Anthem

By Ayn Rand and Pete Cross

Anthem is Ayn Rand’s “hymn to man’s ego.” It is the story of one man’s rebellion against a totalitarian, collectivist society. Equality 7-2521 is a young man who yearns to understand “the Science of Things.” But he lives in a bleak, dystopian future where independent thought is a crime and where science and technology have regressed to primitive levels. All expressions of individualism have been suppressed in the world of Anthem; personal possessions are nonexistent, individual preferences are condemned as sinful and romantic love is forbidden. Obedience to the collective is so deeply ingrained that the very word “I” has been erased from the language. In pursuit of his quest for knowledge, Equality 7-2521 struggles to answer the questions that burn within him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Jul 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781974923762

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) wrote the bestselling novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) and founded the philosophy known as objectivism. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Rand taught herself to read at the age of six and soon resolved to become a professional writer. In 1926, she left Communist Russia to pursue a screenwriting career in Hollywood, and she published her first novel ten years later. With her next book, the dystopian novella Anthem (1938), she introduced the theme that she would devote the rest of her life to pursuing: the inevitable triumph of the individual over the collective. 

Book preview

PART ONE

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. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!

But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be discovered we know not, for no such crime has come in the memory of men and there are no laws to provide for it.

It is dark here. The flame of the candle stands still in the air. Nothing moves in this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are alone here under the earth. It is a fearful word, alone. The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil. But we have broken many laws. And now there is nothing here save our one body, and it is strange to see only two legs stretched on the ground, and on the wall before us the shadow of our one head.

The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without sound, black and glistening as blood. We stole the candle from the larder of the Home of the Street Sweepers. We shall be sentenced to ten years in the Palace of Corrective Detention if it be discovered. But this matters not. It matters only that the light is precious and we should not waste it to write when we need it for that work which is our crime. Nothing matters save the work, our secret, our evil, our precious work. Still, we must also write, for—may the Council have mercy upon us!—we wish to speak for once to no ears but our own.

Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said:

There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers. But we cannot change our bones nor our body.

We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it. This is our wonder and our secret fear, that we know and do not resist.

We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are words cut in the marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted:

  "WE ARE ONE IN ALL AND ALL IN ONE.

  THERE ARE NO MEN BUT ONLY THE GREAT WE,

  ONE, INDIVISIBLE AND FOREVER."

We repeat this to ourselves, but it helps us not.

These words were cut long ago. There is green mould in the grooves of the letters and yellow streaks on the marble, which come from more years than men could count. And these words are the truth, for they are written on the Palace of the World Council, and the World Council is the body of all truth. Thus has it been ever since the Great Rebirth, and farther back than that no memory can reach.

But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth, else we are sentenced to three years in the Palace of Corrective Detention. It is only the Old Ones who whisper about it in the evenings, in the Home of the Useless. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horses, and of the lights which burned without flame. But those times were evil. And those times passed away, when men saw the Great Truth which is this: that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together.

All men are good and wise. It is only we, Equality 7-2521, we alone who were born with a curse. For we are not like our brothers. And as we look back upon our life, we see that it has ever been thus and that it has brought us step by step to our last, supreme transgression, our crime of crimes hidden here under the ground.

We remember the Home of the Infants where we lived till we were five years old, together with all the children of the City who had been born in the same year. The sleeping halls there were white and clean and bare of all things save one hundred beds. We were just like all our brothers then, save for the one transgression: we fought with our brothers. There are few offenses blacker than to fight with our brothers, at any age and for any cause whatsoever. The Council of the Home told us so, and of all the children of that year, we were

Reviews for Anthem

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book on the serial reader app. It is the first Ayn Rand book I have read and I really enjoyed it. I read it during my breaks during work and it was very hard to put down when it was time to go back to work. I felt the story was very original and I was excited to see what would happen to Equality 7-2521. His society was very disturbing although I did find the ending to be equally disturbing. The use of the plural pronouns made the story that much more intriguing to me.

[loveatfirstbook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anthem by Ayn Rand is a fabulous dystopian-era read. Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian reads, this one will hook you from the very first page. And at 105 pages, you’ll speed through Anthem!Equality 7-2521 is a member of society and seems to be too smart for his own good. The society focuses on unity, instead of the individual, a collective “we.” But this doesn’t work for Equality 7-2521 because he has goals, wishes, hopes that seem to place him on the outskirts of society.When he discovers an opening to a closed-off and unused sewer, he takes it for himself as a sort of laboratory. While it is highly illegal to do so, but Equality 7-2521 spends much time in his underground lair, writing in a secret journal (which is how we know what’s going on in the story) and conducting scientific experiments.For the full review, visit Love at First Book

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

Actually, I have already read Anthem, ages ago, when I was in my sophomore year of high school, so long, apparently, that the yellow of my highlighting is scarcely discernible. At the time, I loathed it, as I did much of my required reading. Now that I'm older and better educated, I have a much better understanding of what Ayn Rand was up to. Though heavy-handed, there is a lot that is interesting in Ayn Rand's brief philosophical work.

Readers unfamiliar with Ayn Rand should know some things before they launch into Anthem. One thing that would be helpful to know is that she's crazy. Her ideas are incredibly radical. She believes in the power of the individual and has loathing for anything that compels a person to do anything. As such, she very much does not approve of collectivism, and that is what she is challenging in Anthem. Though written in story format, Anthem is a thinly veiled philosophical and political tract. This was just a way for her to tell you her opinions, which she will do via her character.

The dystopian society depicted in Anthem is a fascinating one, and I really wish that she had done justice to it. This story would have benefited greatly from more pages and less of the dreaded opinion hammer. In the world of Anthem, men live in the collective, raised to be entirely equal. They go from the Home of the Infants to the Home of the Students to the Home of their designated employment to the Home of the Useless. This is the life of all men. There is no individual, only the collective.

To accomplish this sense of the group, the story is told in first person plural, a very unusual storytelling method, also seen earlier in Dystopian August in What's Left of Me. In essence, this means that the main character, Equality 7-2521 refers to himself as we, because there is only the we. All his life, Equality 7-2521 has not fit in properly, because he is too clever, too curious, too tall and too aware of his superiority. As such, he is forced into a menial profession. His desire for learning cannot be quenched, though, and he finds ways to sneak around and gather knowledge, quickly surpassing the Scholars of his community.

Along the way, he becomes attracted to a woman, something entirely forbidden. He even has the audacity to speak with her and to call her by an individual name (The Golden One). Through all of his rebellion, however, his ultimate goal is to gain acceptance from his community. He wants to show them what he has discovered and to improve their lives. He just wants to be one of them, and, if not admired himself, have his invention admired.

As I said, this could be a powerful tale about the importance of language and individualism. Rand could have made her point more strongly had she shown the reader the truth of it, rather than telling us, from her lordly perch, what we should believe, a rather ironic issue. Her tale about the importance of learning for oneself and not being told what to do is trying to set the reader's opinions.

The other aspect I find rather upsetting is the role of the female character, Liberty 5-3000. She too sees something wrong in the society, as evidenced by her fearless, sharp eyes. However, the reader does not get to learn anything about her besides that and her attraction to Equality 7-2521. While he is inventing things, she continues to do her work. He thinks of her as The Golden One (which refers to her lovely appearance), while she thinks of him as The Unconquered (which speaks to his powerful spirit and intelligence). Even worse, when they learn about people having names just for themselves, he gives himself a name he finds fitting...and then he chooses one for her. Let her pick her own goddamn name. The patriarchal attitude inherent in this made me so incredibly angry, especially when coming from a powerful woman.

For anyone interested in reading dystopias, Anthem is certainly worth perusing, especially since it's so brief. Were Ayn Rand still alive, I bet she would have some choice things to say about No Child Left Behind; imagining this really amuses me.

[borrows0n0wants · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a fairly thin dystopian novel. Not much was said here that you couldn't read in something like "We" or "1984." Rand's tone was fairly didactic, but that isn't surprising given Rand's reputation. Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 stars because I did enjoy it, but I felt that more could have been done with it.

[victoriaf_344793 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I read the first page of Anthem by Ayn Rand, I thought what I was not going to like this book at all. As I kept on reading this novel I simple enjoyed it and it made me think about the future for the human race. In the story the people living in this town don't have names and everyone is treated the same no matter what unless you are the ones that the in the group of Equality. In this group one member Equality 7-2521, he is smart and wants something better for his town since they have been in a different kind of depression. I won't say much more because if I do I may just tell you the whole story. I recommend this book to anyone who is always thinking about what may happen in the future.

[shaunereed · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book just a few months ago and at first it wasn't very interesting. It's one of those books you have to keep reading to get into. Towards maybe the second or third chapter, you can't put it down. The story is touching. It tells of a communist society and a boy who's different from everyone else and he knows it. But it's against the law to think you're better than anyone else, even when you absolutely know you are. It's a good story and I recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting story about breaking away from society.

[homeofharris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great short dystopian novel. In this particular edition the original manuscript with hand-written changes and notes takes up the last half of the book. It is always very interesting to see what the editing process.

[melissamariel · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Everyone's names in the book are numbers becuase they lost all individuality. Equality 7-2521, a boy in the book, the protagonist, is discovering individuality. It's an okay book, it wasn't my favorite though.

[libra500 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting critique of socialism; probably best not to try and base a neo-conservative agenda on it though.

[garypatella · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is Rand at her absolute worst. Same message as always, but presented in the least profound and most dumbed down way possible. Do not read.

[shadowofthewind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books I should have been assigned in high school. I probably would have enjoyed it had I not changed my English class during my senior year so that I would get an open hour in the morning. I didn't enjoy the one I switched to, and the one I switched from read this and many others like it. I enjoy these types of dystopia novels that explore human nature in a new environment. The general theme of these types of books is that whatever controlling system is in place to make things better, human nature is to always resist it, to gain control over his or her destiny is ingrained in human nature. Whenever I read a book like this one, or 1984, or Fahrenheit 451, I always wonder about human nature. Wouldn't an individual resist this collective fight against the individual? Of course, with models such as the Soviet Union and Communist China how they come about. This book shows the ultimate goal is the definition of the self against the nature of we. Taking out the futuristic environment, it's a novel that can be applied today and everyday. Favorite Passages: "There is no life for men, save in useful toil for the good of all their brothers. But we lived not, when we toiled for our brothers, we were only weary. There is no joy for men, save the joy shared with all their brothers. But the only things which taught us joy were the power we created in our wires, and the Golden One. And both these joys belong to us alone, they come from us alone, they bear no relation to our brothers, and they do not concern our brothers in any way. Thus do we wonder." Chp.9What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey? chp. 10Here, on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our new land and our fort. And it will become as the heart of the earth, lost and hidden at first, but beating, beating louder each day. And word of it will reach every corner of the earth. And the roads of the world will become as veins which will carry the best of the world's blood to my threshold. And all my brothers, and the Councils of my brothers, will hear of it, but they will be impotent against me. And the day will come when I shall break all the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake.For the coming of that day shall I fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor.And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, should we all perish in battle. The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory.The sacred word:EGO

[norandomchance · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Simple, prfound, & amazing. Loved this book! It's a keeper and a re-read.

[clara53_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Huge meaning in a small book. Quite a gloomy dystopian scenario. To the point of being freightening. Much more so for me, as I come from that part of the world where the "we" tendency was already manifested in so many ways... (Thankfully, it was thwarted by the fall of communism). The author extolls the notion of "ego" which these days might be frowned upon - what with New Age philosophy of getting rid of ego; but she means it in a different light altogether - as the force that drives mankind forward.

[maggotbrain_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Post apocalyptic world leads to a tightly enforced communist regime. Individuality is repressed, ideas are squashed as dangerous. All that in a very short and easy to read book.However, so many other books take this concept and do it far better and in a less one-sided, and less disturbing manner. I had previously thought I might like to read some more Rand, but unless my 'to read' pile suddenly vanishes this is very unlikely. The book left a bad taste in my mouth, and only partly due to the concept that our freedom is so vital to our ego and humanity that it should be preserved at all costs. Something deep and disturbing flows underneath the surface here, and I have little intention of finding out what makes Rand tick.

[booksandwine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Obviously, this book is a diatribe against collectivism. Ayn Rand expounds on the importance of syntax, the meaning of we vs. I. Essentially, this book is about a man named Equality 7-2521, who is a free-thinker. Anthem begins by describing the society in which Equality 7-2521 lives. People start their lives by living in a home for babies, then they go to school, then a council decides upon their vocations at the age of 15. Oh and once a year they have what is known as the "day of mating."It is a crime to have thoughts which are different from the thoughts of others (thought-police anybody?).Anyways, Equality 7-2521 falls in love, makes some discoveries, and decides he is more important than the State. Along the way, many philosophical lessons are learned.This certainly isn't the worst dystopian novel I've read, but it isn't the best either. I can definately see the appeal to younger readers with a burgeoning interest in philosophy. At the age of 15, you probably would want to read something a little more accesible than The Republic by Plato, so this book would most likely come across as a more desirable read. To be honest, I really do think this book owes a lot to The Republic. Much like the Republic, children never find out who their parents are, so as to break the filial bond. Also, the members of the society described within Anthem are pretty much kept in the dark, much like Plato's cave. These people are tricked into believing there is no technology. Some leave the cave, some don't. Some see it as their obligation to help others leave the cave, some don't. Overall, I really think what did enhance this book for me was having read The Republic previously, and taking a class on Ancient and Medieval Political Thought/Philosophy, it really helped to clarify what ideals Ayn Rand was trying to express in her novel.

[harpua_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable read and brief introduction to Ayn Rand's philosophy. While Rand tends to take her ideas to the extreme in her books, it's frightening looking at the world around us and seeing those in power slowly leading us down that path that if taken to a final conclusion could be the cause of Rand's world. Simple read, much easier to get into than her opus, Atlas Shrugged (which is necessary reading in it's own right)

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fairly interesting dystopian novel, albeit brief. I wanted to teach this novel to ninth grade students as an example of a dystopia, but my department head nixed the idea because of the implications of sex towards the end of the novel. (Yet, we read Romeo and Juliet and Their Eyes Were Watching God?) Rand's political and philosophical agenda is, of course, blatant, but one expects that with Rand's novel. I read her novels for the differing perspective, even though at times I feel she is trying to brainwash me with the repetition of her beliefs.

[josephj_530382 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eh. Not sure what everybody sees in her work. It all seems very similar - a single guy living in a "utopian" society realizes he has no individuality and rails against the machine. Anthem was ok, but I guess I've just read too many books with similar premises. Not bad, but nothing spectacular.

[crayonwillow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Was kind of a disappointment. I understand what she was trying to achieve...but it just didn't work in my opinion.

[laydonstorm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ayn Rand follows her normal suit when writing this novel, in that she creates a dysutopian society where knowlege is shuned. This book allows one to see the importance of not being ignorant and to continually question and discover the world around oneself. This story is told through the eyes of the character Equality, and his struggle to Literally discover who he is as an individual in a world where the term individual does not exist and ego is punishable by death.

[venqat65 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1984 meets Planet of the Apes meets Logan's Run. A world which has erased all of it's past and the "system" runs all. People are a group-entity...there is no sense of "I". Glimpse into what would happen if we socialized everything....

[engpunk77 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like to keep relatively current on young adult fiction and to add to my library of YA fiction so that I can recommend more to my students, but I REALLY just need to realize that there is no place for this genre in my life anymore. Nothing, nothing will compare to 1984, so I'm constantly disappointed. And The Giver covers it all, so all of these different ways of showing the same theme are just unnecessary. I'll just recommend The Giver to young adults, and the Uglies & Matched trilogies to girls who want another, especially one with a bit more romance and action, and 1984 to adults (you can skip Brave New World, in my opinion) and this one is just.....eh. However, there's the potential to win an essay contest if a student reads this one and wants to write about it, so some of my students will still want to read Anthem (Honors, only, I expect). It was "good." That's it.

[audacity88_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Starts strong but loses its cohesion somewhere around the point where the protagonist discovers electricity - by chance.

[yougotamber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First: Some questions that went through my head while reading this.
1. If we lived in a collective society, how would we experience or ignore certain events that come to pass that would feel abnormal or alien to us?
2. Would the mind automatically wonder of things forbidden? or would this happen to only a few? (like the main character and what he thinks is his curse).
3. Is this society possible? could it ever exist? Are we already living in a society where this is happening (in certain ways)?

To be someone without an identity, a mindless herd. I put myself in the shoes of the main character and threw myself into this word as best I could... and I found it to be terrifying to think of. Thinking of it, I realize that out society has many similarities to the world and characters within the story. Going day to day, doing the same thing, without original thought or identity is something that happens all the time. But the question is... how much does original thought and identity really matter? If looked at on a whole, our existence matter very little once our time has ended. We believe it's important to have our own voice and ideas but in the end it plays a part only DURING our existence in the here and now. If you put religion or spiritual beliefs into the equation then the view will change but without those things there is hardly a reason for doing anything or experiencing anything.

I do not like feeling this way about life and tend to avoid if fairly successfully. This book brought those questions and thoughts through my mind again. It is just another way of looking at our existence and trying to make meaning of it. This is not to say it is the truth behind our humanity and the meaning of life.... nothing. It should be tread lightly lest you take it's subject matter too closely to your heart and mind.

The books world is a nightmare. It is the type of society that I have nightmares about. Having no free will, no identity. Where is the reason for life? Everything is a machine, no reason for anything. It touches on many topics that I fear from my own thoughts. It was hard to read only because it brought those fears around again. On the other hand, I put myself into the world and felt the excitement of discovery, of seeing familiar things in a new light. Of appreciating what we have in the world around us and not wanting more then what is usual. All these things I have been reminded of through this book. I highly recommend it but caution those who will take those subjects and brood on them... I know it can be done and it's not easy to handle. Stay away, if you are one of those few.

[raselyem7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is on of Ayn Rand's shorter works that encapsulates her ideas about objectivism. I read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in high school and found them troublingly off-putting. Anthem was no different in that respect. While I sympathize with Rand's emphasis on the importance of individuality, I have trouble with the idea that differences between human beings can and should be used as justification for unequal treatment. Condemning people to street sweeping because they are "less good" in some way than other human beings is no better than condemning people to street sweeping because they do not fit with the dominant culture's idea of "good" people, which is one of the great evils put forth by this novella. I don't think that individual differentiation should be erased by any means, but neither do I think that constructing a social system based on some perception of inherent goodness is an act of justice. Inherent goodness is a relative concept that changes with context and according to the views of the dominant majority. I think there is a middle road to be had here, one that respects individuality and skills without using that respect as an excuse for allowing the suffering of groups deemed less valuable in some way.

I understand Rand's background coming out of the communist Soviet Union, but I don't think that socialism is the social ill that she paints it as in her works. Socialized medicine seems a very good idea to me, for instance. There is no reason that anyone in this country should not be getting the medical care that they need.

[jesssika-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think. I am. I will.

This book is about rediscovering individualism. It's about a future possibly where people are deprived of names, independence, and values. It is a very short but good read.

[trilliams · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You're a little transparent, Ayn. Just a little.

[fig2_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A dark portrait of the future. Rand pushes her agenda by showing an extreme case of individualism versus collectivism. Interesting.

[kobooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pulled this out of an old box of books that belongs to DH. While I can appreciate the concept of individualism, this was a little over the top. I'm also not a fan of her atheistic views.

[davidpwithun_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a poem about the greatness of man and what it means to be human. Unfortunately, it is also an ode to selfishness. This book, I think, is a good example of the wealth of possibilities inherent in Rand's philosophy, but which Rand herself, in her attempts to justify continuing her adolescent attitude of selfishness and disdain for others, was unable to bring to the fore and to develop fully. Just as her philosophy would have been a great philosophy had she eventually outgrown this selfishness, this book would have been a great book had it not taken a nearly satanic turn. Rand, in her delusion, rather than extolling the greatness of man as mankind, extols instead the individual, man in the singular. Her language throughout is pervaded with biblical allusion and metaphor and a constant use of the word "sacred" and its synonyms. Unfortunately, however, all of this is employed in order to make a virtue -- even a holy duty -- of selfishness and of the first sin: pride.