ANTHEM
In a time after mass destruction, when the world has ended up where it started, the idea that people are one and all and all in one is ingrained into their minds. They go through school at the exact same pace, all for their careers to be chosen for them by the council. In this society, no one stands for themselves, but they stand for each other, and are punished when they don’t do this. Throughout Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, the protagonist Equality 7-2521 learns that it is not a sin to be an individual in the radical and strict society he lives in, which condemns individualism. He does this by seeking knowledge from the Unmentionable Times after realizing how powerful it can be, alluding to his individuality. Next, he breaks free from …show more content…
This all starts when Equality stumbles across an uncharted tunnel in the ground while sneaking away from the nightly productions in the City Theatre. In the process of creating innovations and recovering findings from the Unmentionable times, Equality starts to steal everyday utensils to better his discoveries. This is extremely frowned upon, but he continues to do it, admitting that “we have stolen candles from the Home of the Street Sweepers, we have stolen flints and knives and paper, and we have brought them to this place” (35). In all of these nightly visits and studies, he finally recognizes the power of knowledge, declaring “we have come to see how great is the unexplored, and many lifetimes will not bring us to the end of our quest” (36). After working in his secret tunnel for a while, Equality starts to grasp this idea of individuality and what it means in a society so focused on the ‘we’ rather than ‘I’. His quest for knowledge starts to show him what solitude is, so he claims “we wish nothing, save to be alone and to learn, and to feel as if with each day our sight were growing sharper than the hawk’s and clearer than rock crystal” (36). With his new understanding of individuality, Equality then realizes that his work means something to him, stating that “we alone, of the thousands who walk the earth, we alone in this hour are doing …show more content…
This all starts when one day he is sweeping the streets and covering the windy road to the North where he sees Liberty 5-3000 working in the field near the fence. Here, Equality finds himself in awe, admiring her as he confesses that “their hair was golden as the sun; their hair flew in the wind, shining and wild, as if it defied men to restrain it” (39). Even though it is a sin to think of people differently, Equality admits that “we do not know why we think of them, we feel of a sudden that the earth is good and that it is not a burden to live” (41). The turning point when Equality finds himself breaking the rules of Society is when he changes Liberty 5-3000’s role in his life to something more important than a fellow sister. He does this when he alters her name confessing that “we call them the Golden one, for they are not like the others” (41). Then he goes on to think of her even more than just a girl in his City working near him, stating that “we take no heed of the law which says that men may not think of women, save at the Time of Mating” (41). Overall, another sin that Equality commits is forming a relationship with Liberty 5-3000, later named The Golden One, but he reassess this action, putting the law aside and forming a relationship with