Why did men die at age forty in anthem by Ayn Rand?

Answer 1

Rand never supplies an answer to this question. However, several inferences can be made that would be difficult to argue against.

1. This society is so regressed that the citizens are not capable of practicing medicine. In fact, this society still practices bloodletting, a process that attempts to rid the body of disease by bleeding out infected blood.

2. In this society, people are so depressed that their psyches are affected. If one isn't mentally well, he or she is often physically ill. This depressed plague is evident throughout the novella. One character is screams in the night, and another convulses; this occurs because they are badly depressed. Also, Equality refers to his brothers as hunched over and plagued by fear.

3. The least likely reason is that the councils, which are the governing bodies of the society, may euthanize citizens at a certain age. This is not wholly unlikely because they practice eugenics and birth only 100 children per year. What this indicates is that women who may have gotten pregnant who were beyond the 100-baby quota had their pregnancies terminated. Given the strict population control of this society, euthanasia may have been practiced. However, the first two scenarios seems to make far better cases than this one because homes for the ancient ones (those over 45 years of age) have been established for caregiving.