Symbolism In Anthem

The song, “Viva la Vida”, by the British band Coldplay represents the beginning of the story, Anthem, by Ayn Rand and protagonist Equality 7-2521’s hopes to become a Scholar and the misery he faces with being chosen as a Street Sweeper. In the song, Equality says that everyone is else is equal besides “we, Equality 7-2521, who were born with a curse” (20). By aspiring to become a Scholar when he is fifteen, this future rebel desires to break his sui generis curse and start a new life. He mentions that the dark-age “modern” technology of his dimension comes from the government-appointed Scholars, such as “how to make candles from wax and string; also, how to make glass” (24). Unique among others, he wants to revive the technology prior to the …show more content…
However, the following lines would state, “now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets I used to own”, which also represents Equality’s dream because the government would mandate him to be a Street Sweeper, far below the rank of what he wanted to become. The remainder of the first verse is essentially a differently worded repetition of these stated …show more content…
First, in the song, the central line of the second verse is “I got a song”, which can thoroughly act to symbolize Equality and his expression of feelings that he feels throughout the story, which in the book are in the form of writing. Also, such a line can express his desire to relive and recreate the Unmentionable Times, and he lives it after creating a reinvention of the light bulb. Further in the song, Croce sings, “I’m goin’ to carry it [his “song] with me and I’ll sing it loud; if it gets me nowhere, I’ll go there proud” and “and I’m gonna go there free.” These can also represent the same theme as “I got a song” because it mentions that Equality is entitled to have his own thoughts and if he doesn’t state his opinion properly, he is optimistic, and regardless of the circumstances, he will not rely on the government, even if Collective 0-0009 states that his box “must be destroyed” (74) and there is a threat he will be lashed “‘till there is nothing left under the lashes” (72) or delivered “to the World Council itself and let their will be done” (72). Here the government is placing threats to Equality, but he is not derailed by any of them, similar to how Croce sings that he is not going to let anybody stop him from expressing his individualism. In the final verse of the song, Croce