chapter 2
Liberty 5-3000 . . . Liberty five-three thousand . . . Liberty 5-3000 . . . .

We wish to write this name. We wish to speak it, but we dare not
speak it above a whisper. For men are forbidden to take notice of
women, and women are forbidden to take notice of men. But we
think of one among women, they whose name is Liberty 5-3000, and
we think of no others.

The women who have been assigned to work the soil live in the
Homes of the Peasants beyond the City. Where the City ends there
is a great road winding off to the north, and we Street Sweepers
must keep this road clean to the first milepost. There is a hedge
along the road, and beyond the hedge lie the fields. The fields
are black and ploughed, and they lie like a great fan before us,
with their furrows gathered in some hand beyond the sky,
spreading forth from that hand, opening wide apart as they come
toward us, like black pleats that sparkle with thin, green
spangles. Women work in the fields, and their white tunics in the
wind are like the wings of sea-gulls beating over the black
soil.

And there [-is-] {+it+} was that we saw Liberty 5-3000 walking along the
furrows. 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. Their hair was golden as the sun; their
hair flew in the wind, shining and wild, as if it defied men to
restrain it. They threw seeds from their hand as if they deigned
to fling a scornful gift, and the earth was a beggar under their
feet.

We stood still; for the first time [-did-] we know fear, and then pain.
And we stood still that we might not spill this pain more
precious than pleasure.

Then we heard a voice from the others call their name: "Liberty
5-3000," and they turned and walked back. Thus we learned their
name, and we stood watching them go, till their white tunic was
lost in the blue mist.

And the following day, as we came to the northern road, we kept
our eyes upon Liberty 5-3000 in the field. And each day
thereafter we knew the illness of waiting for our hour on the
northern road. And there we looked at Liberty 5-3000 each day. We
know not whether they looked at us also, but we think they did.

Then one day they came close to the hedge, and suddenly they
turned to us. They turned in a whirl and the movement of
their body stopped, as if slashed off, as suddenly as it had started.
They stood still as a stone, and they looked straight upon us,
straight [-into-] {+in+} our eyes. There was no smile on their face, and no
welcome. But their face was [-taut,-] {+taught,+} and their eyes were dark.
Then they turned as swiftly, and they walked away from us.

But the following day, when we came to the road, they smiled.
They smiled to us and for us. And we smiled in answer. Their head
fell back, and their arms fell, as if their arms and their thin
white neck were stricken suddenly with a great lassitude. They
were not looking upon us, but upon the sky. Then they glanced at
us over their shoulder,
[-as-] {+and+} we felt as if a hand had touched our
body, slipping softly from our lips to our feet.

Every morning thereafter, we greeted each other with our eyes. We
dared not speak. It is a transgression to speak to men of other
Trades, save in groups at the Social Meetings. But once, standing
at the hedge, we raised our hand to our forehead and then moved
it slowly, palm down, toward Liberty 5-3000. Had the others seen
it, they could have guessed nothing, for it looked only as if we
were shading our eyes from the sun. But Liberty 5-3000 saw it and
understood. They raised their hand to their forehead and moved it
as we had. Thus, each day, we greet Liberty 5-3000, and they
answer, and no men can suspect.

We do not wonder at this new sin of ours. It is our second
Transgression of Preference, for we do not think of all our
brothers, as we must, but only of one, and their name is Liberty
5-3000. We do not know why we think of them. We [-do-] {+don+} not know why,
when we think of them, we feel [-all-] of a sudden that the earth is good
and that it is not a burden to live.

We do not think of them as Liberty 5-3000 any longer. We have
given them a name in our thoughts. We call them the Golden One.
But it is a sin to give men {+other+} names which distinguish them
from other men. Yet we call them the Golden [-One,-] {+one,+} for they are not
like the others. The Golden One are not like the others.

And we take no heed of the law which says that men may not think
of women, save at the Time of Mating. This is the time each
spring when all the men older than twenty and all the women older
than eighteen are sent for one night to the City Palace of
Mating. And each of the men have one of the women assigned to
them
[-by-] {+buy+} the Council of Eugenics. Children are born each winter,
but women never see their children and children never know their
parents. Twice have we been sent to the Palace of Mating, but it
is an ugly and shameful matter, of which we do not like to think.

We had broken so many laws, and today we have broken one more.  [-Today,-]
{+Today+} we spoke to the Golden One.

The other women were far off in the field, when we stopped at the
hedge by the side of the road. The Golden One were kneeling alone
at the moat which runs through the field. And the drops of water
falling from their hands, as they raised the water to their lips,
were like sparks of fire in the sun. Then the Golden One saw us,
and they did not move, kneeling there, looking at us, and circles
of light played upon their white tunic, from the sun on the water
of the moat, and one sparkling drop fell from a finger of their
hand held as frozen in the air.

Then the Golden One rose and walked to the hedge, as if they had
heard a command in our eyes. The two other Street Sweepers of our
brigade were a hundred paces away down the road. And we thought
that International 4-8818 would not betray us, and Union 5-3992
would not understand. So we looked straight upon the [-Golden One,-] {+golden one,+}
and we saw the shadows of their lashes on their white cheeks and
the sparks of sun on their lips. And we said:

"You are beautiful, Liberty 5-3000."

Their face did not move and they did not avert their eyes. Only
their eyes grew wider, and there was triumph in their eyes, and
it was not triumph over us, but over things we could not guess.

Then they asked:

"What is your name?"

"Equality 7-2521," we answered.

"You are not one of our brothers, Equality 7-2521, for we do not
wish you to be."

We cannot say what they meant, for there are no words for their
meaning, but we know it without words and we knew it then.

"No," we answered, "nor are you one of our sisters."

"If you see us among scores of women, will you look upon us?"

"We shall look upon you, Liberty 5-3000, if we see you among all
the women of the earth."

Then they asked:

"Are Street Sweepers sent to different parts of the City or do
they always work in the same places?"

"They always work in the same places," we answered, "and no one
will take this road away from us."

"Your eyes," they said, "are not like the eyes of any among men."

And suddenly, without cause for the thought which came to us, we
felt cold, cold to our stomach.

"How old are you?" we asked.

They understood our thought, for they lowered their eyes for the
first time.

"Seventeen," they whispered.

And we sighed, as if a burden had been taken from us, for we had
been thinking without reason of the Palace of Mating. And we
thought that we would not let the Golden One be sent to the
Palace. How to prevent it, how to bar the will of the Councils,
we knew not, but we knew suddenly that we would. Only we do not
know why such thought came to us, for these ugly matters bear no
relation to us and the Golden One. What relation can they bear?

Still, without reason, as we stood there by the hedge, we felt
our lips drawn tight with hatred, a sudden hatred for all our
brother men. And the Golden One saw it and smiled slowly, and
there was in their smile the first sadness we had seen in them.
We think that in the wisdom of women the Golden One had
understood more than we can understand.

Then three of the sisters in the field appeared, coming toward
the road, so the Golden One walked away from us. They took the
bag of seeds, and they threw the seeds into the furrows of earth
as they walked away. But the seeds flew wildly, for the hand of
the Golden One was trembling.

Yet as we walked back to the Home of the Street Sweepers, we felt
that we wanted to sing, without reason. So we were reprimanded
tonight, in the dining hall, for without knowing it we had begun
to sing aloud some tune we had never heard. But it is not proper
to sing without reason, save at the Social Meetings.

"We are singing because we are happy," we answered the one of the
Home Council who reprimanded us.

"Indeed you are happy," they answered. "How else can men be when
they live for their brothers?"

And now, sitting here in our tunnel, we wonder about these words.
It is forbidden, not to be happy. For, as it has been explained
to us, men are free and the earth belongs to them; and all things
on earth belong to all men; and the will of all men together is
good for all; and so all men must be happy.

Yet as we stand at night in the great hall, removing our garments
for sleep, we look upon our brothers and we wonder. The heads of
our brothers are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and
never do they look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our
brothers are hunched, and their muscles are drawn, as if their
bodies were shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a
word steals into our mind, as we look upon our brothers, and that
word is fear.

There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in
the air of the streets. Fear walks through the [-City,-] {+city,+} fear without
name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak.

We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers.
But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure
under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours
give us strength for our hours above the ground.

Our body is betraying us, for the Council of the Home looks with
suspicion upon us. It is not good to feel [-too-] {+to+} much joy nor to be
glad that our body lives. For we matter not and it must not
matter to us whether we live or die, which is to be as our
brothers will it. But we, Equality 7-2521, are glad to be living.
If this is a vice, then we wish no virtue.

Yet our brothers are not like us. All is not well with our
brothers. There are Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise,
kind eyes, who cry suddenly, without reason, in the midst of day
or night, and their body shakes with sobs {+so+} they cannot explain.
There are Solidarity 9-6347, who are a bright youth, without fear
in the day; but they scream in their sleep, and they scream:
"Help us! Help us! Help us!" into the night, in a voice which
chills our bones, but the Doctors cannot cure Solidarity 9-6347.

And as we all undress at night, in the dim light of [-the-] candles, our
brothers are silent, for they dare not speak the thoughts of
their minds. For all must agree with all, and they cannot know if
their thoughts are the thoughts of all, and so they fear to
speak. And they are glad when {+the+} candles are blown for the
night. But we, Equality 7-2521, look through the window upon the
sky, and there is peace in the sky, and cleanliness, and dignity.
And beyond the City there lies the plain, and beyond the plain,
black upon the black sky, there lies the Uncharted Forest.

We do not wish to look upon the Uncharted Forest. We do not wish
to think of it. But ever do our eyes return to that black patch
upon the sky. Men never enter the Uncharted Forest, for there is
no power to explore it and no path to lead among its ancient
trees which stand as guards of fearful secrets. It is whispered
that once or twice in a hundred years, one among the men of the
City escape alone and run to the Uncharted Forest, without call
or reason. These men do not return. They perish from hunger and
from the claws of the wild beasts which roam the Forest. But our
Councils say [-that-] this is only a legend. We have heard that there are
many Uncharted Forests over the land, among the Cities.
[-And-] {+and+} it is
whispered that they have grown over the ruins of many cities of
the Unmentionable Times. The trees have swallowed the ruins, and
the bones under the ruins, and all the things which perished.

And as we look upon the Uncharted Forest far in the night, we
think of the secrets of the Unmentionable Times. And we wonder
how it came to pass that these secrets were lost to the world. We
have heard the legends of the great fighting, in which many men
fought on one side and only a few on the other. These few were
the Evil Ones and they were conquered. Then great fires raged
over the land. And in these fires the Evil Ones were {+burned. And
the fire which is called the Dawn of the Great Rebirth, was the
Script Fire where all the scripts of the Evil Ones were+} burned,
and with them all the words of the Evil Ones. Great mountains of
flame stood in the squares of the Cities for three months. Then
came the Great Rebirth.

The words of the Evil [-Ones . . .-] {+Ones...+} The words of the Unmentionable [-Times . . .-]
{+Times...+} What are the words which we have lost?

May the Council have mercy upon us! We had no wish to write such
a question, and we knew [-no-] {+not+} what we were doing till we had
written it. We shall not ask this question and we shall not
think it. We shall not call death upon our head.

And [-yet . . .-] {+yet...+} And [-yet . . .-] {+yet...+}

There is some word, one single word which is not in the language
of men, but which [-had-] {+has+} been. And this is the Unspeakable Word,
which no men may speak nor hear. But sometimes, and it is rare,
sometimes, somewhere, one among men find that word. They find it
upon scraps of old manuscripts or cut into the fragments of
ancient stones. But when they speak it they are put to death.
There is no crime punished by death in this world, save this one
crime of speaking the Unspeakable Word.

We have seen one of such men burned alive in the square of the
City. And it was a sight which has stayed with us through the
years, and it haunts us, and follows us, and it gives us no rest.
We were a child then, ten years old. And we stood in the great
square with all the children and all the men of the City, sent to
behold the burning. They brought the Transgressor out into the
square and they led [-them-] {+him+} to the pyre. They had torn out the tongue
of the Transgressor, so that they could speak no longer. The
Transgressor were young and tall. They had hair of gold and eyes
blue as morning. They walked to the pyre, and their step did not
falter. And of all the faces on that square, of all the faces
which shrieked and screamed and spat curses upon them, [-their-] {+theirs+} was
the calmest and [-the-] happiest face.

As the chains were wound over their body at the stake, and a
flame set to the pyre, the Transgressor looked upon the City.
There was a thin thread of blood running from the corner of their
mouth, but their lips were smiling. And a monstrous thought came
to us then, which has never left us. We had heard of Saints.
There are the Saints of Labor, and the Saints of the Councils,
and the Saints of the Great Rebirth. But we had never seen a
Saint nor what the likeness of a Saint should be. And we thought
then, standing in the square, that the likeness of a Saint was
the face we saw before us in the flames, the face of the
Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word.

As the flames rose, a thing happened which no eyes saw but ours,
else we would not be living today. Perhaps it had only seemed to
us. But it seemed to us that the eyes of the Transgressor had
chosen us from the crowd and were looking straight upon us. There
was no pain in their eyes and no knowledge of the agony of their
body. There was only joy in them, and pride, a pride holier than
{+it+} is fit for human pride to be. And it seemed as if these eyes
were trying to tell us something through the flames, to send into
our eyes some word without sound. And it seemed as if these eyes
were begging us to gather that word and not to let it go from us
and from the earth. But the flames rose and we could not guess
the [-word. . . .-] {+word....+}

What--even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the [-Pyre--what-] {+pyre
--what+} is the Unspeakable Word?






gradesaver
When working with the Street Sweepers in a road north of the city, Equality 7-2521 sees Liberty 5-3000, a woman from the Home of the Peasants, and he is instantly attracted to her tall, blonde beauty and her fearless, guiltless expression. He learns her name as she is called back to the fields by the others, and he begins to look forward to seeing her every day, although he knows that he is forbidden to express preference for one woman. One day, Liberty 5-3000 also turns to look at him with her taut, severe face before walking away. The next day, Liberty 5-3000 smiles at him, and they begin to greet each other every morning at the hedge between the road and the fields. They do so silently, with a subtle salute, because neither of them is allowed to communicate with those of other vocations. Equality 7-2521 knows that, for the second time in his life, he is guilty of expressing a preference. Nevertheless, he feels better in Liberty 5-3000's presence. He names her the Golden One because she is not like the others, although it is a sin to bear a unique name, and he also ignores the prohibition against thinking of members of the opposite gender outside of the Time of Mating. For two years, he has been sent once per year to the City Palace of Mating, as have all men over twenty and women over eighteen, but the process of mating with a woman assigned by the Council of Eugenics is shameful, and the parents never see their children. Eventually, Equality 7-2521 speaks to the Golden One on a day when the other Peasants and Street Sweepers are far away. She rises from kneeling at the moat and walks to the hedge, and, because Equality 7-2521 decides that International 4-8818 will not betray him and that Union 5-3992 will not understand the significance of their conversation, he tells her that she is beautiful. She does not move but reveals a triumphant expression before asking his name. Liberty 5-3000 then tells Equality 7-2521 that she does not wish him to be her brother, and he says she is not his sister, and although they do not have the vocabulary to explain their attraction, they both understand the meaning of their conversation. She asks if he would look for her even among a multitude of women, and he says he would. He tells her that his brigade of Street Sweepers always works in the same place, and she tells him that his eyes are different from those of others. Liberty 5-3000 tells Equality 7-2521 that she is seventeen, which relieves him, because she has therefore not yet been to the Palace of Mating. He decides to prevent her from being sent to the palace, although he is not sure why this desire is so important to him. She sees his sudden hatred for other men and smiles sadly before she walks away to join three of her sister Peasants. He sees that her hand is trembling as she scatters the seeds. Equality 7-2521 walks happily back to the Home of the Street Sweepers and is reprimanded for absent-mindedly singing without reason in the dining hall. The member of the Home Council doing the scolding tells Equality 7-2521 that he is right to be happy because he is living for his brothers; Equality 7-2521, however, privately realizes that although the people of his society are not allowed to be unhappy, they are never truly happy, but rather just afraid. He is also afraid when among the Street Sweepers, but in his tunnel, where no other men are around, he loses his fear and finds enough strength to seemingly last him the rest of his life. The Council of the Home is suspicious of his joy, but he decides that he is glad to be alive, although he sees Fraternity 2-5503, who cries without reason, and Solidarity 9-6347, who screams in his sleep. No one dares to say what they think as they go to bed, lest their thoughts be too original, but Equality 7-2521 still sees peace and dignity in the sky. He often thinks about the Uncharted Forest beyond the plains outside the city. He has heard about the occasional man who runs into the Uncharted Forest and never returns, dying of hunger or from wild animals, although the Councils claim this story to be a legend. The Uncharted Forests are said to have grown over the ruins of the Unmentionable Times, and he wonders about the legends of fighting that occurred, when the Evil Ones were conquered and their written words burned in the Script Fire at the Dawn of the Great Rebirth. He wonders what words have been lost with the Unmentionable Times, although he knows it is a sin to wish to know the answer. In particular, he knows of an Unspeakable Word, and he knows that to speak it is the only crime with a death penalty. At the age of ten, he saw a man burned alive in public for saying the word. The Transgressor's tongue was cut out, but he was young and tall and walked proudly to the stake, smiling as he died. Equality 7-2521 had thought that he was a Saint, and he saw the Transgressor's eyes looking directly at him, begging him to regain the Unspeakable Word. Now, years later, Equality 7-2521 wishes he knew the Word, even if it means death.
Whereas Rand's antagonists are indistinct committee members without a prominent physical presence, she characterizes her protagonists by a distinctly noticeable physical perfection as well as mental superiority. Like Equality 7-2521 and, to a lesser extent, International 4-8818, Liberty 5-3000 is tall and strong, reflecting her fearless stoicism and implying her heroism. Although the Council of Vocations has assigned her a position as a Peasant for the same reasons that they gave the job of Street Sweeper to Equality 7-2521 and International 4-8818, she defies her environment by her stance and mere existence. Through her depiction of Liberty 5-3000, Rand again reverses conventional ideas of what is good by rejecting collectivism as too soft and tame while praising individualism as prideful and hard. Liberty 5-3000 is Rand's archetypal woman and acts as the female foil to Equality 7-2521 in her strength and integrity. She righteously scorns all that does not deserve her but needs only minimal conversation to intuitively recognize Equality 7-2521's worthiness. Liberty 5-3000 comes to him "as if they had heard a command in our eyes," suggesting that Rand's ideal of femininity also contains an element of obedience, albeit only to a worthy man. Rand's depiction of the relationship between the dominant male and the ideal but appropriately submissive woman also appears in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and has led to disapproval from some feminists, particularly since this idealized woman is a heroic but two-dimensional character when compared to the fully fleshed description of, say, Equality 7-2521's psyche. Equality 7-2521 renames Liberty 5-3000 "the Golden One," which both sets her apart as an individual and implicitly critiques the slogan-like numerical designations of their society. Whereas "the Golden One" is a sincere, unique appellation, the numbers in "Liberty 5-3000" and "Equality 7-2521" have a collectivist meaning, where each person is merely one replaceable digit out of many. While in many cases the first word of the collectivist names have a positive connotation, the names are also ironic. Equality 7-2521 is actually more than equal to his peers and is consequently forcibly made equal by the law; Liberty 5-3000, likewise, is not as free as her proud demeanor or name suggest. As indicated by the Home Council's reprimanding of Equality 7-2521 when he sings, the society of Anthem exerts an iron control over the voices of its people. Equality 7-2521 and the Golden One are unable to talk at length, and when they attempt to express their mutual attraction, they do not have the vocabulary to say more than that they do not wish to be siblings. Nevertheless, Equality 7-2521 understands that the freedom of choice is integral to true happiness, while the absence of freedom is fear. He abhors his time in the Palace of Mating because there he has an assigned partner; as a result, he also does not know the concept of jealousy, which is why he finds it difficult to explain to himself why he cares about the Golden One's presence in the Palace of Mating. Simultaneously, when the Council of the Home tells him that he must be happy, he recognizes that because his brothers have no choice in the matter, they are instead afraid and dissatisfied. Foreshadowing Equality 7-2521's future break with his society are his twin obsessions with the Unmentionable Times and the Unspeakable Word. His assertion that the Council of Scholars had invented the candle one hundred years ago suggests that collectivism has reigned over a long period of stagnation, but the Old Ones as mentioned in the beginning of the novel seem to have some recollection of cars and skyscrapers, and the society's relatively short expected life-span -- forty to fifty years -- suggests that the Great Rebirth was a relatively recent occurrence. Equality 7-2521 feels guilty about wanting to know more about the Evil One's society, but he continues to wonder about the Unspeakable Word, for which the Transgressor, or Saint of the pyre, became a martyr. The Saint's pride and happiness suggest that he had found freedom in the Unspeakable Word, and, via his gaze, he seemed to recognize Equality 7-2521's inherent worth with the same instinctive accuracy as displayed by the Golden One.
shmoop
We learn that Equality 7-2521's got a crush on a girl. Her name is Liberty 5-3000, and he tells us he can't think of anybody else. Needless to say, this is also evil. Men aren't supposed to notice women. It's also time for another extended flashback sequence... First, we need to set the scene. There's a group of women, Equality 7-2521 tells us, who are assigned to work in the fields just outside of the city. They live in the Home of the Peasants. The Street Sweepers have to clean a road that runs from the city to the north and passes by the fields. It's separated from the fields by a hedge. So, one day while he's doing his street sweeping near the fields, Equality 7-2521 sees Liberty 5-3000 at work and gets a crush on her. She is attractive and her eyes in particular are striking: "no fear in them, no kindness, and no guilt" . For the first time in his life, Equality 7-2521 feels fear. Pain too. Somebody calls the beautiful woman "Liberty 5-3000" and she retreats further into the fields. Now Equality 7-2521 knows her name. Every day after, Equality 7-2521 tells us, he looks at Liberty 5-3000 as he passes One day, Liberty 5-3000 looks at him back. There's no smile or welcome on her face. But the next day, when Equality 7-2521 passes. Liberty 5-3000 looks at him again. This time she smiles. Equality 7-2521 smiles back. Every morning afterwards, Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 greet each other with their eyes. Eventually they even progress to greeting each other with a hand gesture. Equality 7-2521 knows this is also high up on the list of things no one's supposed to do. He now definitely values one person more than everyone else, and that is bad. But he doesn't care. Now he feels for the first time as if it's actually good to be alive. Equality 7-2521 no longer thinks of Liberty 5-3000 as "Liberty 5-3000" anymore. In his mind, he calls her "the Golden One." Men and women are not supposed to think of each other like that, Equality 7-2521 says. Except, that is, during the one night each year that is appointed for the Time of Mating, when men and women "of age" are matched up with total strangers by the Council of Eugenics for an anonymous but biologically optimal roll in the hay. Afterwards, they never see their children. Equality 7-2521 does not like the Time of Mating. Anyway, the good news is that today , Equality 7-2521 actually spoke to the Golden One. Begin flashback. Equality 7-2521 was passing Liberty 5-3000. All the other women were far off in the field, and the Street Sweepers were a ways behind Equality 7-2521. Liberty 5-3000 was kneeling at a moat, looking at Equality 7-2521, and water was falling from her hands seductively. When she sees Equality 7-2521, Liberty 5-3000 walks to the hedge, looking straight at him all the while. . Equality 7-2521 tells Liberty 5-3000 she's beautiful and calls her by name. She gets a look of triumph in her eyes. Liberty 5-3000 asks Equality 7-2521 what his name is. When he tells her, she tells Equality 7-2521 that she does not think he is "one of her brothers," because she does not wish him to be... Equality 7-2521 says that Liberty 5-3000 is not one of his "sisters" either. She's different. Liberty 5-3000 asks if Equality 7-2521 always works the same stretch of road every day. He does. Liberty 5-3000 tells Equality 7-2521 his eyes are unlike any other man's. Equality 7-2521 asks Liberty 5-3000 how old she is. Evidently he's started to think about the Time of Mating. Liberty 5-3000 says she's seventeen. That means she hasn't yet been subjected to the Time of Mating. Equality 7-2521 can't bear the idea of anyone else touching her. The idea is actually so disgusting that for a moment there he finds himself hating all of his "fellow men." Three women start to approach from the field, and Liberty 5-3000 walks away. Later that night, in the dining hall, Equality 7-2521 starts to sing without realizing it, because he is "happy." He is of course reprimanded. Everyone must be happy at all times, but apparently they're not allowed to show it spontaneously. As Equality 7-2521 prepares himself for sleep, he looks around at his "brothers" and realizes that their eyes are dull, their bodies are hunched, and they never make eye contact. They're all afraid. In fact, fear is everywhere in the City. Everyone's afraid. But nobody talks about it. Nobody's allowed to. The flashback ends. Equality 7-2521 also feels fear most of the time when he's in the City. But when he's alone, in the tunnel, he doesn't. There is "no odor of men" there . Equality 7-2521 doesn't feel any fear when he looks at the sky, either. Or at the Uncharted Forest. The Uncharted Forest is a place outside the City no one is allowed to go. It's wild and dangerous. It's rumored there are even ruins from the Unmentionable Times there. Whenever Equality 7-2521 looks at the Uncharted Forest, he wonders about the Unmentionable Times. We now get to hear a little more about it. According to the Legends, Equality 7-2521 says, the Unmentionable Times ended with a great war between "the many" and "the few." The few were the Evil Ones. Suffice to say, the Evil Ones lost. When they did, everything they made was destroyed. All of their scripts and their words, were lost. The Great Rebirth began with a book burning. Equality 7-2521 wants to know what it was the Evil Ones wrote about. This is a tremendously evil desire, but still, he wants to know. In particular, there's one word, known as the Unspeakable Word, which no one can speak or hear. To speak the Unspeakable Word is the only crime punished by death. Although most people don't know what the Unspeakable Word is, somehow a few do. Once, when he was ten years old, Equality 7-2521 saw the execution of somebody who had said the Unspeakable Word. His tongue was cut out and he was burned publicly. But to Equality 7-2521, the Transgressor who was executed seemed nobler and happier than anyone else in the crowd, even as he was executed. To Equality 7-2521, he even seemed like a Saint. Equality 7-2521 tells us that when the flames began to engulf the Transgressor, he looked right into Equality 7-2521's eyes, and Equality 7-2521 saw pride. In that moment, Equality 7-2521 felt as if he'd been Chosen by the Transgressor to carry his torch. Equality 7-2521 wants to know: what is the Unspeakable Word the Transgressor learned, and died for?
cliffnotes
Sweeping the streets on the edge of town, Equality 7-2521 notices a young woman toiling in the fields. Even though it is forbidden for men to take notice of women, and women of men, he is immediately attracted to her. Her name is Liberty 5-3000, but he thinks of her only as the Golden One. One day she comes close to the road and smiles at him. Every day after that they greet each other with their eyes. He realizes that he violates the law, which states that men may not think of women except for one night during the Time of Mating. He breaks another law on the day that he speaks to the Golden One. He tells her that she is beautiful, and she replies that he is not one of her brothers, for she does not wish him to be. Though their language has no concepts to explain her meaning, he understands, at an emotional level, that she is expressing the right of preference -- that she holds him above and apart from all others as one who is special. Although he does not understand why it should occur to him, he asks suddenly how old she is. She understands, for she is 17. Equality 7-2521 vows to himself that he will not permit her to be taken to the Palace of Mating. He does not know how he will prevent it, he knows only that he will. He observes as he undresses at night that a feeling of fear hangs over the room, and no one is willing to speak what all seem to feel. He wonders, as he lies in bed at night, what the secrets were of the Unmentionable Times that have been lost. He thinks of what he has been taught: of the great fighting, in which many fought on one side and only a few on the other. He remembers that those few were the Evil Ones, and that they were destroyed along with all that was theirs. All the books of the Evils Ones were burned in the fires that raged across the land. Then came the Great Rebirth. But the words of the Unmentionable Times, he wonders. What were the words? He knows that one word especially must not be re-discovered and said. It is called the Unspeakable Word, but nobody knows what it is. He has seen, as a boy, what fate befalls the rare person who discovers this word. He saw such a fellow burned at the stake after his tongue had been ripped from his mouth. Before the flames consumed him, Equality 7-2521 believes that the Transgressor looked at him, making eye contact, as if to pass on some holy knowledge that he alone possessed. What, he wonders, is the Unspeakable Word?
In this chapter, Ayn Rand further develops Equality 7-2521's unconquerable independence of soul. In various aspects of life, he uncompromisingly follows his own mind rather than obeys the suppressive laws of the state. He refuses to ignore his growing love for Liberty 5-3000, though it is forbidden for men to notice women. He is attracted to her for reasons beyond her physical beauty, such as her straightness of backbone and fearless expression, outward signs of an independent spirit uncrushed by the stifling society in which she exists. Though they have had no more than eye contact and have not yet spoken, he knows immediately without words that they are kindred spirits. Equality 7-2521's friendship with International 4-8818 and especially his love for the Golden One are choices based on preference. He values these two, for personal characteristics that each possesses, above other members of society. Even in a society as thoroughly collectivized as this, individuality is impossible to eradicate. Each individual is unique and unrepeatable, and myriad differences exist between and among them. Ayn Rand agrees with the American principle that individuals should be equal before the law, but this is the only sense in which they are equal. Morally and psychologically, they are different from one another, and some are better, some are worse. In Anthem, Rand shows Equality 7-2521 to have greater independence than his brothers and sisters. He refuses to bow and obediently follow in the way that most members of this society do. Similarly, International 4-8818 is willing to think for himself. He draws, against the rules and despite his punishment; he refuses to inform on Equality 7-2521 though his silence violates all the laws. The Golden One, with her head high and her eyes scornful, also reveals an uncompromising moral character that stands out in this society. Human beings are not equal. They make different choices. Though many choose to accept and follow, some choose to think and live independently. The freethinking men and women of Anthem choose to have deeper, more intimate relationships with one another than with passive followers. They reject the egalitarianism of their society -- the belief that all human beings should be treated as absolute equals -- and live by the principle of individualism, choosing the men and women whom they value. In so doing, they refuse to permit personal values to perish from this earth. Personal values are critical to understanding why members of this society are unhappy, why some cry for no apparent reason, and why others scream uncontrollably in the night. An individual's happiness depends on an ability to pursue and attain values, those things personally important to that individual. Equality 7-2521, who loves science, is joyous when beneath the ground pursuing the studies so meaningful to him. But this society stifles an individual's freedom to pursue personal values, so it is to be expected that its citizens experience life as meaningless and painful, which is why Fraternity cries, and Solidarity screams in the night. Consciously, they have no knowledge of individuality and personal values, but at an emotional level, they experience the drab dreariness of a life devoid of meaning. They suffocate in an airtight society and gasp for breath. Equality 7-2521's independence is further shown in his wondering regarding the Unmentionable Times and, especially, the Unspeakable Word. These thoughts are strictly forbidden, and speaking them, punishable by death, but Equality 7-2521 is undaunted. His thirst for knowledge extends beyond scientific matters and includes questions of history and ethics. Regarding every important issue of life -- science, morality, love -- his is a freethinking mind eager to learn. Unlike his brothers, he is unafraid to explore and to ask questions that others would not dare to. His honest wondering about the Uncharted Forest foreshadows his bold decision to later flee there despite the dangers it presents to his life. The role of the Saint of the Pyre here is important. The dying man sees in Equality 7-2521 exactly what his teachers and the Golden One sees -- his height, his straightness of spine, his searching eyes. The transgressor recognizes his successor when he sees him, and exhorts him with his eyes not to surrender the independence of spirit that is uniquely his. This episode, too, hints at what is to come. Glossary Eugenics a system for improving the human species through control of hereditary factors in mating. Pyre a pile on which a dead body is burned, as in a funeral rite. Home of the Peasants place of residence for the women who toil in the fields outside of the city limits. Liberty 5-3000 lives here with the other women who engage in the work of farming. Golden One name that Equality 7-2521 gives in his own mind to Liberty 5-3000. He gives her this name not merely because her hair is as golden as the sun but also because the straightness of her carriage and the fearlessness of her eyes cause her to stand out, to shine forth from the other women. Time of Mating the period each spring when the state sends all men older than 20 and all women older than 18 to spend one night in the Palace of Mating. Babies are born every winter but are immediately taken from their mothers and raised by the state. The children never know who their parents are, and the parents do not know who their children are. Palace of Mating the building where the state-controlled breeding occurs. Sex is prohibited in this society except under the authority of the government, which permits it only for purposes of procreation. Council of Eugenics state agency that governs all sexual activity and procreation. Its members determine who will sleep with whom, based on the best interest of the state, not the happiness of the men and women involved. If all vestiges of individuality and personal choice are to be expunged, then the Council must be certain that the sexual partners have no attachment to, or feelings for, each other. Uncharted Forest heavily wooded area just outside the city and extends for many miles in distance. Many such unexplored forests range across the land and are believed to have grown over the ruins of the cities of the Unmentionable Times. Script Fire brief interval initiating the Great Rebirth following the defeat of the Evil Ones during which all books and writings were burned. Unspeakable Word the word "I," outlawed in this society under threat of death. The political rulers, in seeking to forbid all aspects of individualism, recognize that it is not sufficient to ban the actions of a personal life, but must also eradicate all thoughts of one.
novelguide
Rand's biblical tone continues in the next chapter as she begins her description of her protagonist's love affair with a certain Liberty 5-3000. Equality 7-2521 immediately admits that this love a violation of the Law of Preference, and in fact the law that no contact can be made between men and women except in the Palace of Mating, where the disdainful process of reproduction occurs. Liberty 5-3000 lives in the Home of Peasants outside the city, and often tends the fields near the road Equality 7-2521 is forced to sweep. He quickly spies her from the road, observing her eyes to be free from fear and guilt. He names her the "Golden One." Over the next few days the two begin to converse, both acknowledging their alienation from those around them. Over the next few days, Equality 7-2521 observes a stark contrast between the Golden One and the men in his own hall of Street Sweepers, explaining that while she is not afraid of anything, his coworkers live in a constant state of fear. Rand also sets up a contrast between Equality 7-2521's glorious tunnel, which is seen as pure and clean, and the "odor of men" he must confront in his compound. The end of chapter 2 begins to allude to the Unspeakable Word, the word that his society has lost to the ages. This word is connected with the Uncharted Forest, the Unmentionable Times and the Evil Ones who spoke it. Equality 7-2521 remembers the burning at the stake of a man who spoke the word a few years before.