Anthem: Invention and Equality
Anthem
In the novel, “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, there is a twenty-one year old man by the name of Equality 7-2521. In the beginning of the novel, he is alone in a railroad tunnel, writing in a journal. It is a sin to be by yourself and to write and think for oneself, according to the Council of Vocation. To the World Council, all men must be completely alike and they all must form one indivisible “WE”. He meets a seventeen-year-old woman named Liberty 5-3000. He falls in love with her, which is not allowed. Later on, Equality invents a “box of glass” that contains an electric light. Proud of his invention, he decides that he’ll show the World Council of Scholars. When he showed the World Council his invention, they became very angry at him because he broke a lot of laws. He then runs away, out to the Uncharted Forest. Soon, Liberty 5-3000 finds him there. She ran away from home to be with him. After many days of walking through the forest, they find a house with books inside it. This is how Equality 7-2521 discovers the word “I”. Equality reaches the important realization that “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers”. This means that in order for an individual to enjoy what he possesses, he must be away from people who stop him from doing so.
There is fear in the air everywhere. All men can feel it and they do not speak. In the tunnel, Equality says, “But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground” (p. 46). To Equality 7-2521, the tunnel means freedom. He is alone and away from everyone, which makes him happy and gives him strength to work.
Equality isn’t the only one who isn’t happy about how the society is. “All is not well with our brothers. There are Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise, kind eyes, who cry suddenly, without reason, in the midst of day or night, and their body shakes with sobs they cannot explain. There are
In the novel, “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, there is a twenty-one year old man by the name of Equality 7-2521. In the beginning of the novel, he is alone in a railroad tunnel, writing in a journal. It is a sin to be by yourself and to write and think for oneself, according to the Council of Vocation. To the World Council, all men must be completely alike and they all must form one indivisible “WE”. He meets a seventeen-year-old woman named Liberty 5-3000. He falls in love with her, which is not allowed. Later on, Equality invents a “box of glass” that contains an electric light. Proud of his invention, he decides that he’ll show the World Council of Scholars. When he showed the World Council his invention, they became very angry at him because he broke a lot of laws. He then runs away, out to the Uncharted Forest. Soon, Liberty 5-3000 finds him there. She ran away from home to be with him. After many days of walking through the forest, they find a house with books inside it. This is how Equality 7-2521 discovers the word “I”. Equality reaches the important realization that “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers”. This means that in order for an individual to enjoy what he possesses, he must be away from people who stop him from doing so.
There is fear in the air everywhere. All men can feel it and they do not speak. In the tunnel, Equality says, “But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground” (p. 46). To Equality 7-2521, the tunnel means freedom. He is alone and away from everyone, which makes him happy and gives him strength to work.
Equality isn’t the only one who isn’t happy about how the society is. “All is not well with our brothers. There are Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise, kind eyes, who cry suddenly, without reason, in the midst of day or night, and their body shakes with sobs they cannot explain. There are