Character Analysis Of Equality 7-2521 In Ayn Rand's Anthem

“It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see.” This quote by Equality 7-2521 from the dystopian novel, Anthem shows the environment the citizens are to live in. There are many characteristics that go into what makes a story a dystopia. Anthem is a dystopia because it has few of the main characteristics, such as citizens living in fear of the outside world and new changes, information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted, and citizens conform to uniform expectation; individuality is bad. All these conditions are described to the readers by the dystopian protagonist: Equality 7-2521. One of the characteristics Anthem has are citizens are afraid of the outside world and new changes. Equality 7-2521 tells about an Uncharted Forest and how men are afraid of what it holds. Stories are told to them from the Councils about men who have gone into the Forest and are never heard of again. The citizens are told that the reason for the men never returning is there are “beasts” in the Forest that feast on the men who tried to escape there. …show more content…
The way society lives in Anthem is they use candles for light because many years ago all men agreed to it. When Equality 7-2521 presents a box able to produce light with electricity, they run from him and cower against the walls, afraid of what the box could do to them. He assures that the box is not harmful at all but rather a great invention that could make the society better for everyone. After hearing what he had to say, the World Council turned down his invention for not all men agreed to it or even knew about it. The Council said it took years to agree on candle light and this invention would take too long to develop and completely