Plot of Anthem
Spark notes
Characters of Anthem
Equality
Liberty
Transgressors
International
Collectivist
Equality 7-2521
main charact... [Show More] er, narrator
Equality 7-2521 - A street sweeper, the protagonist of the novella. Equality 7-2521, who later renames himself Prometheus, believes in individualism and rejects the collectivist society around him. He is vain and self-centered, strong, beautiful, and intelligent. He is deeply curious and desires freedom to explore and think, and he is unafraid of the society of mindless drones around him. Equality 7-2521 represents the superiority of a singular intellect to the homogeneity of the masses, who cannot think for themselves and are indistinguishable from one another.
Liberty 5-3000
strong woman whose very being defies the laws; body straight and thin like blade of iron
A beautiful peasant with whom Equality 7-2521 falls madly in love. The Golden One demonstrates her subservience to Equality 7-2521 by allowing him to change her name from Liberty 5-3000 to the Golden One, and later, Gaea. The Golden One is proud and vain, strong and bitter. She loves Equality 7-2521 because he is different from most men around her. With him, she grapples with a desire to find the word "I" in order to express her love for him. The Golden One is relatively underdeveloped as a character, functioning mostly as the object of Equality 7-2521's affection
Transgressors of the Unspeakable Work
A martyr for the word "I." The Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word suffers no pain as he is burned alive because he knows the meaning of individualism. His death foreshadows the suffering and exile of Equality 7-2521, and he represents the way to die properly, in Rand's view, for the cause of egoism.
International 4-8818
best friend; artist; eyes like fireflies; would rather die than turn in Equality 7-2521
Equality 7-2521's only friend. International 4-8818 views Equality 7-2521 as a prophet. When he and Equality 7-2521 discover the tunnel in which Equality 7-2521 hides to write his journal and make his discoveries, he is torn between loyalty to his friend and his desire not to break the law. International 4-8818 represents the citizen who secretly seeks his own meaning but is unable to realize it because he cannot take the step of breaking with his society.
Collective 0-0009
The oldest and "wisest" of the World Council of Scholars.
The leader of the World Council of Scholars. Collective 0-0009 is shapeless and cowardly, like all members of the World Council. He fears and hates Equality 7-2521 for breaking the rules because he believes that only those decisions reached by the council can be of value. Collective 0-0009 represents the thinking force behind the evil collectivism of the city
Setting of Anthem
Dystopian/ collectivist society
Protagonist
Equality
Antagonist
Council( society)
Irony
Everyone refers to themselves as "we" but they're not equal
Point of View
First Person
symbol
Light-represents the hope that equality wants to bring in the world
Who is Equality 7-2521? what kind of world doe he live in?
Equality is tall smart but trapped. He is the narrator of the story
He is the dystopian protagonist living in a dystopian and collectivist world
What does equality believe is the most important concept known to man?
Ego
Theme
Individualism
How do we know this is a collectivist society?
They replace I with we. They assign jobs organize every day schedules. No individualism
How is Equality different from his brothers
He is taller and smarter than some of his brothers and he hopes to be in the home of the scholars
^ Why is this considered bad?
Consider it a curse because she rises out from his brothers.They want everyone to be the same
In a well-organized paragraph, describe the society in which Anthem is set. Some areas to consider are the political structure, degree of technology, social relationships, quality of life, and education.
Political structure- collectivist
Degree of technology- burned everything so no advances
Social relationships- no feelings to express
Quality of life- all about the group not our own
Education-very controlled, equal
Would you want to live in this society? Explain why or why not?
No, I like the ability to express my own feelings
In this chapter, Equality states that it is very unusual for men to reach the age of 45. Offer several possible explanations as to why life expectancy is so short in His society.
Worn out- continuous work
Depressed, board/never challenge to grow or stimulate
Clearly, Ayn Rand intended Equality to stand out from his "brothers" Explain how she accomplished this by contrasting Equality's physical qualities and character traits to those of his fellow men.
Intelligent
Physical appearance-taller and handsome
Intellectual ability- desire to learn and be different
Why does the Council of Vocations assign Equality 7-2521 the job of street sweeper? is it due to error, incompetence, or a more sinister motivation? Explain.
Sinister motivation; they knew about him so they had to set him in place, they realize he is smart so they fear that he would endanger the society
When does this novel take place-in the past, the present, or the future? How do you know?
Novel set in the future. We know this because of the dystopian society which always talks about the future and it also try to explain the past as the unmentionable times
Why does Equality think that his brothers aren't happy? What does fear have to do with our happiness?
The council forbids happiness. Their brothers aren't happy because they are frightened
Think about the names of EQUALITY and LIBERTY. What would Rad have chosen these names? Is everyone in these society really equal?Does anyone have liberty?
All of these names convey unity and collectivity. No ones really equal in this novella [Show Less]
