The Uncharted Forest In Ayn Rand's Anthem

“Anthem” – one of writing authors Ayn Rand, shows her at her most vicious, hungry, and ambitious reading personality not only as a writer, but as a storyteller as well. The classic hit novel “Anthem” is the predecessor to Ayn Rands later books and storytelling works such as “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged”, often tackles controversial themes that are still prevalent within modern America today, such as Family & Love. The grandeur novel “Anthem” is a reflection of such topics, all whilst being told with almost an aura of mystery within the novels plotline / storyline. “Anthem’s” take on things such as individuality and self discovery along with universal, self serving terms such as “I” & the word “We” are the key factors in helping differinciate this author Ayn Rand from other authors that write and compse the same genre of literature as Ayn Rand. Anyways, please allow for me to introduce you to the under the surface, deeper themes expressed in the classic debut novel, Ayn Rands “Anthem”

His life becomes drastically and instantly different, and he loves every second of it. For the first time in his life, he wakes up when he wants to wake up. He runs around and he jumps up and down, and he lies in the cool grass. His experiences in the Uncharted Forest are new and incredible to him. Equality also discovers more about himself, how he looks and how strong he really is, and he feels immense pride at what he finds. He is proud of all he has and all he has done, and he is proud of his light box. His only regret is leaving behind the Golden One, who he reunites with later. When he does end up meeting up with the Golden One in the forest, he is awed by how amazing it is to have her by his side and love her. Everything he encounters leads to him enjoying life outside of the Anthem society more than he did when he lived within it. Everything he discovers in the Uncharted Forest is better than everything in society, leading him to laugh at the idea of being

“I understood the blessed thing which I had called my curse. I understood why the best in me had been my sins and transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins” (98). This quote is about Equality’s epiphany about his curiosity he had had his entire life, proof of the twisted logic the collectivist society used on civilians to make them identical. Since Equality was feeling the best he had ever felt once being free from the collectivist reigns, he was bewildered with the reality of being ‘shunned’ or as his civilization would call him, ‘damned’. Equality laughs, “For the first time this day, we remembered that we are the Damned. [...] We are writing this on the paper we had hidden in our tunic together with the written pages we had brought for the World Council of Scholars, but never given to them” (80). Equality assesses that running away from the law didn’t come with any consequences that he isn’t willing to live with. He was no longer scared to be judged on his thoughts or creations. He comes to the conclusion that nothing is worth giving up

In this paper, I will be talking about the book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. I will be talking about characters such as protagonists and antagonists and how some characters impacted the story. I will talk about the setting, conflicts, and the plot of the story. I will also talk about literary devices such as point of view, symbolism, mood, tone, and theme.

The “Uncharted Forest” represents a safe haven. Ayn Rand show this when Equality runs to the “Uncharted Forest” in order to escape from his punishers because he knows “no one will ever go in the Uncharted Forest,”(Rand, 1938, p. 76). Him running to the “Uncharted Forest” in order to escape an unfit punishment shows me that the forest is like a safe haven for Equality because society cannot physically reach him there. We see this symbol again in a much different light when Equality writes, “We are doomed. Whatever days are left to us, we shall spend them alone. And we heard of the corruption to be found in solitude,” (Rand, 1938, pg. 76). This is important to notice because the two examples contradict each other. The first example showcases the “uncharted forest” as a physical safe haven away from the punishment that Equality would have other ways faced, but the second example shows that Equality imagines it as a place that will destroy him. He imagines it as a place that will ruin him, because his was taught throughout his life that the forest is dangerous. Ayn Rand creates these two different viewpoints of the photo to show that while Equality is physically freed from his society, he is still held captive by the thoughts and standards that society instilled in

When Equality 7-2521 begins the novel by saying, “It is a sin to write this.” he has a different moral assessment of writing than at the end of the novel. Throughout Anthem, Equality’s actions affect how he views his society and the people around him. By the end of the story, Equality begins to realize that the government and society that he lives in might not be so perfect, and it might not be a sin to write. Equality’s eventual moral assessments of his sins are correct and are supported by; his growth throughout the story, the themes of independence developed in the novel and Ayn Rand’s concepts concerning communism. These are the three ideas that will be developed and explained in this paper.

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.

Imagine a world where everyone is equal; living a life that feels almost programmed. Humans may not realize the impact freedom, technology, and independence has on our daily lives; however, Anthem by Ayn Rand demonstrates the importance of these rights. The story portrays the life of a young man, Equality 7-2521, living in a society that is built on severe rules and laws. These laws are designed to eliminate individuality, resulting in an extremely controlled environment. Due to the laws, Equality 7-2521 rebels against the society. For example, Equality 7-2521 was given the job as a Street Sweeper but realized life was unchallenging for him, and was punished for going beyond his limitations. Equality 7-2521 understands that solitude is

Throughout the book, Equality goes against the government because he is searching for freedom. In the book, Equality talks about wanting to see himself but that is against the law, when he runs away, he finally seems himself. Equality wants to see his own image because, his entire life he has never seen it, and he has only seen the faces of his brothers. Equality sees his own face for the first time and says, “We sat still and we held our breath. For our face and our body were beautiful. Our face was not like the faces of our brothers, for we felt no pity when looking upon it. Our body was not like the bodies of our brothers, for our limbs were straight and thin and hard and strong. And we thought that we could trust this being who looked upon us from the stream, and that we had nothing to fear with this being.” (Rand, 80) Now that he is thinking for himself he wants to know more about himself. He never received the chance to find out what kind of person he was when he was young, so now that he is older he wants to know more about himself. He falls in love with Liberty the first time he sees her, and in their society they’re not supposed to take notice of the opposite gender. Equality whispers, “For men are forbidden to take notice of women, and women are forbidden to take notice of men. But we think of one among women, they whose name is Liberty, and we think of no others.” (Rand, 38) When

Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.

The story’s settings of the novel, Anthem, greatly influences the plot. The novel’s setting takes in a Dark Age where there is no creativity, technology, progress, or optimism. The “society” is completely controlled and manipulated by a central group of leaders. The story primarily centers around a young man named Equality 7-2521 who is a street sweeper. This occupation does not offer him opportunities to expand beyond his small controlled world. Equality 7-2521 take his readers on an adventurous life journey as written in his own journal. Readers feel his oppression and personal desperation as they travel through the dark tunnel and live each day in the shoes of Equality.

brought them for a civilization where the word ?I? did not exist to a world

He excludes himself, writes a journal, keeps secrets, and many more. The reason the concil has these as laws or sins is because they let a person be an “I” instead of “we”. It allows you to be you instead of a group or a clan. Equality is free spirited. He likes being an individual and throughout this journey he goes through, he realizes a bunch of stuff the Council kept from him and the world. For instance, when Equality found electricity; that was banned from their society. They banned it because it was such a powerful image of power for mankind. “The power of the sky can be made to do men’s bidding. There are no limits to its secrets and its might, and it can be made to grant us anything if we but choose to ask.” (5.24) The world could find out that there was a possibility of taking over the council and being “I”s. That is why the have the “unmentionable times” and “useless ones”, because those hold secrets that could ruin the society and their “sins” or laws.

In The Novel Anthem The character equality’s sense of mortality at the end of the novel differed from his society’s institutions, practices, and officials.The choices and actions that determine the purpose and the course of his life,alter gravely throughout the text .From the very beginning to the very end, the audience can easily depict a change in the character’s mental,as well as mortality.In the very beginning Equality was full of curiosity,he could spot his indifference to the others,he also knew he could not think of himself as an individual.Everything done,would have to be done for the good of his “brothers.”He automatically questioned authority,and had a hard time conforming to society.

Throughout the course of the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 was never afraid to disobey rules that were put in place for those in the city. In fact, just about every action he engaged in was a direct challenge to the leaders of the “irrational society”. Although he did not complete these deeds with malice in the beginning, eventually Equality 7-2521 had a revelation about what his society was doing to the human race. All members of the collective society were being “kept in the dark”, both