First Place

Julie Schwartzwald, Grossmont High School, El Cajon, CA

In her book, Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a collectivist society that condemns individual achievement. However, a young man named Prometheus discovers electricity and decides to show it to the Council of Scholars as a gift. His gift is unanimously rejected because it directly contradicts the laws of collectivism. This experience enlightens Prometheus. The Council’s denunciation of both his discovery and his self allow him to see that collectivism will continue to destroy humanity unless he revolts. He starts the process of self-liberation after being rejected, because he is finally confronted with the flaws of his society.

When Prometheus gives the Council of Scholars the gift of electricity, he pulls them out of darkness both literally and figuratively. He is illustrating the potential of the individual human mind. Prometheus proves that one man alone can achieve greatness, whereas that same man, when chained to his brothers, is doomed to picking up another’s trash. In establishing this, Prometheus discovers more than electricity: he also rediscovers the potential power of an individual and his ego.

The concept of the individual is threatening to the Council of Scholars. It begins by proving that the Council is not actually achieving anything. Individualism then goes on to destroy the order of the collectivist society. It is capable of doing this because the individual will always achieve progress. The individual is the only thing that can explore knowledge or think in an innovative or provocative way. Progress inevitably stimulates change, which is a dangerous and frightening concept to the Council.

Advancement suggests that some great World Council may not always be able to dictate every person’s specific purpose in life, because when life changes, so do people’s roles. For example, in a society of change, roles are not defined, and human existence is justified through random experiences, true emotion, and the quest for knowledge. In such a society, people are not bound by a common good, but rather they find their purpose through developing themselves and fulfilling their own potential. This ascertains that any collectivist society is bound to suck all meaning out of life. The Council of Scholars realizes that Prometheus’ discovery could have initiated this dangerous cycle of growth.

By initiating progress, the individual jeopardizes the power of all the Councils of Prometheus’ society. Therefore, the moment in which Prometheus proclaims his discovery is a shockingly revolutionary one. He is not only defying the Council’s laws, but also their authority. If the Council of Scholars recognizes the ability of one man to discover something that they, collectively, could not discover in any amount of time, they will be validating the ego. People everywhere will slowly begin to realize that they, too, may be able to succeed where no one else can.

The Scholars are so enslaved in the collectivist mentality, that any expression of the individual is not only threatening, but also truly unbelievable. These council members cannot begin to fathom the existence, never mind the credibility, of something created by the individual. Prometheus is asking too much of the council. He demands them to accept the use of reason and the existence of both progress and individualism. By showing the Council of Scholars his light, Prometheus is requiring them to abandon the security they find in life’s predictability. This is something that the Council is incapable of doing, because any pride in their own particular selves has been annihilated, along with the human spirit.

By growing dependent on a safe and constant environment, the very essence of human existence is erased from civilization. The Council of Scholars has no place for ambition or improvement, and is therefore unable to comprehend or accept Prometheus’ discovery.

The Council of Scholars’ rejection comes as a surprise to Prometheus. This is partly because he has already begun to detach himself from the collectivist mentality and no longer feels safe only in the presence of others. Prometheus begins to enjoy solitude and establishes a personal identity separate from his community. After doing this, he has trouble completely understanding the herd-mentality of the Council. Thus, Prometheus naively assumes that the other members of his society can also appreciate knowledge and progress. However, he finds that he is mistaken. By experiencing the Council’s crude dismissal, Prometheus realizes that there is no possibility that he will ever be comfortable or accepted in a collectivist society.

Prometheus soon recognizes that the Council of Scholars deems thinking as a dangerous form of treachery. He becomes aware that the Council cares for nothing, save the unity of their society. In understanding this, Prometheus grasps that the Council is ultimately going to erase achievement. To discover something new, or create a unique thought, is to express individualism and is therefore deemed a disruption to society. Under this extremist totalitarianism, humanity is doomed to only repeating the past, because creating a future is detrimental to any kind of common goal.

Prometheus realizes that mankind cannot survive and will only regress into nothingness if individual success or creativity is outlawed. This knowledge isolates Prometheus and makes him feel the need to flee and live in his own separate, but very real, world. He liberates himself from any responsibility to others or to the past. He sacrifices a certain constancy and security unique to collectivist societies when he frees himself. Prometheus is willing to do this because security is not real. Life is not naturally constant. He proposes a society that is unpredictable and authentic. Prometheus finally understands that without discovery and experience, life is no better than death