First of all, I want to thank my mom for giving me the opportunity to share what I think about one of my favorite books! Anthem is one of the first books that I recommend to people when they ask me which novels they should read.
One of the main reasons that Anthem is so interesting is that it follows a specific philosophy born out of the mind of its author, Ayn Rand. She developed a personal creed of individuality and selfdom known as "objectivism" (yes, you CAN create your own philosophy, just make stuff up!). This belief system was fostered by Rand who, as a young woman, had seen the tyranny in her homeland of Soviet Russia and who had lived through both the Kerensky and Bolshevik Revolutions. After communism won the country over, Rand began to embrace American politics, and it was from her dreams of freedom and morality that the ideas which would fuel the plot of Anthem were born.
The novelette is told from the viewpoint of Equality 7-2521 (yes, that's his name), a twenty-one-year old living in a futuristic world where the word "I" and the human soul behind it no longer exist. In spite of the oppression which is masked by words like "brotherhood" and "State", the young man recognizes himself as one who is different from his brethren and he dares to follow the curiosities of his mind until he discovers knowledge, power and-- Rand's most important declaration-- his sense of self as a free man.
Freedom is the driving theme of the book: the freedom that every man, woman, and child should have to think for themselves, to learn, to advance, to choose, and to love. Rand is careful to express, however, that this freedom cannot come from a decision of the State; liberty comes from a person's own realization that, as a human being, one is free. (I just had a flashback to Braveheart...) Equality 7-2521 does not gain his freedom by fighting for it with his brother men. He does not peacefully protest until the mob begrudgingly grants him independence. His "selfhood" comes to him by his own will, by his own conclusion of who he is. As he proclaims after discovering the sacred "I", the lost word, "Many words have been granted me, and some are wise, and some are false, but only three are holy: 'I will it!'" (pg. 95) This is definitely a powerful statement coming from a young woman who grew up in a world where everyone was told they were the same, and where no one was more than just a piece of the pie!
Along with freedom, another message found in the pages of Anthem is that of identity. Rand solidifies Equality 7-2521's identity by having him and his chosen love pick names. To make something true and identifiable, people give things and ideas names. Instead of a faceless number, the youth names his own, free identity with the title of "Prometheus", who, in Greek mythology was the bringer of fire to earthly men. Rand is encouraging her readers to understand to understand that both freedom and identity come from the human concept of self, not from one's peers, not from one's parents, and certainly not from what a government dictates. The young man in Anthem sees himself as someone who brings light to other men, and decides that this will be his identity because this is what he sees in himself.
This is an amazing read. The entire book is only 105 pages long, so you're getting bargain brain-fodder for only about a third of the time it takes to read those other mind-tinglers (c'mon, what other Russian authors can you appreciate in less than a week?). Be cautious, however: this book will probably make you want to change your name, steal a woman from a random field, and go live in the forest. Or, it could just encourage you to think for yourself. :) Happy reading!
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