Reviewed by Yvonne B.
Anthem foreshadows Ayn Rand’s longer novels which espouse her views. I won’t go into her philosophy for which she became known, but she was born in Russia and left in the 1920′s to escape suppression and communism (so that’s a hint). Anthem was first published in 1938 in England.
The protaganist in the book is Equality 7-2125, and he is a rogue in an otherwise controlled society that has replaced current life. For almost the entire novella he refers to himself as “we” because the use if the word “I” is punishable by death. All humans live for the good of the whole. All work, thought, words, actitivites are done not for the individual, but for the community. Any creative or individual thoughts or ideas are severely punished unless one is given permission. No one is allowed to be alone, ever.
When Equality 7-2125 finds an ancient tunnel, he starts sneaking away to be alone and invents a lightbulb out of things he finds in the tunnel. He is sentenced to death, or something more horrible, but he escapes and starts a new world in the Unchartered Forest with Liberty 5-3000, a woman who follows his trail into the forest.
Sounds dull, but the book is surprisingly engrossing. Rand is able to elicit from the reader a profound feeling of joy when Equality 7-2125 experiences freedom.
