Summary Of Anthem By Ayn Rand

In Anthem, Ayn Rand makes Equality, or Prometheus, a very dynamic character. Ayn feels strongly about certain topics and often writes on selfishness and morality. Equality’s views of morality change drastically over the course of the book and therefore contrasts to his past society's version of morality. He starts as a nobody, and progresses into a man who defies authority for what he sees as the greater good. He also believed that he was nothing without his brothers. This changes when he knows at the end that a person should live for themselves, and not anyone else. He also changes his moral views on preference. He was told at the beginning that he could not prefer anything or anyone over another and that changed. Finally, he could not have

The society was based upon the idea that a man is nothing, and a group of people is everything. This can be exemplified when Equality shows his discovery to the council, and they tell him it could not be used since only one person worked on it. They said that it cannot be accepted because nothing a man does on his own is good. This changes for Equality pretty early in the book. He starts defying authority when he goes into his hole in the ground. There, he works on his light, and understanding electricity. This was a major transgression to his community, but Equality did not care. This showed Equality that a man alone could do great things. He could understand electricity on his own, without his brothers, and he liked

This one ties into the first point of self-worth. No one could make anything on their own, or have ideas of their own. Going back to the light, he was not allowed to have his idea praised since it was not made by more than one person. The council asked Equality if he was working on this with more than one person, when he responded no, the council was enraged. At the end of the novel, Prometheus was very happy since he could express his ideas in his own way, and not to please everyone. This is known as ego and Ayn Rand writes about ego in a good fashion too. She says that people think of ego in a bad manner, but it is one’s sense of self. She says the selfless man is the man who cannot think, feel, or act by