Anthem

__Nikki's Page!!!__ =Anthem= //Anthem// is a novella written by Ayn Rand. It was first published in 1938.

Ayn Rand
Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, 1905. She taught herself to read when she was six years old. While she was living in Russia, she witnessed both the Kerensky Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution. In order to escape the fighting, her family fled to the Crimea, and her father's pharmacy was confiscated. It was in the Crimea, in her senior year of high school that she first learned about American history. She immediately saw it as the perfect model for a free society. Her family moved back to Russia, and in 1924, she graduated from the University of Petrograd after studying History and Philosophy. In 1925, she obtained permission to leave the Soviet Union under the pretense of visiting relatives, and never again returned. She arrived in New York in February of 1926 and soon moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as a screenwriter. It was while she was working as a script-reader in Hollywood that she met actor Frank O'Connor. The two were married in 1929, and remained so until his death fifty years later.

After holding numerous non-writing jobs, she wrote //We the Living// in 1934//,// although it was rejected by several publishers initially and was not released until two years later. She began writing //The Fountainhead// in 1935, but took a break in order to write //Anthem// in 1937. The Fountainhead was rejected by twelve publishers, and eventually gained her national notoriety. In 1946, she began work on //Atlas Shrugged//, her last and greatest work of fiction. After completing it in 1957, she devoted herself to writing and lecturing on her own philosophy - Objectivism. Rand died on March 6, 1982 in her New York home.

[[image:ayn_rand_fav.jpg width="180" height="227" align="left" caption="Rand's favorite photo of herself, taken from the cover of The Fountainhead"]]Plot Summary
== Anthem takes place in an anti-utopian society in the distant future in which the concept of the individual has been completely bred out of existence. All members of the society refer to themselves exclusively with plural pronouns. Every aspect of life is dictated by councils, and all activity takes place in groups. Individuals are allowed no time for themselves, as it is a sin to be alone, to act alone, or even to speak alone. The story is told through the diary of a young man named Equality 7-2521, a twenty-one year-old Street Sweeper. But Equality 7-2521 has been born with an extraordinary curse - the desire to think freely. ==

Major Characters

 * Equality 7-2521** (The Unconquered, Prometheus) - He is the protagonist of the story. Equality 7-2521 is twenty-one at the start of the story, and has been ordered to be a Street Sweeper by the Council of Vocations. He is unusually tall and curious. Although it is a sin, he cannot stop himself from thinking independently and asking questions. Equality 7-2521 constantly challenges the society of which is a part, and refuses to let his mind and his will be contained.


 * Liberty 5-3000** (The Golden One, Gaea) - An eighteen year-old peasant, Liberty 5-3000 quickly becomes the object of Equality's affection. She is described as having beautiful blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Although it is forbidden, she falls in love with Equality 7-2521 because he is different than any other that she knows. She renames him The Unconquered, and he renames her The Golden One.


 * International 4-8818** - He is a fellow street sweeper of Equality 7-2521 and the only friend that Equality has in the city, with the exception of Liberty 5-3000.

//IT IS A SIN TO WRITE THIS. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!//

//We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.//

//We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by, and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.//

//I am. I think. I will.//

Music
Freewill, by Rush -

//There are those who think that life Has nothing left to chance With a host of holy horrors To direct our aimless dance

A planet of playthings We dance on the strings Of powers we cannot perceive The stars arent aligned --- Or the gods are malign Blame is better to give than receive

You can choose a ready guide In some celestial voice If you choose not to decide You still have made a choice

You can choose from phantom fears And kindness that can kill I will choose a path thats clear I will choose free will

There are those who think that theyve been dealt a losing hand The cards were stacked against them --- They werent born in lotus-land

All preordained A prisoner in chains A victim of venomous fate Kicked in the face You cant pray for a place In heavens unearthly estate

Each of us A cell of awareness Imperfect and incomplete Genetic blends With uncertain ends On a fortune hunt Thats far too fleet...

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Freewill/2653569

Source: www.aynrand.org //