Existing comment:
Ayn Rand, Anthem (1938)
Some might view Ayn Rand's Anthem as a precursor of such contemporary dystopian works as Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Rand's novella, set sometime in the future, is thematically linked to many of her more famous works, such as The Fountainhead, where individuality is subjugated by collectivism. The main character, Equality 7-2521, grew up separated from his parents in a communal home. He wanted to be a scholar when he grew up but instead was ordered to be a street sweeper by the Council of Vocations. Rand was twelve when she witnessed the revolution in her native Russia, with the events having a profound effect on her writing. Anthem, her second work of fiction, is Rand's manifesto and her unequivocal rejection of the tyranny she associated with communism. |