Ayn Rand's Anthem Analysis

Anthem by Ayn Rand is set in a postmodern dystopia where all citizens are referred to as a “brotherhood,” and work for the nation as a collective. Since everyone works together to benefit society as a whole, individuality, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech is prohibited; the latter is heavily manifested throughout the novel, for citizens are only permitted to use the pronouns “we,” “they,” and “you” when referring to people or themselves. The novella begins with the protagonist, who is introduced as “Equality 7-2521,” speaks about his life. He claims that he is unique from his other brothers in the fact that he is smarter, and possesses his own ideas and beliefs, but doesn’t completely realize it at the time. The book continues as Equality 7-2521 explains how the career systems functions: children go to school for a lengthy amount of time in a group home, and then go before a council that assigns a career to them. For Equality 7-2521, the council assigned him to the “House of the Street Sweepers.” After working with his fellow street sweepers for sometime, Equality 7-2521 meets a man named “International 4-8818,” who is Equality 7-2521’s sole friend; however, friendship is illegal, so they have to be discreet when …show more content…
She claimed that she heard he fled, and wanted to run away with him too. The two venture on through the woods, and eventually stumble upon a house from the Unmentionable Times, which they choose to live in. While at the house, the two give each other names in order to subdue the oppression in which they both once lived; Equality 7-2521 names himself “Prometheus,” and he calls the Golden One “Gaea.” Prometheus learns about the pronoun “I,” and tells Gaea about it, who immediately told him “I love you.”. He also decides that he eventually wants to have a son, and lead everyone from the city to his current home where there would be no oppression, but unlimited freedom and