In the words of Ayn Rand, “The word We is as lime poured over men.” This quote portrays the book Anthem and the threats of “We” that take place during the red scare. Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, depicts a story that revolves around a young rebellious man who goes against the collective mind of his society and follows his passions and ideals in the world where everything about the past has been wiped out from a great war. Equality, with strong reasoning, had motivation of personal interest that allowed him to escape from the collective society Equality’s motivation is fueled by personal interest. “It is a sin to write this, It is a sin to think words no other think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own.” (17) This shows how Equality goes against the World Council because he wants knowledge and will go as far as to break the law of society. His motivation toward personal interest is worth dying for. “But we could not move our body. Then we smiled, for we thought of the light and that we had not betrayed it.” (66) This quote signifies the pain Equality endured in order to stick to his ideals. In fact, he may as well have felt no pain, but only joy, for …show more content…
It would nurture the characteristics of a democratic environment that would let everyone voice their ideals without any penalties. The society he lived in rejected having any freedom of action and freedom of expression, but he took a stand and said “I am. I think. I will.”(94). From this quote, Equality recognized the freedoms he didn’t have, creating a turning point for the story to unfold. “The sacred word: EGO”(105) is represented as a word for greed, glory and the reason for living throughout the story. The term “ego” doesn’t always mean pride, it means