The Importance of Freedom Exposed in Anthem :: Anthem Essays

The Importance of Freedom Exposed in Anthem    In the novel Anthem, Ayn Rand writes about the future dark ages. Anthem takes place in city of a technologically backwards totalitarian society, where mankind is born in the home of the infants and dies in the home of the useless. Just imagine, being born in to a life of slavery having no freedom, no way of self expression, no ego. The city represented slavery. When in the city, Equality had been guilty of many transgressions. He was not like his brothers, he was different he was smarter, healthier, and stronger. At the age of five he advanced to home of the student, where he got scolded for learning faster then his brothers. Equality teachers told him that he had evil in his bones because he was taller then his brothers. Then at the age of fifteen when the house of vocations came Equality was guilty of the great transgression of preference because he wanted to be a scholar, but his selected vocation was to be a street sweeper. Every day while he swept by the fields he would watch and smile at Liberty and she would smile back. Liberty was a woman that worked in the home of the peasants. Making contact with a woman was prohibited but for when in the palace of the mating. The palace of the mating was where people were forced to breed. Equality thought touching a woman was shameful and ugly. Th! en one day while h e swept the streets he found a grate that led to underground tunnel full of things from the unmentionable times. For two years he went to the tunnel and discovered a new glowing light. Then one day while in the tunnel decided that he must share his secret with his brothers. He decided that he would bring his secret in front of the world council meeting. When Equality entered the world council meeting the scholars got frightened and angry. They demanded that he tell them why he was there. He connected the wires and they glowed, the scholars backed up against the wall as they stared in horror. They told him that he they were going to punish for breaking so many laws. Equality trembled in fright he quickly grabbed the light and ran to the uncharted forest. No man followed because they feared the unknown.