Doucet 1

Gabrielle Doucet
E. Garza
English 5th period
November 3, 2014
Equality 7-2521s Anthem
An Anthem, praise, a declaration of someones belief, and their pride in that belief.
Equality 7-2521 gave his own Anthem in Ayn Rands novella Anthem. His anthem trumped all
belief he was ever taught, that using the word We is favorable and individualism is incorrect,
that you should only do things as a group and only then will what youre doing be a honorable.
Whereas if you should do something as individual you are a transgressor and should be punished
for even considering that it is acceptable to do something as a single person. Equality 7-2521s
anthem clearly praised his newly acquired belief that the word we should be used no longer
and it should be replaced the word I the word that defines individualism.
The word We is a lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes
all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. In
Anthem, the reader is experiencing a world where there is not even a hint of individualism. To
the reader who lives in a completely different world it is strange to hear We used very
differently. For in the world of Anthem, We, is used as a form of a first person reference. It is
used to where the group holds dominion over the individual. Later Equality 7-2521 realizes that
he disagrees with the group ruling over the single person. He further expresses his own opinion
as he continues, It is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the
weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages. The
statement is how Equality 7-2521 expressed his belief on how the word We is used and why.

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To him it is a way of the lazy to steal from the hard working, those who dont want to acquire
knowledge take from those who read and study with a passion. Equality 7-2521 now comes to a
new conclusion that a persons innermost thoughts, dreams, values, hopes, and aspirations
belong exclusively to themselves and when We is used, it gives permission to others to steal
from the intelligent because using the word We indicates that all share. After knowing nothing
else other than to share, he has broken out of the single minded belief; Equality 7-2521 realizes a
persons mind is to be dictated by themselves without the intersession of another persons
opinion which is why he sternly disagrees with the use of the word We.
What 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 of all creatures, even the botched and
impotent, are my masters? What is the point of being an individual if the single person will be
discouraged and brought down by the crowd? Why did the society of Equality 7-2521 promise
the society of a whole that they are living freely and joyfully, when their laws are to obey and
their happiness is forced upon them. Equality 7-2521 has come to treasure his own free thoughts,
will and freedom as an individual. To him the most important is freedom and he now cherishes
the freedom without the society, and the fact that he now owes nothing to his brothers in society
who promised happiness through restrictions. What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and
to obey? asks Equality 7-2521, what is the point of life if one cannot freely live. He chooses his
friends and he chooses who he wants to love more than others; he chooses his freedom as an
individual. To him, why even try to be free in a group when you will be restricted by a law which
is not true freedom. What is the point of living freely if he has to obey commands?
But I am done with this creed of corruption. I am done with the monster of We, the
word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood, and shame. When Equality 7-2521 states he

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is done with this creed of corruption, it is because he thought himself as a transgressor still
worthy of punishment even after leaving the society. He was a transgressor because had asked a
question and tried to understand as a single person and not as a group. According to his previous
society, that was a transgression because anything discovered by one is evil and corrupt but
everything discovered by society was respectable. Now that he has been exposed to the idea that
to being an individual is not a transgression, and to ask and answer questions on your own brings
you further knowledge of what you thirst for he has come to the conclusion of why would it be
evil to do something on your own if what youre doing is honorable. Therefore, he is done with
saying We because it limits his comprehension of knowledge. When he says he is done with
that simple word, it means he has final liberation of slavery from the word We.
And 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.
This god, this one word: I. Throughout the novella, Equality has been searching for that one
thing that he had been missing in life, not quite knowing what it is. Now in our societies, people
search for a higher power or a higher being like a God, but Equality 7-2521 is searching for
something to express his individuality. When he finds it, he praises his newly found word. He
believes now that he has formed this word that expresses the good of an individual rather than
the evil of a group, he has put that above all else. This word is his god; this word has opened a
new world of knowledge and understanding to him. He has reached the end of his quest to find
the meaning of things because being an individual by using this word is the meaning of things. In
finding this word, an internal resolution is formed in Equality 7-2521 because he has a new way
of understanding life. Now that he is an individual recognizing this new word, he can now
respect others rights and boundaries leading to a bond of friendship and he can now appreciate

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the unique characteristics of someone that can turn into love. He does not have to express We
as a group to love another, now he as an individual can express I as an individual to loving
another. He can find joy and peace in this new capability of love and care. The word I has also
brought pride. When persons have no rights, they exist solely to serve the state but now that he
has rights as an individual, he can choose to serve himself giving him a sense of pride. The word
I has given what Equality 7-2521 had been searching for this whole time.
Equality 7-2521 has professed this Anthem of his own stating how he feels about
individuality versus collectivism along with how and why he favors individualism over the other.
He has lived his whole life in a society where another person is more important than or as
important as self which now Equality 7-2521 has come to the notion that what he had been
taught is a lie that ultimately brings great evil. His past society argues that humankind comes
together into a society to provide and be provided for and that all humans gain as much from
their peers as they gain from themselves. However Equality 7-2521 had broken the teaching
when he lived and provided on his own only to discover what he as an individual has been
looking for, the ultimate word that shatters all collectivism, the word he had been searching for,
the word he now uses and is proud as an individual to use, the word I.