According to the Human Rights Watch, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is an unequalled source of human rights violations in the modern world. Lacking almost all basic freedoms, North Korea finds itself as the archetypal oppressive dictatorship. In Rand's novella Anthem, communist and socialist ideas present in North Korea are portrayed as fundamentally backwards and regressive. The ideologies that the Kim family has latched onto in order to justify their tyrannical rule in North Korea are alarmingly similar to the ones adopted by the leaders in Anthem. The leaders in Anthem appeal to ideals of total equality, self-sacrifice, and altruism in order to rationalize their agendas. These ideals are present in communist regimes from Lenin's Soviet Union to the present day North Korea. The connection between Rand's proposed Communist society and communist states in the real world isn't always valid; seeing as Rand's portrayal is generalized and simplified to the point where often the book seems more like a caricature than an actual commentary.
Throughout history, many groups have strived to achieve total equality. One of Marx's goals in communism was to abandon a class system. Naturally, the way to facilitate this is to create a collectivist society. The leaders in Anthem try to create total equality as well (Rand 19). They attempt this by condemning those that are more intelligent, stronger, or taller (Rand 18). They don't let people see their own faces. The leaders go as far as to dehumanize all the citizens by removing their name and simply giving them an adjective and a number (Rand 18). Despite the efforts of the leaders of Anthem's society, total equality is never achieved. This is highlighted in the story when, after being admonished for singing, Equality first realizes that the people around him are in some cases very different from him (Rand 47). Throughout Anthem, Rand shows that the endeavor to achieve total equality is not only futile, but self-destructive. Rand shows that fundamental inequality is part of what makes us human. This is highlighted in another of Rand's work, The Fountainhead. In the passage, Ellsworth Toohey says, "All subjugated to the win of all universal slavery- without even the dignity of a master. Slavery to slavery." In both The Fountainhead and Anthem, Rand is illustrating total equality as dehumanizing and brutalizing. Self-Sacrifice is an ideal that is promoted the world over. …show more content…
Almost every major religion and world power promotes the giving one's self for the betterment of others. In Anthem, the leaders incentivize working with supporting the greater good society (Rand 21). Through this incentivizing, all of the citizens work, but they reap no benefits. Rand is showing that in the end, the giving of one's self will ultimately lead to time wasted. In The Fountainhead, Toohey describes self-sacrifice as giving up. Self-sacrifice isn't an ideal confined to the communist world. The now cliché quote from John Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country," has been used as a moral compass for many. Rand believes that humans aren't meant to be giving, instead humans are their peak when they are bettering themselves. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines altruism as "feelings and behavior that show a desire to help other people