The Struggle For Power In Ayn Rand's Anthem

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How can one live without the knowledge that mankind has once had before? The answer is under the control of Anthem’s government. In Anthem’s society, no one person has a sense of individuality, so much so that everyone uses the pronoun “we” instead of “I”. Also, technology is so regressed, that the candle is the latest and greatest discovery yet. The people of this society also work as athe whole, and are nearly completely controlled by the government. Equality 7-2521 is a unique person. He, and is curious and wants to learn about his discoveriesfinds, even though it goes against his society. The process for Equality to rediscover electricity in Anthem requires him to break laws, to think for himself, and to independently expand his knowledgelearn. …show more content…
He must break lawsdo this in order to keep the tunnel that he hasd found a secret. “And then we spoke. Our voice was hard and there was no mercy in our voice. We said: ‘We shall not report our find to the City Council. We shall not report it to any men” (Rand 33). Equality does not want anyone to know of this place, because he is curious what is to be found down therewithin the tunnel. This is important, because he needs to keep the tunnel a secret, in order to find and use the materials he needs for his rediscovery. When Equality is in the tunnel, he is alone, which is an important factor. Another step leading Equality to discovering electricity is to independently learn. He must independently learn to discover that great things can just come from an individual. “We, Equality 7-2521, have discovered a new power of nature. And we have discovered it alone, and we are alone to know it” (Rand 52). Equality realizes that he has learned, experimented, and discovered a new power, alone. His realization is important, because he must think positively about individual work, to be able to successfully create the new power. When Equality is thinking about his individual work, he is thinking for and by