Choice Making In Ayn Rand's Anthem

As he moves forward in his measures in the underground tunnel, Equality 7-2521 uncovers light in the glass box. For the first time, he is not afraid of his misbehavior against society, the box of light mattered, his findings is critical; he is important, and for the first time, Equality 7-2521 feels happiness. Nevertheless, the World Council of Scholars does not feel the same, “How dared you, Gutter Cleaner to hold yourself as one alone and with thoughts of the one and not of the many?” (Rand 72). As Equality 7-2521 perceives these words, he makes his most valuable discovery, successful community is not one of collectivism, but individuality. As he makes this analysis, Equality 7-2521 discontinues from the allegiance and is frightened as he runs to the Uncharted Forest, but as the days go on he turns into being unfearful, for he can do as he chooses when he wants. Soon Liberty 5-3000 meets him and the two go on to getting a house together. When Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 find their house, and the books, he starts to interpret about Prometheus, who brings light when there is

During his childhood, he was blessed with an individual spirit and the intelligence to understand the knowledge of the world. In spite of this, he reckoned his abilities as transgressions. He acknowledged that the way of life was that “Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from the one is evil” (Rand 85). Equality strives to accept the totalitarian society and consequently, he desperately struggles to disregard his abilities and subdue his desires. The grisly effects of society are portrayed immensely through the profound sense of guilt he suffers while committing the Sin of Preference. He continually recites that, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by, and for our brothers who are the State. Amen” (Rand 21). Gradually, his aspirations contradict with the dogma of society. He discovers that he finds more joy committing the Sin of Preference rather than restraining himself from happiness, which ultimately, allows him to elude his conscious premises. Equality’s belief that “[he] [has] torn [himself] from the truth which is [his] brother men… [he] knows [this], but [he] [does] not care” (Rand 76) marks his complete triumph over collectivism. Prior to his transformation, he belonged to a society in which the Sin of Preference revoked all rights for any desire, which ultimately disallowed citizens to think for freely. If permitted to do so, no

The journey Equality goes on is literally a search for the truth. In the society Equality grew up in, he is told that questions are forbidden. However, he still had questions and wanted to learn more about the world. Eventually, he and a friend find a hole in the ground. Equality then starts to sneak out each night to do experiments to learn more. “Thus did it come to pass that each night … we, Equality

“ … He will be taught reverence for his own spirit.” (Rand 100). Equality felt like he was sinning in his old society, and then the Council gave him a way to pay for it. “We knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it.” (Rand 26). Equality wanted those who were suffering in the old society to join him, so they would not feel as he had felt under the oppression of the Council. “I shall call to me all the men and women whose spirit has not been willed within them and who suffer under the yoke of their brothers.” (Rand 101).

He was thought that it was bad to be different but he did not care, he just wanted to show other citizens that there was more than what meets the eyes. Not only is equality an individualized thinker but he is also smart and brave. Equality makes a statement in his society by creating light and sharing the new invention with others. “We MADE IT. WE CREATED IT. We brought it forth from the night of the ages. We alone. Our hands. Our minds. Ours alone and only. We knew not what we are saying. Our head is reeling. We look upon the light which we have made” ( Rand 59). This shows that Equality made a new invention and is eventually going to show it to the council of scholars. This affects society because the council of scholars thinks that Equality is being superior to his brother. “We have much to say to a wretch who have broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy! How dared you think that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers? And if the council had decreed that you should be a street sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the streets?” (Rand 71). This proves that no one, besides Equality wants to change society. This ties to the theme by trying to break out of the controlling society and leading into Equality standing up for individualism and for himself. In addition this concludes how the two short stories “Anthem” and “Harrison Bergeron” have different themes.

All his life he had been told that it “is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them” (21). The Teachers made Equality believe that everything he did was wrong, and because they were appointed by the Councils, he believed them to be correct. The appointing of all things by the Councils relates to the Supreme Court. This situation relates to the moral sin in society. Everything is controlled. When Equality turned fifteen, the Council of Vocations appointed him the job of a “Street Sweeper”; it pleased him. This happiness did not last because he was unsatisfied. He always craved more, and one day, a gift was given. Equality 7-2521, with fellow Street Sweeper International 4-8818, uncovered an underground tunnel that was used for subways during the Unmentionable Times, which gave Equality hope. This underground tunnel became everything to Equality because it gave him peace, and it became the one of the many reasons why he was able to break free from being controlled by the leaders of his time of the Great

As the story goes on, Equality 7-2521 commits another crime by falling in love with a woman. Her name is Liberty 5-3000, who he later nicknames the Golden One, and he met her in a field while on duty sweeping the streets. Love is another forbidden thing in society because they’re not supposed to care for anyone more than another. In this part of the novel the reader also learns about something called the Unspeakable Word. It is a word from before the Great Rebirth and if anyone were to even whisper it, they would be immediately punished by death. The novel keeps progressing and when Equality 7-2521 writes his thoughts again, the reader finds out that he had been experimenting with some items he had found in the tunnel and created a source of light by using wires. He makes up his mind and decides to show the Scholars from his community and from other communities his invention and he hopes that his job will be changed from Street Sweeper to Scholar. However, he loses track of time and when he remembers to check, it’s way past the hours given for free time. He gets out the tunnel and hopes to sneak back into town unseen but unfortunately he is caught. When asked about where he was, he did not give up his location and as punishment he is whipped. When he was asked again, he still refused to tell them where

There is a power to individual thinking that forges new pathways that were not there before. Equality’s individual motivations lead him continuously in new paths and allowed him, to discover things that were about himself and in the

Unfortunately, he has no existing technology to use as a base for his ideas, so creates his own. “We, Equality 7-2521, have discovered a new power of nature. And we have discovered it alone, and we alone are to know it,” (34). Equality has lived in a world where the candle is the peak of societal technology, and he is only now realizing that there is more. By going off on his own and discovering things for himself, as an individual, Equality has come to incredible conclusions.

At first he writes only in a tunnel, that he has stumbled into by mistake while working as a Street Sweeper, hidden from everyone. “Each night, for three hours, we are under the earth, alone” (35). He is then caught, he arrives at the Home of the Street Sweeper late one night and the Council of the Home asks him “Where have you been?” (63). But Equality refuses to tell them. He is then punished, lashed by two Judges in hopes to procure and answer from him, to no avail. Equality eventually escapes into the Uncharted Forest, a most forbidden place. “We were in the Uncharted Forest. We had not thought of coming here, but our legs had carried our wisdom, and our legs had brought us to the Uncharted Forest against our will” (75). He continues to write in secret here, under the trees, hollow openings in the roots, and eventually in an old house from the Unmentionable Times, “We are sitting at a table and we are writing this upon paper made thousands of years ago” (88). Equality 7-2521 had to travel as far as the Uncharted Forests, which no soul has searched in centuries, in order to feel safe writing once again.

Equality acknowledges that his great re-discovery of electricity will benefit humankind; however, that isn’t his primary motivation for experimenting. In Chapter V, he says, “We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and brighter, than any they have ever known.” (60). He recognizes that this discovery will completely alter the way his society is set up, presumably for the better. Nevertheless, as he later states in Chapter VII: “We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good of our brothers. We built it for its own sake.” (76). Thus, Equality’s primary motivation for conducting his

Equality is motivated by himself. He wants to invent things. He’s not doing it for fame or to try to impress the council, but for himself. He’s eager to discover and he’s curious about things and how they work. He is very passionate about his experiments and puts a lot of pride and work into them. Equality is much smarter than the rest of his society as it states “It was that the learning was too easy”(21). He dreamed of being a scholar where he can put his talents to a good use;

One day when Equality 7-2521 was studying in their tunnel they lost track of time and they didn't notice that the sand jar which they measured their time with had run out. When they returned to the House of Sweepers they were questioned of where they had been, and they wouldn't tell where they had been at the time so they were sent to the House of Detention. They escaped and brought their box to the World Council of Scholars in hopes of being forgiven of their crimes and being accepted with the scholars but the scholars rejected and with that it humiliated them. Equality

He realizes he had everything to fear from the twisted society that he lived in. Equality had trusted himself enough to completely let go of his old society, to leave everything behind and adopt a new culture. He must have trusted himself immensely to have done this. He also realizes humans are much too smart to govern that society and wonders if they were just too afraid to contradict their government or just did not trust themselves to try and overthrow it. Equality realizes he should be confident in himself. He is a very headstrong person and is not persuaded so easily. That is why he had left his society in the first place. Equality would like to live as an individual where he would not work together for the common good, as a group, but where he alone will work as an individual in his new society that he will soon create.

In life, you are born into societies where various ideas or things are thought to be normal and the customs are already established. The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand has many themes, but what I believe the theme of the novel is, to think for yourself. To think for yourself means to make your own decisions and opinions, without depending on other people. I also think that if you are going to think for yourself you can’t worry about what other people will think of what you believe in. Whether you believe that you should only have school a few days a week or you believe in a certain god, no person should feel ashamed for what they believe in. In today’s society and in the society of Anthem, people don’t think for themselves and they just follow people blindly. In the media, today we see what celebrities are saying, who they like, who they dislike, what they use, what they endorse, and we follow them because we want to be like them. Sometimes you don’t realize that you’re not thinking for yourself, but not being able to think for yourself can make you miserable and that is what Equality 7-2521 realized in Anthem.