Equality 7-2521: An Epic Hero In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Ayn Rand’s Anthem starts by Equality 7-2521 saying “It is a sin to write this.”

Edison invented the lightbulb in 1879, and today it powers more than 20 million appliances(LED). In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the government enforces “fairness” forbidding any distinct skills keeping their citizens dull. Equality 7-2521 the main protagonist, wants to escape from this norm even if the government forbids it; leading to the discovery of remnants from the unmentionable times, and then fully betraying the government as a whole. Equality throughout the book starts to slowly develop an understand about individuality, during his work with the box, representing Rand's beliefs of individuality being ultimate power when compared to a group.

Equality 7-2521 has changed his mind about the leaders of his society, and I think he is correct to do so. The leaders controlled his life and his actions and punished him for the littlest and immoral things. They considered his height and other differences from his brothers a transgression.

Could you imagine living in a world where you were not your own individual? In the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, everyone is the same and no one can be “better” or more intelligent than each other. In this book, the characters can not even speak the word “I” without getting executed. Think about having rules that restrict individuals from having their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions. In the book Anthem, the readers will discover that these rules and restrictions become a reality.

Equality is such an important thing in our everyday lives. Every person is born to be different. No one is exactly like another human on this planet. Our society thrives off of each person being unique from everyone else, but still being treated equally. In Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, we are introduced to this society that has fallen back into the times of the Great Rebirth. In this society we meet Equality 7-2521 who is cursed with being different from his brothers and sisters. The World Council is in control of making of the rules of all of the societies. These rules were created to restrain individuality, to ensure an equal society.

Towards the beginning of the book, Equality 7-2521 followed the rules of the society and did not question his leaders. However, towards the end of the book he started denouncing them, and began to rebel. He started to see the leaders as dictators. Equality 7-2521 started thinking forbidden thoughts such as, those concerning The Golden Ones, and thoughts of becoming an individual. He also started to execute his own desires. He stopped

“There is evil in your bones” (18). For his entire life, Equality has been frowned upon his physical and intellectual differences. All Equality has known from himself is that he was an outcast to the society. As many people feared Equality’s differences, they told him lies. Equality’s assessment of his sin is correct because at the end of Anthem, Equality now sees his so called curse as a gift and plans to show the society how it is a great thing to be different.

To begin, Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” Curiosity, a desire to know or learn something, must exist in in this world in order for new things to be discovered. In the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the male protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives in a dystopian society in which everyone are forced to learn and think the way the World Council of Scholars want them to. The World Council of Scholars are the smartest people who dictate everything in this society. Equality 7-2521 begins to break away from this conformity, beginning with his encounter with an underground tunnel where he learns of electric light; then he presents his discovery to the World Council of Scholars. The rejection of his discovery leads him to the Uncharted Forest, an area around the city where it is illegal to go, being followed by Liberty 5-3000, his girlfriend, and resulting in finding a house from the Unmentionable Times, or times before the society was created. There are manuscripts from the Unmentionable Times inside that house, that

When one is confined to society and held captive against their ego, it is imperative that they learn to eulogize their own individuality, and learn to improve themselves. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, Rand uses Equality 7-2521 to communicate the importance of the individual. Equality has always had his own sense of individuality that causes him to stand out and defy the social norms. His individuality allows him to persevere and diverge from collectivist society.

In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem, Equality lives in a communist society that believes everyone must work for and be exactly like one another. For much of the novel, he believes what the Council of Vocations tells him, despite his intelligence and independence. By the end of the book, he realizes that the idea that everyone is the same and must work for each other is flawed. He deserves to live his own life and enjoy himself. Equality’s beliefs on happiness - “It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose” (95) - is correct. This is because the Council tries to eradicate human nature and replace it with a basic persona for everyone, which results in a limited mindset that does not allow them to see a logical point of view nor achieve happiness.

Ayn Rand in her novel Anthem exhibits a society where people only purpose is to serve and better the community. Rand was writing Anthem, while World War 2 was emerging and she was watching countries change their views on society and the citizens in it. Some of these countries started to force their citizens into a mold. Thinking that society would be benefit if everyone was like-minded. Rand wanted to show these views in an extreme situation to demonstrate what could happen in the future if countries continued to do this. In her book Rand created Equality 7-2521 which is a 22-year-old male who dares to break away from the mold his society has created and be himself. He has the potential for so much and yet his society keeps him from it. Rand uses Equality 7-2521 and his society to illustrate that if society tries to push

Everyone is born with independence, but imagine a society where this virtue is ceased. In the novel “Anthem” written by Ayn Rand, she describes a society in which everyone is the exact same. Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 are two characters that live under a strict and controlling rule, in which they make decisions for you. As they story goes on, the two characters discover love, freedom, liberty, and independence.

The Word ‘We’ is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it” (Rand, 1946, p. 97). Equality 7-2521 words generate the notion that a collective society destroys humankind 's potential, while avoiding others gifted personalities. Equality is a 21 year old who defies societal norms and grabs tightly on to his curse of individualism, while living in a collectivist society that demands obedience from the group. Throughout the story, Equality progresses, as he reaches for his independence and rebel against the dictatorship of the government. As a result, Equality is faced with conflicts, internally and externally. By doing so, he captures his freedom from the detrimental and contagious dictatorship.

Robert Frost once said, “If society fits you comfortably enough, you can call it freedom”. Most people can relate to this quote, but what if an individual does not agree or feel comfortable in his or her social system? In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand shows her willingness to leave an unjust society through Equality leaving his community, purposefully breaking laws, and pursuing his discoveries.

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. And everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden."(Rand, 8)  This tunnel that he keeps in secret with International 4-8818 helps roll in the spirit of inquiry for him to continue with the science experiments and writings only to be soon caught and