Anthem: Those Who Abandon the "Utopia"

Within Anthem , very few people disobey the rules set by the society to keep everyone "equal". Those who do, such as Equality, are treated in such ways that keep others in line.

When Equality was young and saw the Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word executed, he didn't react in the fearful way most in the society would. Instead of looking at the man and hating him, or even pitying him, he just noticed the look in his eyes. "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"(Rand, 17). Their refers to the Transgressor.

This event was a foreshadowing of Equality's future, showing how already as a young child seeing an execution of a society violator could be of an almost opposite effect than the society hopes it to be. Generally, public executions such as the one seen in the beginning of Anthem, are meant as a deterrent to others thinking of breaking the laws a society sets forth. However, with Equality, he found an inspiration in the dying man's eyes to look for the Unspeakable Word, "I".

Through out the rest of the novel, the law breaking acts of people are for the most part non-existent, until Equality himself decides he is ready to venture out and find the true meaning of being an individual, rather then one piece to a large machine that could easily function without him. Equality goes against society by again not falling for the scare tactics they use to keep people from leaving their society. He ventures into the Uncharted Forest. The Uncharted Forest is used just as the public executions in order to create a fear that binds people to the society which suppresses their individuality. However, Equality overcomes the fear with a need for knowledge and freedom and independence. He discovers the word "I" despite the obstacles his society puts in everyone's way to stop them from questioning it's effectiveness.

Anthem was a very enjoyable book. The writing style was interesting, especially with the manipulation of plural pronouns to express singular people. The fact that "I", one of the most common words in the majority of novels, was not used until the near end was an exciting usage of language on Rand's part. However, I disliked some of the characters. In particular, I felt that Golden One did not really grow into an individual person or allow Equality to grow into his own person because of her codependence towards him. She was portrayed in a very needy way, and by doing that Rand created less potential for growth from both characters.