's in-depth understanding of the Council's principles even at a young age, he demonstrates how when a person is raised by an overbearing authority, they are given a solid foundation of the rules and what is expected of them. Later in the book, Ayn Rand shows how dictatorial leaders choose to isolate people from relationships to prevent a decline in fanaticism for government. More specifically, the relationship preference that Equality 7-2521 forms with International 4-8818 and Liberty 5-3000 poses a threat to the power of the totalitarian society in which it lives. When Equality describes his first friendship with International 4-8818, he describes it negatively and says: “it is the great transgression of preference, to love some among men better than others, for we must love all men and all men are ours.