http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_contests_anthem
Just decided to put up my submission... I did the third writing prompt.
Ayn Rand’s book, The Anthem, is the quest of a man to find identity. In doing so, he is exiled from his community, but the joy from his discovery made it worthwhile. A very bright and inquisitive man, Equality creates a glass box, something he values and treasures deeply. When he flees to the forest, he finds that is able to live without the provisions of society. Upon stumbling on the word, “I” while reading some books in a house from the Unmentionable Times, Equality has a revelation and epiphany about his identity. Through his experiences immersed in and isolated from society, he finds meaning and purpose past working for the will of society.
All throughout his life, Equality was very smart and investigative. These were traits got him frequently punished in school. As a street sweeper, he often went down into the tunnels to conduct experiments. This act was an outlet for his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He is regretful of his intelligence, calling it a curse and “A great sin, to be born with a head that is too quick. “ Despite this, he continues on with his studies.
After Equality’s glass box is rejected by the World Council of Scholars and he is thrown out, the sense of pride and identity in original invention and the downfalls of a communist society are made more evident. Equality 7-2521 had worked long and hard on this glass box and had put sentimental value in it. He describes it as a “vein growing within us, glowing red with our blood” and, in the quote, as a “living heart that gives us strength”, shedding light onto how attached he was to his creation. When he is imprisoned and tortured, Equality does not reveal the things he did underground. When threatened by the world council, Equality is apathetic about the physical torture that would ensue. However, he adamantly refuses to let the Scholars destroy the invention. Consistently, he values the glass box over his body, even when threatened. This demonstrates his resolve to protect his original creation, an extension and symbol of his identity and individuality.
When the full implications of this invention, such as cleaner more efficient lighting, are revealed to him, Equality 7-2521 begins daydreaming about the future. He envisions the unanimous appreciation of the glass box, his acceptance to the House of Scholars and higher living standards the box would bring to the community. The reaction of the World Council was quite the opposite. The Council become fearful and declares it useless. They bring up two important arguments: the box was not made or appreciated collectively and the box would disrupt the economic cycle by deprecating the Department of Candles and complicating the plans of the World Council. One scholar goes so far as to say, “And if this should lighten the toil of men, then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save toiling for other men”. By this decision to stick to the past instead of adapting and improving, the inefficiency and rigidness of his society is revealed. The glass box represents innovation and individualism. By discarding it, the council has shown that they value dogma and tradition over context and expedience.
When he runs away after his glass box is rejected by the World Council of Scholars, he establishes a new life for himself in forest. His eyes are open to the infiniteness of the world and its desire to get something back from him. In the quote, “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning”, Equality finally figures out that his destiny and his future lie within him, and him alone. He doesn’t feel any more shame in his intellectual superiority. No longer does he have to answer to a higher authority; no longer must he repress his judgment and his views.
A very symbolic representation of this quest is the naming of the characters in the society. Each is given a political word followed by a set of digits. People must refer to themselves as “We” and others as “they”. This was a tool used by the World Council to blur the line between the individual and his or her community. Equality meets Liberty, a girl that he is inclined towards because of her bold personality. When Equality and Liberty get together for the second time, they share what they think the other should be named, although it is against the law. Later, they name each other Prometheus, bringer of light and Gaea, mother of the earth. These are subconscious attempts to forge a new form of identity past a set of numbers and an occupation.
Equality later discovers the word Unspeakable Word, “I”, while reading some of the books in his home. With this discovery, Equality understands more about the human spirit and its resilience against opposition. It was this comfort in identity that allowed him to endure countless whippings and hot coals. It was this comfort that allowed the martyrs to say “I” without any pangs of guilt. It was this that gave them such peace of mind when they burned in a frenzy of flames. This word contains a freedom not only of choice and thought, but of being, as expressed in Equality’s statements “I am, I think, I will”.
Equality and Liberty begin to learn and appreciate being able to live independently of society. While venturing through the forest, Equality kills a bird, cooks and eats it, saying afterwards, “There was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand.” He is able to find water and fruit and create a crude form of habitat by building a ring of fires. When they find the home, Equality builds a “cobweb more impassable than a wall of granite” for protection against society.
Soon, Equality realizes bigger picture of the society that he was living in; one that restricted individualism to better the community, but one that resulted in the opposite. Through their successful adaptation to the forest, Equality is physically and socially released of any obligation to his community, saying “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debt from them.” This erudition and enlightenment is the end of Equality’s quest.
After enduring years of repression and opposition in society, Equality has found his identity and his ego. Although Equality and Liberty were exiled from the community, a somber ending, the book portrays the more important message of hope, freedom and life where individual beliefs and behavior have more value than collectivism and conformity.
