He works with the handicapped Union 5-3992 and International 4-8818, the latter of whom is Equality's only friend (which is another Transgression of Preference, because all are supposedly equal in their society). He excels at the Science of Things and dreams of becoming a Scholar, but when the Council of Vocations assigns his Life Mandate at fifteen, he is assigned to be a Street Sweeper.Įquality 7-2521 accepts his street sweeping assignment as penance for his Transgression of Preference in secretly desiring to be a Scholar. He believes he has a 'curse' that makes him learn quickly and ask many questions. He was raised like all children in his society, away from his parents in collective homes: the Home of Infants from birth until five years old, then the Home of Students from five to fifteen. He exclusively uses plural pronouns ('we', 'our', 'they') to refer to himself and others. Rand revised the text for the US edition published in 1946.Įquality 7-2521, a 21-year-old man writing by candlelight in a tunnel under the earth, tells the story of his life up to that point. It was published in the United States only after Rand's next novel, The Fountainhead, became a best seller. The novella was first published by Cassell in England.

At her agent's suggestion, she submitted it to book publishers. Rand originally conceived of the story as a play, then decided to write for magazine publication. Together they plan to establish a new society based on rediscovered individualism. When his activity is discovered, he flees into the wilderness with the girl he loves. A young man known as Equality 7-2521 rebels by doing secret scientific research. Technological advancement is now carefully planned and the concept of individuality has been eliminated. The story takes place at an unspecified future date when mankind has entered another Dark Age. Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in the United Kingdom.

Anthem graphic novel