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Lily Sundaramoorthy

Szwajkowski

Freshman Honors English, Period 5

1 November 2022

Interesting Title

Most people try to fit within a general mold and are too afraid to question it. Whether it

be as little as buying the newest phone to look cool or something as big as not speaking up when

one sees injustice out of fear of being ostracized, humans instinctively do what everyone else

does. This hesitation is because people, especially with the rise of social media, constantly have a

nagging fear that they need to be up to par with others’ standards. Although, there are some

people who decide to place their happiness over society's opinion. One of the main topics of Ayn

Rand’s Anthem is the pressure society puts on people to be the same. “The Joy of Less'' by Pico

Iyer is similar. In the blog, Iyer writes about how society places too much importance in social

status and his journey on how he found his own happiness. Both of these texts are about how

society has corrupted people to think that differences are not acceptable, and how to live for

oneself.

Equality 7-2521, the protagonist of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, and Pico Iyer, the author of “The

Joy of Less,” make significant changes to their lifestyles and environments to find more depth

and meaning in their lives, though they make contrasting choices of going about it.

For example, Equality 7-2521 in Anthem and Pico Iyer both feel unsure of what they are

achieving by living the way they currently do. To specify, Equality 7-2521, thinks that

there is more meaning to living than just mindlessly working for his community without
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the right to choice and opinion. In the book, Equality speaks of having been “…born with

a curse. For [they] are not like [their] brothers.”(Anthem, Rand), or in other words,

questioning why things are a certain way, and having a preference for some things rather

than functioning in a manner comparable to a worker bee. Likewise, Pico Iyer is unsure

due to the amount of unneeded complexity in his current lifestyle of viewing happiness as

one’s social status and the amount of money they make. Pico Iyer has the dream job he

has always wanted since high school, writing the world affairs page in the newspaper, and

lives a very comfortable life. Though, he has “noticed that the people …[in Third World

countries he visited for work], mired in difficulty and often warfare, seemed to have more

energy and even optimism than the friends [he’d] grown up with in privileged, peaceful

Santa Barbara, [California].” Although Iyer lives the life that a middle class American

dreamed of, he starts doubting his way of life. He “knew that poverty certainly didn’t buy

happiness, [he] wasn’t convinced that money did either.”(The Joy of Less, Iyer) Since

Iyer and Equality are both starting to question if they are truly content, doubt is starting to

build in their heads about if there are other choices out there, rather than the one that is

the most often chosen. Equality sees his quick mind and growth mindset as a curse, due

to living in a community that praises a mindset in which one never grows, and accepts all

popular speculation and rules, without questioning. Likewise, Iyer expresses that his

goals were to make money, and live a comfortable life, to feel like everybody else, and

care about whatever everyone else is thinking. Both Equality and Iyer are starting to

wonder, “why am I not satisfied with how I am living?” This doubt leads them to start

thinking up pathways, or changes, to correct that.

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Although Equality 7-2521 and Pico Iyer are both unsure about the meaning of

their lives, their ways of adding more are completely different. For example, Equality

7-2521 leaves his socialist community to bring complexity and choice into his life. Near

the end of Anthem, Equality states,“I have my mind.” This means that he now will live

for himself, make choices that benefit him he wants, and choose his friends, hobbies, and

lovers. In short, he lives as an individual, rather than as a member of the human race. In

contrast, Pico Iyer leaves his old life of living in New York City in favor of living a

minimalist life in Kyoto, Japan, because of his opinion that happiness comes from

appreciating what one already has. Or, to simplify, to add depth and happiness to his life,

Iyer decides to take away unnecessary choice and clutter from his lifestyle. In his blog

Iyer writes that he has “no bicycle, no car, no television [he] can understand, no media —

and [his] days seem to stretch into eternity, and [that he] can’t think of a single thing [that

he] lacks[s].” or to summarize, without unnecessary appliances and entertainment, he is

freed of want and has more appreciation for what he already has. This proves that,

without a doubt, happiness and meaning in life is brought about in change that suits the

individual person. This is because each person and their circumstances are very different,

so it makes sense that the change required would differ too. It has been proved again and

again that no human is created equally. People all look different, are born in different

situations, and are exposed to different things growing up. So, why is it so bad for people

to make their own choices based on those differences?

In modern day society, there is a lot more open-mindedness than there was 30 or 40 years

ago, but still not enough. Equality, and Iyer both are great examples of the ‘average person’ of
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today, somebody who just doesn’t know their purpose in life. Both needed to go through a

journey of self discovery, although those journeys were very different, to find meaning in their

lives. ADHD is a great analogy to this. ADHD is one disorder that has a spectrum. This means

that one can range from being so hyperactive and impulsive they can’t function in a society built

for neurotypical people, to somebody who just really struggles with attention issues and

organization that most people wouldn’t notice they have ADHD. Both types have to take

medicine to help with living in a neurotypical society, but they have to take different types of

medication. One slows down the brain’s responses to help the impulsive type think through

choices, and the other speeds up the brain’s reaction time, to make it easier for the latter to focus

on one thing at a time faster. Both of the people with the ADHD types have the same goal, to

focus. But at the end of the day, they will need to find what is right for each of them as

individuals.