Equality 7-2521 Anthem

In a society where everyone and everything is meant to be equal and perfect it never seems to function as planned. A society cannot cooperate without leaders and non-leaders. There will always be that one person who is considered the bad apple. “Anthem” by Ayn Rand shows interesting concepts about a young man’s life and the totalitarian society he lives in, his name is Equality 7-2521. When Equality 7-2521 remembers he is “the damned” (Rand, pg.80) he laughs due to the fact that he finally recognizes his strength and refuses to succumb to the person the authority figures in his life expect him to be.
Equality 7-2521 is “the damned” (Rand, pg.80), or at least that is what the authority figures in his life wish him to believe. “…Teachers and

the leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: ‘there is evil in your bone’…” (Rand, pg.18). To be told by the role models in his life that there is “evil” in him (Rand, pg. 18) is truly perturbing. The justification for the great terror in this poor man’s bones is absolutely absurd (Rand, pg.18). “We are six feet tall, and this is a burden for there are not many men who are six feet tall” (Rand, pg.18). Equality 7-2521 spent the adolescent years of his life believing he was cursed for not being the same height as his brothers (Rand, pg.20). That is not the life someone should be forced to live. To think they are not worthy because they do not fit into the status quo is unfair and unjust.
A life in solitude is troubling and miserable.

To be part of a community one day and the next day be wanted dead is a terrifying conviction. That is how Equality 7-2521 felt after he tried to share his new invention with his fellow brethren and they laughed in his face (Rand, pg. 69). Not only did they laugh at him but they also described in detail how he should be mercilessly punished. A true brother would not say to a fellow brother “‘you shall be burned at the stake…’” or “‘No, they shall be lashed…’” (Rand, pg.72). It is shameful that someone in a society can propose an idea to benefit all, yet be cruelly treated by the members in the society he is trying to help. For a well known and sophisticated “Council of Scholars” (Rand, pg.23) they are very simpleminded. So, because of the actions of his brothers Equality 7-2521 was forced to flee in fear of his life. He ran off into the “Uncharted Forest” (Rand, pg.75) because he had nowhere else to go. He went far and deep into the mysterious and threatening place. He felt as if he could never possibly redeem himself (Rand, pg.76); he kissed his life goodbye and welcomed a new one. “We have torn ourselves from the truth, which is our brother men, and there is no redemption” (Rand, pg. 76). Equality continued to push forward and in doing so found something he never thought

feasible.
Equality 7-2521 discovers feelings. That is a very elementary statement but true in actual context. In the life Equality 7-2521 was forced to live in he could never feel the emotions that are imperative to human life. Once Equality 7-2521 found himself in the “Uncharted Forest” (Rand, pg.75) he suddenly found everything he ever wanted and needed. In the forest he found joy. “We had lived for twenty-one years and had never known what joy is possibly to men” (Rand, pg.83). Joy is a powerful feeling that everyone must feel. Pride is an influential emotion as well. “We wished to be hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating” (Rand, pg. 79). He found pride within himself which shows he will do exceptional on his own. Equality 7-2521 witnesses what it means to be truly happy. “My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own purpose” (Rand, pg.95). He finally realizes the great importance of his happiness. Equality 7-2521 knows what it is to feel more than he has ever felt and will never go back to the repressive society he lived in his whole life.
Equality 7-2521 involuntarily inhabited an unfair society where he was told he was a poor excuse for a fellow brother.

For someone to be told at a young age that they are a disgrace and to go through adolescence with that concept on the forefront of their mind must be troublesome. He was shamed and mistreated by the people he was told to trust. None of that mattered though because when he finally left his repressive community he found exactly what he was looking for in life and more. So he laughed when he remembered he is “the dammed” (Rand, pg.80) because he perceived that he does not need to be part of a society that incriminates on its own people. To step out of the shadows and into the light allowed him to fully experience what life has to

offer.