In the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, the heroine has three different names throughout the story. The evolution of her name from “Liberty 5-3000” to “The Golden One” to “Gaea” shows character development as well as to strengthen the theme that collectivism is appalling and erases the identities of individuals. The first name the heroine has is “Liberty 5-3000.” This name shows that she is not an individual, but a part of something larger than a single person. She has a number used to identify herself, similar to the way animals in the farming industry have numbers used to identify them. This is a collective name, and when she goes by this name, she thinks only thoughts that are about collectivism; thoughts that are acceptable. Liberty follows instructions and does nothing to stand out, as described by Equality, “Their body was straight and thin as a blade of iron. Their eyes were dark and hard and glowing, with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt… They…show more content… Equality explains,“But it is a sin to give men names which distinguish them from other men. Yet we call them the Golden One, for they are not like the others. The Golden One are not like the others” (Rand 41).This symbolizes her gradual change in thought to ideas that are more individual, and begins to do things that the collective society tells her not to do. One of these things is talking to someone of the opposite gender; Equality 7-2521 explains, “We had broken so many laws, and today we have broken one more. Today we spoke to the Golden One” (Rand 42). She is beginning to become a symbol of change and her name change represents how she is finding her identity as an individual, and breaking away from the brainwashing of collective
