Reflection of Anthem by Ayn Rands

      "Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."

     This is realized in Equality 7-2521 when he lives with the Golden One out in the woods and he finds all those books in the house and he reads them. He finds the word I and learns what it means. He comes up with the explanation above and sticks with it for the rest of his life.

      "I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others." (Chapter 11, pg. 110) With this statement Equality is taking hold of his own life and not depending or having to be dependent to anyone but himself

      As for the question at hand,  how does our understanding of virtue change if we alter the question as follows:  When a character acts selfishly against the prevailing vice(s) of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself? I believe it all depends on the predicament the character or person is in. In Anthem, Equality is in the predicament where the social vices are holding him back by making him be equal or less than his brothers in anyway possible. This in human kind is impossible, some people are smarter than others, some more athletic and some more popular. We are equal because we are all humans and should be treated as such, but we should also strive to be the best we can be and not be held back by our peers. On the other hand, in To Kill A Mockingbird sacrificing yourself for one person because everyone else is against them, makes the most sense because the court is trying to hold Tom Robinson accountable for crimes he did not commit and is holding him back from being the best he can be, the same as in Anthem. 

     I believe both questions make sense due to the fact that these two books portray opposite worlds and in both books the characters are exhibiting true virtue against the vices of the social order, the difference is however that these vices are different in each book. In Anthem they want none to be better than others and have little variation so the vices do everything to keep the people that way, whilst in To Kill A Mockingbird the vices are persecuting people based on differences in life styles and are doing everything in their power to keep it  that way so their lives can be easier. In both books the vices are trying to keep everyone in one in place to make the higher staus lives easier and better.