chapter 6
We have not written for thirty days. For thirty days we have not
been here, in our tunnel. We had been caught.

It happened on that night when we wrote last. We forgot, that
night, to watch the sand in the glass which tells us when three
hours have passed and it is time to return to the City Theatre.
When we [-remembered
it,-] {+remembered,+} the sand had run out.

We hastened to the Theatre. But the big tent stood grey and
silent against the sky. The streets of the City lay before us,
dark and empty. If we went back to hide in our tunnel, we would
be found and our light
[-found-] with us. So we walked to the Home of the
Street Sweepers.

When the Council of the Home questioned us, we looked upon the
faces of the Council, but there was no curiosity in those faces,
and no anger, and no mercy. So when the oldest of them asked us:
"Where have you been?" we thought of our glass box and of our
light, and we forgot all else. And we answered:

"We will not tell you."

The oldest did not question us further. They turned to the two
youngest, and said, and their voice was bored:

"Take our brother Equality 7-2521 to the Palace of Corrective
Detention. Lash them until they tell."

So we were taken to the Stone Room under the Palace of Corrective
Detention. This room has no windows and it is empty save for an
iron post. Two men stood by the post, naked but for leather
aprons and leather hoods over their faces. Those who had brought
us departed, leaving us to the two Judges who stood in a corner
of the room. The [-Judges-] {+judges+} were small, thin men, grey and bent.
They gave the signal to the two strong hooded ones.

They tore [-the-] {+our+} clothes from our body, they threw us down upon our
knees and they tied our hands to the iron post.

The first blow of the lash felt as if our spine had been cut in
two. The second blow stopped the first, and for a second we felt
nothing, then [-the-] pain struck us in our throat and fire ran in our
lungs without air. But we did not cry out.

The lash whistled like a singing wind. We tried to count the
blows, but we lost count. We knew that the blows were falling
upon our [-back.-] {+back+} Only we felt nothing upon our back any longer. A
flaming grill kept dancing before our eyes, and we thought of
nothing save that grill, a grill, a grill of red squares, and
then we knew that we were looking at the squares of the iron
grill in the door, and there were also the squares of stone on
the walls, and the squares which the lash was cutting upon our
back, crossing and re-crossing itself in our flesh.

Then we saw a fist before us. It knocked our chin up, and we saw
the red froth of our mouth on the withered fingers, and the Judge
asked:

"Where have you been?"

But we jerked our head away, hid our face upon our tied hands,
and bit our lips.

The lash whistled again. We wondered who was sprinkling burning
coal dust upon the floor, for we saw drops of red twinkling on
the stones around us.

Then we knew nothing, save two voices snarling steadily, one
after the other, even though we knew they were speaking many
minutes apart:

"Where have you been where have you been where have you been
where have you been? . . ."

And our lips moved, but the sound trickled back into our throat,
and the sound was only:

"The light . . . The light . . . The light. . . ."

Then we knew nothing.

We opened our eyes, lying on our stomach on the brick floor of a
cell. We looked upon two hands [-lying-] {+flying+} far before us on the
bricks, and we moved them, and we knew that they were our hands.
But we could not move our body. Then we smiled, for we thought of
the light and that we had not betrayed it.

We lay in our cell for many days. The door opened twice each day,
once for the men who brought us bread and water, and once for the Judges.
Many Judges came to our cell, first the humblest and then the most
honored Judges of the City. They stood before us in their white togas,
and they asked:

"Are you ready to speak?"

But we shook our head, lying before them on the floor. And they departed.

We counted each day and each night as it passed. Then, tonight,
we knew that we must escape. For tomorrow the World Council of
Scholars is to meet in our City.

It was easy to escape from the Palace of Corrective Detention.
The locks are old on the doors and there are no guards about.
There is no reason to have guards, for men have never defied the
Councils so far as to escape from whatever place they were
ordered to be. Our body is healthy and strength returns to it
speedily. We [-lunged
against the door and it gave way.  We-] stole through the dark passages, and through the
dark streets, and down into our tunnel.

We lit the candle and we saw that our place had not been found
and nothing had been touched. And our glass box stood before us
on the cold oven, as we had left it. What matter they now, the
scars upon our back!

Tomorrow, in the full light of day, we shall take our box, and
leave our tunnel open, and walk through the streets to the Home
of the Scholars. We shall put before them the greatest gift ever
offered to men. We shall tell them the truth. We shall hand to
them, as our confession, these pages we have written. We shall
join our hands to theirs, and we shall work together, with the
power of the sky, for the glory of mankind. Our blessing upon
you, [-or-] {+our+} brothers! Tomorrow, you will take us back into your
fold and we shall be an outcast no longer. Tomorrow we shall be
one of you again. Tomorrow . . .






gradesaver
Equality 7-2521 is unable to write for thirty days after his decision to bring his invention to the World Council of Scholars because he is caught. He is absorbed in his thoughts that he forgets to watch the time and return to the City Theatre. He hastens to the Theatre, but it is too late, and he returns to the Home of the Street Sweepers. When he speaks to the Council of the Home, he thinks of his glass box and of its light and refuses to tell them of his whereabouts. The oldest member of the Council is incurious and in a bored voice has the youngest members send Equality 7-2521 to the Palace of Corrective Detention for interrogation. Equality 7-2521 goes to the windowless Stone Room of the Palace of Corrective Detention, where he sees an iron post and two men who wear only leather aprons and hoods. The Councilmember escorts leave Equality 7-2521 to the two Judges in the corner of the room. The Judges, who are "small, thin men, grey and bent," have the hooded men take off Equality 7-2521's clothes and tie his hands to the iron post. Kneeling, Equality 7-2521 does not cry out, although the numerous lashes on his back are extremely painful, and he stares at the door's iron grill while thinking of the square stones on the wall and the squares of lacerations on his back. The Judge asks him of his whereabouts, but he again refuses to speak, and after some more lashes, he loses consciousness. He occasionally wakes to the sound of the Judges repeatedly questioning him, and his only response is a repetition of the phrase "the light." He again faints. When Equality 7-2521 again wakes, he finds himself on the brick floor of a cell. He cannot move his hands but is glad that he did not betray his invention. For almost a month, the door of the cell opens twice a day, once for food and water and once for the Judges. The Judges come in order of increasing importance and ask if he will speak, but he refuses, and they leave. The day before the meeting of the World Council of Scholars, Equality 7-2521 knows that he must escape. The Palace of Corrective Detention has old locks and no guards because men never defy the Councils and escape from the Palace. His body is healthy and strong, despite his ordeal, and he breaks down the door, sneaking outside and back to his tunnel. Upon entering the tunnel, he lights a candle and sees that the tunnel has not been found or touched. When he sees the glass box, he ceases to care about the scars on his back. Tomorrow, he plans to take his box to the Home of the Scholars and hand them his journal as a confession. He then plans to join them in working to discover new things about his power of the sky "for the glory of mankind," and he blesses his brothers, knowing that starting tomorrow, he will rejoin society and no longer be an outcast.
The episode at the Palace of Corrective Detention interrupts Equality 7-2521's previous optimism, showing that despite his private experimentation with a potentially life-changing invention, the world around him has failed to change. Although the authorities know nothing about his glass box, they still identify him as a threat and punish him for his lack of obedience and his integrity. For all of their claims to serve their brothers, their questioning of Equality 7-2521 suggests that they are more interested in maintaining control than in loving all humans. The Judges are glorified torturers, although they allow the hooded men to do the physical act of beating their prisoner. The word "Judges" suggests justice and a search for the truth, but these Judges do not truly represent either. Equality 7-2521's ordeal juxtaposes the reprehensible behavior of the collectivists with the protagonist's honor and vigor. Whereas Equality 7-2521 keeps his secret because of his conviction and need to protect his creation, the members of the Home Council show a lack of any powerful emotions. The oldest member of the Council states the command sending Equality 7-2521 to the Palace of Corrective Detention in a bored tone, suggesting the apathy engendered by collectivism. The evil authority figures in the Palace are either hidden under leather hoods or shown in a weak, bent body, and none have names or powerful descriptions. By contrast, the individualist Equality 7-2521 has a name and a distinct physical presence. His narrative emphasizes his interaction with and observation of his body, and he recovers quickly from the torture, indicating his physical and, by analogy, his mental strength. A second contrast between Equality 7-2521 and the collectivists lies in their approach to guarding important areas. Equality 7-2521 pays a great deal of attention to the protection of his tunnel and his light, and he undergoes the Palace of Corrective Detention without revealing them. This approach is unfathomable to the authorities, who do not bother to guard their prisoners or repair their locks, a fact which also illustrates the technological regression of the collectivist era. Equality 7-2521 views the glass box as an extension of his own body, and he acts as he does because of his pride in his body, while the authorities have no sense of pride and remain careless. The Judges have Equality 7-2521 tied to an iron post so that the men in leather aprons can whip him. The image parallels the execution of the Transgressor, or Saint of the Pyre, in an earlier section of the novel. Like the Transgressor, Equality 7-2521 is tied to a stake-like object, and he describes the iron grill of the door as "a flaming grill," while mistaking his blood for "burning coal dust." Both images bear a close connection to the flames that killed the Saint of the pyre, and both scenarios have a feeling of martyrdom. The two men willingly suffer in their bodies for the sake of an idea. Several aspects of Equality 7-2521's imprisonment hint at the brainwashed nature of his society. The narrator escapes because no one else would have the originality necessary to even think of escape. Furthermore, although his transgression of omitting attendance at the City Theatre does not seem particularly heinous, few enough people commit any crimes that his case becomes one of paramount importance, leading eventually to questioning from "the most honored Judges of the City." Even Equality 7-2521, oddly, does not think to lie to the Judges, and he still does not wish to be a lonely outcast, retaining hope that he will be able to rejoin his community after he speaks with the World Council of Scholars. He believes that the men who he had once idolized will be greater and more enlightened than the others, but the reader may rightly remain worried that his stint at the Palace of Corrective Detention will foreshadow his reception at the World Council.
shmoop
Equality 7-2521 tells us that he hasn't written for thirty days, because he hasn't been in the tunnel for 30 days. He was caught. It happened the very night he wrote last, when he had produced the light. It's time for another flashback sequence... That night, Equality 7-2521 notices that he's forgotten to keep track of the time . Three hours have already passed. Equality 7-2521 he runs back to the Theatre, only to find it empty. He returns to the Home of the Street Sweepers. The Council of Home quickly demands to know where he's been. Equality 7-2521 refuses to tell them. Equality 7-2521 is taken to the Palace of Corrective Detention to encourage him to cooperate by whipping him. Equality 7-2521 is stripped and then lashed for what seems like ages, but he doesn't say a word. He doesn't even cry out. The beating continues until Equality 7-2521 goes practically unconscious. When he's asked repeatedly where he's been, all he can say is "The light...the light!". Equality 7-2521 then falls unconscious. When he wakes up, Equality 7-2521 finds himself in a cell. He lies there for many days. Regularly, Judges come to his cell to ask if he's ready to speak. He shakes his head each time. Equality 7-2521 counts the days as they pass until he realizes one night that the next day is the World Council of Scholars. He's got to escape. Fortunately, this is not very hard. The locks are old and there are no guards around, so all it takes is a lunge at the door. Apparently Equality 7-2521 was lucky enough to be placed in the most worthless jail ever devised by the hand of man. So Equality 7-2521 heads back to his tunnel, and writes what we've just been reading. Tomorrow, he announces, he will tell the Scholars the truth, and present them with his great gift.
cliffnotes
Equality 7-2521 is caught. On the night he completes his invention, he neglects to watch the hourglass that tells him the time. When he remembers to look at it, it is too late. When the members of the Home Council question him regarding his whereabouts, he answers: "We will not tell you." The Council sends him to the Palace of Corrective Detention, commanding that he be lashed until he confesses. He escapes from the Palace of Corrective Detention and steals quickly into his tunnel. When he lights his candle, he finds everything as he left it. The glass box is intact, and when he beholds it, he feels that the scars on his back are unimportant.
A collectivist society is brutally repressive in its treatment of those who think independently. Just like it burned at the stake the Saint of the Pyre for discovering and uttering the Unspeakable Word, so it lashes Equality 7-2521 for his unexplained absence. In a Nazi or Communist society such as this, obedience is considered the fundamental virtue. Individualists, like Equality 7-2521, who act on their own thinking, are regarded as dangerous troublemakers and treated like criminals. Equality 7-2521 knows that if the state discovers the full extent of his "crimes" -- his illicit scientific research and invention of an electric light -- he will be executed and his creation destroyed. He has performed actions that are major violations of the lock-step conformity required by society. He has placed the satisfaction of his own goals above the necessity of compliance to society -- and this is unforgivable. The legal authorities will not understand the significance of the light nor will they care. They will see only the refusal to conform. Equality 7-2521's only hope lies with the Scholars. They are the men of wisdom. The Scholars, he believes, are honest seekers after truth, who will both understand and care about the electric light. They will intercede on his behalf -- and he and the light will be saved. Equality 7-2521's unyielding allegiance to his invention and his mind -- his refusal to betray his secret activities -- illustrates the integrity of the creative geniuses persecuted by society. Ayn Rand shows the blatant falsehood of the collectivists' claim to love humankind. If the Nazis and Communists were sincere, they would neither ban independent thinking nor punish the thinkers. The ease with which Equality 7-2521 escapes from prison illustrates two points. The first is that the technological decline is so thorough that even the locks on the doors are rusted and aged, unable to withstand applied pressure. The more important point is that the collectivist state has succeeded in so thoroughly inculcating obedience that it has no need to post guards in either the prison or on the city streets. Under the brainwashing they have received from birth, citizens do not regard themselves as individuals; they have no right to think, and their only reason to live is to obey and serve. It does not occur to them to think, to question, to challenge authority. The state has no need to maintain systematic vigilance, for an independent thinker such as Equality 7-2521 has not appeared in anyone's memory. The authorities are surprised by the one unexplained absence that they know of. When they discover the full extent of Equality 7-2521's illicit actions, they will be flabbergasted. Nobody has ever heard of such a thing. Glossary City Theater the large tent in which are performed plays for the social recreation of the workers. The plays are about the virtues of toil and the need to sacrifice oneself for one's brothers. Palace of Corrective Detention the prison to which Equality 7-2521 is taken after he is discovered absent from the theater. The prison, as virtually everything in this backwards society, is delapidated, posing no difficulty to Equality 7-2521's escape when the time is right. World Council of Scholars the society of thinkers and scientists made up supposedly of the world's greatest minds. But since the political rulers value only obedience, the best thinkers  are excluded, leaving the World Council filled with a group of unthinking conformists.
sparknotes
Equality 7-2521 writes that he was so excited about his discovery of the lightbulb that he forgot to pay attention to the time, and he was late in returning to the Home of the Street Sweepers. The Council of the Home asked him where he was, and he would not answer. Without emotion, the Council ordered Equality 7-2521 to be held in the Palace of Corrective Detention until he told the Council where he had been. Equality 7-2521 writes that at the Palace of Correction, he was stripped and tied to a post where he was whipped and beaten while being asked where he had been. He lost consciousness and woke in a cell, happy that he had not betrayed the tunnel and the light. He stayed in the cell in the Palace of Corrective Detention until he realized that it was the day before the meeting of the World Council of Scholars. He then broke out of the Palace, which was easy because no precautions had been taken to prevent escape since no one had ever tried to do so before. He snuck back to his tunnel, where he writes this entry, reveling in the idea that the next day will bring atonement and reunification with his brothers.
Equality 7-2521's belief that the lightbulb is too significant not to be shared, a belief that comes to have disastrous consequences for him, represents exactly the kind of thinking against which Rand is writing. He thinks that the lightbulb, a technological innovation, can be the crack in the wall of his prison, a way to reach all the members of his society and share with them what he has discovered in his tunnel. Rand shows, through Equality 7-2521, how such thinking leads to painful results. She believes that invention and progress are worthy not because they help the masses but rather in and of themselves, because they are the result of the individual mind working and expressing itself. This section is the most hopeful part of the novella, and it is in this section that we most identify with Equality 7-2521. Here, he still wants to make the world a better place for himself and for his brothers, and he believes he has a way to do so. Moreover, the harsh punishment visited on Equality 7-2521 when he returns late from the tunnel and will not tell the Council where he has been foreshadows the violence that we fear will be brought to bear against him at the World Council. Though Rand claims not to have imbued Anthem with a traditional structure, this section, in which we sympathize with Equality 7-2521, builds the story's tension and gives us the expectation of a climax in the coming confrontation with the World Council of Scholars. Equality 7-2521's sense of self-worth is entirely caught up in the significance of the lightbulb, as is the proper result, in Rand's view, of allowing for individual benefit from individual discovery. Equality 7-2521's increasing vanity and his desire to know his own strength are related to his belief that he has discovered something important and that his body is worth knowing. Thus, even after he has been beaten, he revels in his own strength at not succumbing to the beating and revealing his tunnel and the lightbulb. He harnesses his own strength at the same time he harnesses the strength of electricity, and he takes equal pride in both. His willingness to suffer for the lightbulb stems from his belief that the invention is an extension of his own physical being and is more important than his own body, which he has only recently begun to value. The scene in the Palace of Corrective Detention in which Equality 7-2521 is flogged while bound naked to a post directly correlates to the Christian story about the scourging of Christ at the pillar. In the Christian story, Christ is dragged before the Roman authorities, stripped of his clothes, and beaten mercilessly at a pillar while being mocked by Roman soldiers shortly before being crucified. Rand uses the scene here to heighten our sense that Equality 7-2521 is a new prophet who must suffer great abuses, at the hands of tormenters, in the interest of his beliefs. By comparing Equality 7-2521 to Christ, Rand may offend some readers who believe that Christ is the son of God and that such comparisons are irreverent, and she may well have intended to give offense. She often said she was trying to reclaim religious language from religion, in order to prove that it was possible to worship an ideal without believing in the supernatural. The blatant comparison that this scene at the post invites is an attempt to reclaim religious imagery as well, just as is the heavy-handed image of Equality 7-2521 as the bringer of light to the world. This section, like others in the novella, contains countless contrasting pairs, which emphasize, often blatantly, the battle between shapeless, nameless evil and vain, proud good. Specifically, Equality 7-2521's high emotion and proud intentions contrast directly with the Council's boredom while sentencing him to the Palace of Corrective Detention. The violence of the Council also contrasts with Equality 7-2521's passive resistance. Similarly, the light of the bulb, weak though it is, significantly outshines the darkness of a society lit only by candles. Furthermore, Equality 7-2521's care in protecting his tunnel stands in opposition to the carelessness of those in charge of guarding the Palace of Corrective Detention. These pairings further highlight Rand's belief that everything about Equality 7-2521 makes different from those around him. Society wallows in apathetic, dim insecurity, while Equality 7-2521 covetously guards his precious light. In these pairings, society always comprises the weaker half, with much less invested, while Equality 7-2521, fighting bitterly and to the death for his ideals, always comprises the stronger half.
novelguide
In this chapter, Equality 7-2521 explains how he has been caught skipping the mandatory theatre session by arriving late to the Home of the Street Sleepers one night. When he is interrogated by the authorities, he refuses to tell them where he was and is consequently ordered to serve time in the Palace of Corrective Detention. Here he is whipped and beaten, but soon he escapes the unguarded prison, reiterating to himself and the reader his plan to take his invention to the Home of Scholars.