In the opening pages of Anthem, Equality 7-2521 gives much background knowledge of the society he lives and the horrible details of the laws and regulations they have created. Along with that he explains that he has committed a grave sin already which is writing and that in doing so it doesn’t allow him to live, tagged with other misdeeds in which is labeled as “transgressions.” Being categorized as a Street Sweeper he has unwinded the discovery of a hidden tunnel that once existed during the Unmentionable Times. "Since the Council does not know of this hole, there can be no law permitting to enter it.
At the beginning of Anthem Equality has changed his mind about a lot of things in the beginning of the story. Equality got picked to be a street sweeper by the government, but he really wanted to be a scholar but couldn’t because of the government. Equality had a rough life. Well he was a street sweeper but he was smart enough to be a scholar the government did not think he was. In the book anthem by ayn rand Equality was not good for any body or anything at the beginning he had a rough start to his life.
In Ayn Rand's story Anthem, the protagonist Equality 7-2521 has a power unlike no other within their collectivist society. One day when Equality was working as a street sweeper, he finds an old abandoned underground railroad tunnel from the Unmentionable Times long ago. This is where he conducts his experiments that fill him with pride and joy. Equality dreams how his new invention that he brought into existence can change the world, but helping mankind is not his true motivation behind his passion to create. Throughout the story, Equality's true motivation is him trying to find his inner self and his identity as an individual.
This essay will be discussing whether or not the character Equality 7-2521’s assessment of his sins towards throughout of the book he’s from, Anthem. His assessment (that he doesn’t care about his sin, as it was decided a sin by a government he sees as immoral and corrupt) is in my opinion, correct. This thought stems mainly from the fact he documented his thoughts throughout the book, and the documents could potentially inspire other people to do the same thing he did, which Equality would probably like. At the beginning of Anthem, Equality feels ashamed with many actions of his, specifically calling many of them evil, sinful, or a “transgression”.
Anthem is a novel about a man, Equality 7-2521, who has been different from everyone else ever since he was a child. Equality has more ambition than the other people and he also breaks some of the laws. such as using the word "I" and keeping secrets from the council. But, his collectivist society taught him that being different is a sin so, he tries hard to suppress his curiosity and his desire of wanting another job than what the council assigned him. One day, as equality is working , he sees the beautiful Liberty 5-3000 among the peasants.
Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an affliction to be born with powerful intellectual capacity and ambition in Ayn Rand’s apocalyptic, nameless society in Anthem. Collectivism is ostensibly the moral guidepost for humanity, and any perceived threat to the inflexible, authoritarian regime is met with severe punishment. The attack on mankind’s free will and reason is most evident in the cold marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). Societal norms force homogeneity and sacrifice among all people.
Equality 7-2521 is very proud as to what he invented, so Equality 7-2521 decides Equality 7-2521 wants to come clean and admit to the crimes Equality 7-2521 did. Equality 7-2521 was motivated because he wanted to become one of the smart people. Equality 7-2521 would also have more independence if he joined the World Council of Scholars. Equality 7-2521 is motivated because he has always wanted to try and find his inner self and his identity as an individual. In chapter 7 of the novel Anthem it shows that Equality 7-2521 feels unimportant to everyone around him and that he is just another person just like everyone else.
The society's rules and standards acts as a nemesis toward Equality 7-2521: “We asked many questions and the teacher forbade it” (Rand 23). The society has regulations to keep Equality 7-2521 from learning more than he already knew. In the story Equality 7-2521 tests the rules of the community to explore the unknown. The Council is the protagonist most powerful nemesis because they constantly attempt to make a Equality 7-2521 feel like a threat to the society: “We knew we had been guilty, but now we had a way to atone for it” (Rand 27). The council placed Equality 7-2521 in grades lowered to make him feel like a sin.
Anthem is writing as a journey of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in the future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, for not even knowing the word "I" and can only speak of himself as "We." Everyone lives and work in collective groups and he is assigned to a Street Sweeper of the city by the Council of Vocations. However, Equality 7-2521 try to lead himself to recreate electric light and how it can be harnessed to human benefit. He has been taught that it is a sin to harbor secret ambitions, and so he believes he is guilty. Equality 's struggle to be free and to reach an individual life/ When he presents his discovery to the Council of Scholars, they punish him for daring to act as an individual and threaten to destroy his creation.
In the dystopian novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the author uses the Council as an example of those who possess complete knowledge. They lead the community with their wisdom and are always right in their conviction, which is how they manipulate the City. The character Equality 7-2521 is introduced as one who believes that despite the requirements of the Council to obey, he cannot compromise the morals that are significant to him, so he wrote, which he believes “is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others will see. It is base and evil.”(Rand
Would you break the rules of society if you believed they were wrong? Even if there was a possibility of punishment and backlash? An individual, one and only-alone, can change the world. Two individuals, Equality 7-2521 and Victoria Woodhull broke the glass ceiling with their fists raised towards change. In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, standing alone by oneself is illegal and having thoughts that are your own is something you could get lashed or burned at the stake for.
In the dystopian society that Equality 7-2521 lives in he could be punished for thinking for himself. He wanted to leave the society to find his happiness. His two friends wanted the best for him, and objectivism not being selfish. In the society Equality 7-2521 faced the troubles of not being able to to think for himself and have independence. While he is trying to find his own happiness he meets two people who are just like him.
“The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they act on their dreams with open eyes to make it possible,” Lawrence of Arabia once said. Men can be dangerous. Those who follow their desires and explore the forbidden are pledged to hold the world upon its inner core. If the forbidden is challenged and faced with its true reality, then the greatness you find is the long lost concealed knowledge. This is what the character Equality realizes in the book “Anthem”.
Equality was a creator his mind had driven him to science he had his own mind, his own strength, and his own courage he was independent, he was brighter than the rest. Standing alone in a modern world ruled by the suppressed government he faced the world alone. In a world where being intellectual was a severe sin he possessed gifts unlike no other that were despised by the government: intellectual and psychological strength. In a world where free will was not allowed and any form of diversity was punished by the authorities. Here we find Equality on a path of self-discovery and independence.
¨We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-300. We do not know why we think of them” (Rand 41). In Ayn Randś dystopian novel, Anthem, the citizens are forced to think that they cannot have any preference, this includes liking someone more than others. Randś protagonist, Equality 7-2521, started the book falling in love with the Golden One, but as he moves toward individuality he begins to be in “love” less as he realizes there’s more than just being in a group.
