The totalitarian society in "The Anthem" and "Antz"

Categories: Anthem By Ayn Rand

The Great Rebellion to Declaration of Independence

Independence has always been a desire and something worth living for. Along with independence comes rebellion. Gaining independence not only requires courage and strength, but also rebellion to go against authorities and do the unimaginable. In the future societies portrayed by four different pieces of literature, life is lived based on a collective society. In the world that many live in today, independence is granted.

However, in the world of Anthem, Antz, Fahrenheit 451, and Harrison Bergeron, the societies were lacking independence, and characters were able to progress their status to eventually obtain their independence by rebellion.

Regardless of the obstacles that one may have to overcome, all of these characters not only rebelled against the authorities, but against society as a whole. In Ayn Rand's collective world of Anthem, people were forbidden to use the unspeakable word, "I. " No one even knew what the unspeakable word was. After the Great Rebirth, it was mandatory that the word "we" was used instead of the word "I.

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A young man named Equality

A young man named Equality was an ambitious and different individual. He was not like the others in society. Ever since birth, he was always rebelling against the norm. In Equality's society, it was considered a crime if one had transgression of preference, if one was smarter than the other, if one had a specific desire to the people of the opposite sex, if one was not doing things as a whole, basically if one was different than the rest.

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Equality certainly took on the role of being a rebel and committing all these crimes.

When it came time for the council of vocations to pick Equality's occupation, they had something different in mind than what Equality pictured it to be. One of the crimes he committed was the fact that Equality had a transgression of preference. Ever since a young age, all he has ever wanted to do was become a member of the house of scholars and keep on learning. To his disappointment, he was informed that he would have to work as a street sweeper. It was there that he met his first true love, Golden One. The Golden One was also very different when compared to the others. They both had a rebellious side to themselves.

One day while Equality was sweeping streets, he came across an abandoned tunnel. Each night after that, when his "brothers" sat in the theatre watching plays about the virtue of toil, Equality stole away to his secret tunnel. There, hidden beneath the ground, he did scientific research and performed experiments. He also stole manuscripts from the Scholars, and every night he studied. For two years he went to the tunnel and discovered a new glowing light, electricity. Equality wanted to share this discovery among his brothers and present it to the world council, a government that ruled the world.

The scholars were in deep shock

There, the scholars were in deep shock. They told Equality that they were going to punish him for breaking so many laws. Hearing this, Equality grabbed the light bulb and ran off, not knowing he was about to embark on the greatest journey of his life. When Equality woke up the next morning, he realized that he was in the uncharted forest, a dark and abandoned forest that represented freedom. Half way through the forest, he discovered that he was followed by Golden One, his true love. At the end of their journey, Equality and Golden One found an old house at the top of the mountains.

It was there that Equality read a book from the unmentionable times and discovered the unspeakable word, "I. " From that point on, he never used the word "we," and considered that word to be evil. Together, Equality and Golden One rebelled against society, and through their rebellious actions, they obtained independence at last. The Pixar movie Antz represents a totalitarian society in an anthill with millions of inhabitants. Z is a labor worker ant that doesn't fit in and longs for a life that strays from his monotonous routine. In this totalitarian system, workers were expected to work, and soldiers were expected to protect the colony.

General Mandible

No one but the General had a say in the way things down in the anthill worked. The totalitarian society lacked something the citizens were seeking, freedom. At a bar, Z accidentally met beautiful Princess Bala, who has a similar problem on the other end of the social scale. In order to meet her again, Z rebelled against the rules and switched sides with his soldier friend Weaver, only to become a hero in the course of events. By this he unwillingly crossed the evil plans of ambitious General Mandible , who wanted to divide the ant society into a superior, strong race with only soldiers and a hope to eliminate the workers.

Z and Bala, both unaware of the dangerous situation, tried to leave the oppressive system by heading for Insectopia, a place where food paved the streets. While they embarked on their rebellious journey, General Mandible sent Colonel Cutter to find Princess Bala, bring her back, and kill Z. Lucky for Z, he was gone while Cutter came to Insectopia and kidnapped Bala. On hearing the news of the kidnapping, Z went back to the colony to save Bala, only to hear the devastating plans of General Mandible. Z spread the word to the labor workers, and inspired them to rebel against the rules, putting an end to all the labor.

Unfortunately, one ant refused to go against the rules, and kept on working, causing a whole to disperse water all throughout the colony, drowning all the worker ants. Again, Z stepped up to the plate and motivated all the ants to build one long ladder to the very top of the anthill. When the ants broke to the top of the hill, General Mandible tried to break the ladder and kill them all. At that moment, Cutter decided he was going to do something he should've done a long time ago, rebel against General Mandible and his totalitarian society.

Updated: Nov 01, 2022

Similar topics:

Rebellion Essays
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The totalitarian society in "The Anthem" and "Antz". (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/general-mandible-11753-new-essay

The totalitarian society in "The Anthem" and "Antz" essay
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