Equality 7-2521 In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” is a dystopian fiction novella that takes place at an unspecific future date where mankind has entered a dark age. Equality 7-2521 is the main character we are first introduced to as he illegally writes his thoughts on paper in a secret tunnel by the light of a candle he stole.
The book begins with the exposition where we learn that Anthem is a communist society in which Equality lives. No person in the society has any freedom, the right to their own opinion, their own individuality, or their own voice. Everyone is simply used as laborers to work for the society as a whole. No one is allowed to be alone of think alone or even use the word “I”. The citizens of this society refer to themselves as “we” and other people as

“them”. Individuality is completely forbidden in Equality’s society.
As we are shown more and more to the society Equality lives in, we are soon introduced to Liberty 5-3000.

Equality meets and falls in love with Liberty on his daily job route as a street sweeper. He calls her the “Golden One” and she calls him the “Unconquered.” About the same time period as Equality meets Liberty, he also secretly discovers electricity while sneaking away to a secret tunnel he found. He sneaks out almost every night without suspicion, but one night people noticed that he was missing. When he returned he was beaten for refusing to tell where he had been. These events all make up the rising action of the novella.
The climax of the novella is reached when Equality exposes himself and his invention of the light bulb to the House of the Scholars with the intention to give the society a better source of light than a candle. The Scholars react poorly to this presentation and tell him it is illegal to think and invent on his own and that he is out of his place, for he is just a street sweeper. In reaction to the Scholars words, Equality runs away into the Uncharted Forest to avoid

punishment.
The book soon transitions from the climax to the falling action as the “Golden One” realized Equality had run away and followed after him into the forest. The two soon find each other and discover an abandoned house left from the Unmentionable Times. They quickly decide to start their new life in that house. While exploring the house that same day, they find a book and discover the word “I” for the first time in their lives.
The book reaches its resolution as Equality and the “Golden One” live happily in the forest and decide to make it possible for others to escape and live free as well.

They plan to go back into the city and bring back their friends so they can experience freedom too. They want to raise up a generation based on values of individuality and freedom.
While reading “Anthem” you see many different themes unfold. Themes of freedom, Identity, society, happiness, love, and loyalty develop throughout the book. The central theme I take away from the book, though, is the idea that identity is found in the originality and imagination of the mind. Rand develops the theme through the thoughts and actions of Equality 7-2521. Equality seems to be one of the only people in this society that is tired of conforming and living the exact same life every single day. He desires to establish his own identity and have his own freedoms.
Equality really starts to discover his own personal identity when he finds the secret tunnel and begins to create a light bulb. The light bulb symbolizes hope and freedom. Equality creates the light bulb and therefore essentially creates hope and freedom for himself by doing so. He finds his own identity through creating the light bulb because he discovers that he has his own imagination and ability to think on his own, as well as be completely original to himself. Equality comes to understand that conformity isn’t necessary to

prosper.
“Anthem” by Ayn Rand is a book that really opens your eyes to the freedoms we have in life. Rand shows what life without that freedom and how necessary it really is. The book, all though a more extreme version, was Rand’s way of explaining how living in a communist society was for her. Ayn Rand grew up in the Soviet Union under a communist government and that is what fuels the basis of her book. She wants to show the importance of individuality and of personal freedom. By writing “Anthem,” Rand has shown the destruction that comes from conformity.