Character Anaylsis in Anthem by Ayn Rand

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In 1966, the book “Anthem,” by Ayn Rand, portrays the story of a man who is confused by how his society works and is in constant wonder of how times were before his lifetime existed. Could one imagine living in a world where you knew nothing of the past and only of the present? In today’s century, we know of events that have happened over three hundred years ago and only a select few question how and why things have changed so much since then. Why is it that things change so quickly? Why do one’s societies change at all if things are going accordingly? What can we do to make improvements that will be in everyone’s best interests? There is nothing more important than living a life that makes us happy and where we are known as one individually and not one as a whole group. There is an outstanding difference between living your own life and living one where you have no choice but to live under someone else’s control. These are just some of the thoughts that Equality 7-2521 thinks about for many years throughout his life until he grows the courage to actually go through with his plan to change his life forever.

The book “Anthem,” is a journal of the main character Equality 7-2521, and each day of his life he writes down the daily events that occur. Equality 7-2521 lives in a time after the “Unmentionable Times,” and in his society, they are not allowed to talk, or to even think about the unmentionable times which were the life of humans before the present humans’ existence. Why he is not able to know the past he does not know and is confused greatly by. Equality 7-2521 is a very curious man and will go out of his way to figure things out that he would never learn by not doing so himself. In Equality 7-2521’s community, all of the...

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... your own path in life. I took it as her saying that you do not need to let others own you and that you need to break free and live how you want and do what is going to make you happy. During the story, I was warned from the start that it was unacceptable to do anything that the government did not approve them to do. They had very specific orders and certain times to do these orders and if they were not followed properly then they were considered a waste of space and their body was then properly disposed of. I would unquestionably recommend this book for others to read. Not

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only does this book have a good story line, but it is also an eye opener on how important it is to be known as a unique individual unlike anyone else in the world. If you enjoy a book where you are always on edge with breathtaking events, “Anthem,” is a book that you would not regret reading.