Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a unique book. Written in 1937, Anthem is a call to individuality, completely opposed to the collectivist society that was forming in Russia, Rand’s birthplace. The novella expounds upon Rand’s philosophy of egoism, the belief that the self is above everything else. Accordingly, the main theme of her book is “the meaning of man’s ego.” Ego, in the context of her book, is Rand’s revolutionary philosophies of individualism, or egoism. The meaning of man's ego, Rand's concept of individualism, is illustrated in the protagonist Equality's character, his discovery of the light-bulb, and his eventual return to nature.
The main character, Equality 7-5527, is the embodiment of Ayn Rand’s egoism: he is vain, proud and selfish. He does not believe his brothers deserve his love simply because they are born. Equality, like Rand, follows an “every person for themselves” philosophy. On page 96 of Anthem, he declares, “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is mine theirs to covet." Equality believes his will is his only command, and his happiness is his only goal; these two concepts are the core of Rand’s philosophy.
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For Rand, one’s value is gained through the originality of one’s mind, expressed through one’s work; what is made by an individual’s hands is an extension of the individual’s very self. After Equality creates a light-bulb, he begins to take notice of his own body, seeing it something worth knowing now that it has invented something. He states, "For the first time do we care about our body. For this wire is as a part of our body as a vein torn from us, glowing with our blood." (Rand 61). Once again, Rand represents another component of her philosophy of egoism through her