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There was no pain in their eyes and no knowledge of the agony of their body. There was only joy in them, and pride, a pride holier than it is fit for human pride to be.“Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past . . . but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must.”Quote #1And if you are not needed by your brother men, there is no reason for you to burden the earth with your bodies. (1.20)Equality 7-2521 expresses the basic principle of his society here. It holds that human individuals are a burden and have no reason to live unless they can be of use to others and the greater good in some way. This ultimately makes each individual feel guilty for being alive. The message is that individuals need some higher reason (serving others) to live aside from themselves, or else their existence is unjustified. It is exactly this idea that Ayn Rand militantly rejects as false morality, and Equality 7-2521 himself will realize this by the end of Anthem.Quote #2We shall never leave this house," we said, "nor let it be taken from us. This is our home and the end of our journey. This is your house, Golden One, and ours, and it belongs to no other men whatever as far as the earth may stretch. We shall not share it with others, as we share not our joy with them, nor our love, nor our hunger. So be it to the end of our days." (10.15)Equality 7-2521 has invented the concept of private property here. He's claimed a "home" for himself and his beloved, and doesn't intend to share it with anyone else. It belongs to him as an individual, and to him alone, just like his hunger and the love he feels for certain other individuals. Having a physical space and objects that belong only to oneself is seen as an important dimension of freedom by Rand, who made private property central to her political philosophy. She asserted that private property is crucial for separating oneself from the potentially oppressive presence of other people. As Equality 7-2521 will say later on, human freedom is freedom from other people.Quote #3I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. (11.4)Equality 7-2521 has discovered the word "I," and with it the central truth of Randian egoism. Before he wanted to know what things in the world "meant," and what the meaning of his own life was. But he's now found out no such meaning exists. His life has the meaning he gives it. And it's not Collective 0-0009 humankind that gives it this meaning – it's him, as a unique individual.Quote #4I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. (11.4)Equality 7-2521 has now explicitly rejected the principle of his society that he stated in the first quote. He no longer needs a justification for being alive. He himself, and his happiness, is his own reason for being alive. This is tremendously liberating, because it means he no longer needs to feel guilty about being alive, or pursuing his happiness. He decides that is the only moral thing to do.Quote #5It is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. (11.5)Equality 7-2521 has made a bit of a venture here into Rand's philosophy of how real knowledge is arrived at (which she developed much more in her later works). It is individuals, who learn about the world by studying it carefully and seeing what it is like. Society, on the other hand, has a tendency to conceal the way the world is, because it tries to force everyone to understand the world the way it thinks it should be understood. In Rand's philosophy, individuals are the real bearers of truth.Quote #6And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose. (11.8)Individual happiness, as Equality 7-2521 says here, is the highest goal of life. It is an end in itself. There is no larger moral purpose to life, other than individual happiness. This is the central ethical idea of Rand's egoism, and it's radical. It's opposed to any philosophy that holds that individuals can or must serve a higher purpose than their own happiness. No such obligation exists.Quote #7I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom. (11.11)Equality 7-2521 refuses to share here. He has no obligation to share with others, he says. Rand thinks you need to unlearn what may have learned as a kid. The highest goal in life is your own happiness, and so whatever is essential to that life and happiness you have to protect from the others who will try to take it away. Also, Rand may be alluding to (and rewriting) Biblical scripture here (see "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory").Quote #8I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned. (11.13)Equality 7-2521 tells us that he does not have any obligation to serve "mankind," or to love it. He can only love people who he respects and cares for, and that doesn't just come automatically. Other individuals earn his love and respect, on the basis of their own individual qualities and their interactions with him. The people he likes may be an integral part of his own happiness (like Liberty 5-3000 is). This constitutes another key idea of Randian egoism.Quote #9For the word "We" must never be spoken, save by one's choice and as a second thought. This word must never be placed first within man's soul, else it becomes a monster, the root of all the evils on earth, the root of man's torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie. (11.15)What's the root of all evil according to Equality 7-2521? The first-person plural. The moment society or any group larger than the individual is made more important than the individual, the individual's freedom is threatened. And that's both not so great for individuals, and immoral (according to Rand's philosophy, the highest moral goal of each individual life is happiness). It's also bad for society, in the long run, as Equality 7-2521's society shows clearly.Quote #10And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. (11.20)Equality 7-2521 worships his own ego, although it's important to clarify here. First, Equality 7-2521 isn't just worshipping his own ego, he's worshipping the notion of "ego" in general. And by "ego" he means the idea that human individuality and selfhood is what gives the world meaning. (Rand later identified this with human "reason.") Equality 7-2521 has to worship that capacity in himself, of course, but he also worships it more generally. Second, we usually tend to think of selfishness as something bad and use "ego" as a nasty word, so when we say something like "he worships his ego." That's because we think that you're supposed to worship something higher than the ego. Rand believes that the ego gives meaning to life and, and as such, is worthy of worship. It also helps that there's nothing else to worship with which it might competeBut I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fateWe strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. (1.7)According to Equality 7-2521's society, everyone must be just like everyone else. The society's commitment to Equality 7-2521 ultimately means a commitment to sameness: if individuals aren't like everyone else, they threaten to distinguish themselves from others and possibly be superior to others.Quote #2"Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave the Home of the Students. You shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you." (1.20)Equality 7-2521 is reporting what his teachers told him while he was a student. Apparently, in his society no one is allowed to choose what they do with their lives, or even to think about what they want to do with their lives. That would make individuals capable of distinguishing and separating themselves from the Collective 0-0009, which is a big no-no.Quote #3This was the only thing which moved, for the lips of the oldest did not move as they said: "Street Sweeper." (1.29)The Council of Vocations punishes Equality 7-2521 for being "different," which in his case means being intelligent and loving science. Instead of being made a Scholar, which is what he desperately wants, Equality 7-2521 is made a Street Sweeper. The ironic thing about this is that Equality 7-2521 could serve his society much better as a Scholar, because of his great gifts. The Council is so concerned with eliminating any sign of distinction that it acts against the greater good, which is what it's supposed to be promoting in the first place.Then I shall build a barrier of wires around my home, and across the paths which lead to my home; a barrier light as a cobweb, more impassable than a wall of granite; a barrier my brothers will never be able to cross. For they have nothing to fight me with, save the brute force of their numbers. I have my mind. (12.12)Strength in numbers doesn't fare well in this story. The power of Equality 7-2521's own brilliant mind gives him an advantage over the entirety of his society. He simply has nothing to fear from them, because he has technology and ingenuity on his side.International 4-8818 4-8818 and we are friends. This is an evil thing to say, for it is a transgression, the great Transgression of Preference, to love any among men better than the others, since we must love all men and all men are our friends. (1.37)Equality 7-2521's society apparently doesn't allow friendship. Why? Because it causes individuals to value certain people (their friends) more than others. According to the mandates of society, this is wrong. Everybody is equal, which means that every person has to feel equal devotion and loyalty to everyone else. Otherwise, the Transgression of Preference is committed.We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second Transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty 5-3000. (2.11)Equality 7-2521 has committed another Transgression of Preference. This time, he's fallen in love. Now, not only does he prefer one person to others, he can only think of one person: Liberty 5-3000.I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned. (11.13)Now that he's free (and familiar with the first-person singular), Equality 7-2521 has discovered that he owes loyalty to no one except those he wants to be loyal to. Not to society, and certainly not to "all men." Instead, other people need to earn his loyalty – by becoming his friends.Their body was straight and thin as a blade of iron. Their eyes were dark and hard and glowing, with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt. Their hair was golden as the sun; their hair flew in the wind, shining and wild, as if it defied men to restrain it. (2.4)Equality 7-2521 is first struck by Liberty 5-3000's physical appearance. She's straight and strong looking, unlike everyone else (who's hunched and weak looking). But he seems particularly drawn to the absence of fear and guilt he sees in her eyes. (Equality 7-2521 himself seems to have his share of guilt.) As for the lack of kindness…why that would be attractive we just don't know. What are your thoughts?Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers have neither hope nor fire. Your mouth is cut of granite, but our brothers are soft and humble. Your head is high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl. We wish to be damned with you, rather than blessed with all our brothers. Do as you please with us, but do not send us away from you." (9.17)Liberty 5-3000 sounds positively worshipful here. If this quote isn't enough to show it, right after saying this she bows to Equality 7-2521. Something about how strong and capable and manly attracts her, and she downright reveres him for it.Your will be done," they said (10.16)More submissiveness thing from Liberty 5-3000 here. She speaks to Equality 7-2521 as if he's her master here, and obeys him. He's the one who decides that they'll stay in the house they've just found forever. (In other words, he's the master of the house.) Later on, he's also the one who chooses her name.We learned that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it, which causes the day and the night. We learned the names of all the winds which blow over the seas and push the sails of our great ships. We learned how to bleed men to cure them of all ailments. (1.22)The earth is flat? Bleeding people works? Come again? Equality 7-2521 learned science in his school that, from our perspective, is incorrect and outdated. From a scientific perspective, his society has literally reverted to the Dark Ages.I have learned that my power of the sky was known to men long ago; they called it Electricity. It was the power that moved their greatest inventions. It lit this house with light which came from those globes of glass on the walls. I have found the engine which produced this light. I shall learn how to repair it and how to make it work again. I shall learn how to use the wires which carry this power. Then I shall build a barrier of wires around my home, and across the paths which lead to my home; a barrier light as a cobweb, more impassable than a wall of granite; a barrier my brothers will never be able to cross. For they have nothing to fight me with, save the brute force of their numbers. I have my mind. (12.12)Equality 7-2521 is now free to do all of the scientific study he wants, and he has a lot of old technology to learn from in the house from the Unmentionable Times he's found. Science will give him a great deal of power, more power than the entire combined forces of his old society, in fact. The mind, as Equality 7-2521 says, is far stronger than brute physical force. We have to wonder here: has the attraction of science's ability to harness the power of nature replaced the desire to know as Equality 7-2521's main motivation?We are singing because we are happy," we answered the one of the Home Council who reprimanded us."Indeed you are happy," they answered. "How else can men be when they live for their brothers?" (2.39-2.40)Equality 7-2521 is reprimanded (just like International 4-8818 was) for showing signs of spontaneous happiness. Here the contradiction we mentioned earlier is explicit. Equality 7-2521 is reprimanded for singing for no reason, as a sign of happiness, as if it were a bad thing to be happy. Yet clearly he's also expected to be happy because everyone is expected to be happy.Quote #6It is forbidden, not to be happy. For, as it has been explained to us, men are free and the earth belongs to them; and all things on earth belong to all men; and the will of all men together is good for all; and so all men must be happy. (2.41)In fact, not only is everyone expected to be happy: everyone is commanded to be happy. There's something ridiculously absurd about that. How can one be commanded to be happy? Is happiness something a person can control? And is commanding it more or less likely to make it happen?There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak. (2.43)Everyone in Equality 7-2521's society is afraid. In spite of the society's attempts to convince its members that toiling makes them happy and that they're held together by love for each other, what really keeps the whole show going is fear. The question is, is there anybody actually at the top who terrorizes the rest to keep them in line? Or does literally everybody in society feel afraid of everyone else?Quote #8Take our brother Equality 7-2521 to the Palace of Corrective Detention. Lash them until they tell." (6.7)At the end of the day, Equality 7-2521's society depends upon the threat of violence to keep its members honest and in line. As the guy on the Council of the Home says, they're literally going to beat Equality 7-2521 into submission.Quote #9There were men whose famous names we knew, and others from distant lands whose names we had not heard. (7.3)Equality 7-2521 tells us here that there are famous Scholars present at the meeting of the Council of Scholars. Isn't that strange, given how collectivistic the society is supposed to be? How is it possible – or allowed – for anyone to distinguish themselves or get famous?It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone (1.1)Equality 7-2521 begins Anthem by telling us he's doing something wrong. The first thing we learn about him is that he's breaking an important law. And that makes us feel right away as if we're in a very tightly controlled world, a world in which one is not free to do what one wants. We also learn something else very important right away: in Equality 7-2521's world, one isn't free to be alone. And how can you be free at all if you can never be alone?But what is freedom? Freedom from what? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else. (12.15)Equality 7-2521 gives us his definition of freedom here: freedom is freedom from other men. It's the individual's ability to be alone, to do what he wants (as opposed to what other men want), to enjoy what he possesses on his own (and not share). Because other men threaten to take all of that away, freedom from them is the most basic and important kind of freedom there is. ................
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