Anthem

Anthem by Ayn Rand, 1938 Pamphleteers, Inc.

     In the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand society has become compartmentalized to survive chaos. Children are taught to exist for the greater good, and individuality is stripped from existence. One man, labelled Equality 7-2521, discovers a secret tunnel where he finds solitude and writes. His alone-time violates all laws of society and, though he comes to enjoy the solitude, Equality 7-2521 begs forgiveness from the Council.
     In his solitude Equality 7-2521 writes of his childhood; how he was cursed with a terrible curiosity, how he fought with the other boys, how he preferred some people and things to others, he writes of how he tried to conform, but failed.
     When Equality 7-2521 was ten years old he, with the rest of the children, watched the execution of a Transgressor--one who had discovered the word "I". While he was burned alive, the Transgressor showed no pain, but made eye contact with Equality 7-2521 and the youth took it as a signal of his apprenticeship to the Transgressor. When he was made a street-sweeper rather than a scholar Equality 7-2521 was glad for the chance to atone for his sins.
     The youth begins to experiment and develops a light bulb which he wants to display at the Council of Scholars when it convenes in his city. He also finds himself falling in love with "the Golden One", a young woman who makes him think of the Palace of Mating. Equality 7-2521 arrives late to his sleeping place one night and is sent to the Palace of Correctional Detention, when he refuses to tell where he's been he is tortured and held captive until the World Council convenes in town.
     Equality 7-2521 is rejected out of fear and barely escapes with his invention and his life. He flees to the Uncharted Forest where he finds freedom. The Golden One follows him and they discover individuality is not the danger the ruling Council touts it to be. They make their lives together and plan a future where man understands the spirit of individuality and supremacy of the ego.
     Ayn Rand's tale explores the destruction of the singular human being, an integral part of our society. While the concepts can be confusing (the first few times I read the story I had difficulty getting through to Equality's discovery of the individual) it extrapolates on the idea of socialism taken to the extreme--all of existence is dictated by the good of the many and little is done to advance society because the advanced are kept at the level of their less fortunate brethren. Anthem is a philosophical read for high schoolers and adults. It is a short story, but ideologically weighty.