Anthem Literary Analysis

The Nature of Mankind How do you react in the face of fear? Do you freeze, not knowing what to do, or suffice and take action? Are you scared stiff or get away from whatever it is? Maybe you’ve never been faced with this kind of situation. Each person has a different response to these types of circumstances. In the book Anthem, Ayn Rand describes a futuristic world in which “I” does not exist and emotions are not understood. Technology has been put back hundreds of year and people don’t know how to react to new ideas. The main character, Equality 7-2521, decides to take a risk against The Society in which he lives in by seeking knowledge and loving the woman of his choice. At first, he is a dedicated and devoted member of The Society, but he emerges as a curious and rebellious man, who leaves the society and creates an independent state. This transformation of Equality 7-2521 illustrates the role, nature, and independence of man which Ayn Rand tries to implement in this book. Equality 7-2521 has grown up knowing only The Society which he has held onto steadfast his entire life. When Equality 7-2521 is in what they call Small School, (school) the Whole has to recite the phrase, “’Mankind is all”’ (Rand 21).

After he finds a tunnel from The Unmentionable Times in which he writes, his friend-International 4-8818- decides he wants to tell the Council. Equality 7-2521 responds with the words, “’Keep silent. This place is ours”’ (Rand 34). This is his very first act of rebellion and his first crime. Curiosity leads him to two years of studying and learning in the tunnel. After this time he writes, “And in these two years we have learned more than we had learned in the ten years of the Home of the Students” (Rand 36). He declares he is now smarter than the Society and decided he wants to share it, which is another