Anthem, written by Any Rand, is a novel supposedly about the human struggle for individuality and the need for a strong sense of identity. While this novel does deal very well with the main character's struggle for self, the female character is completely forgotten. The male character, Equality 7-2521, seizes his chance for freedom from the group but the female, or Golden One as Equality calls her, is never given an opportunity to achieve independence. For example, all of the women are peasants and are not given he chance to go to school or be put in a place of high honor like the men are. When Equality has to run away into the uncharted forest after showing the House of Scholars his light, Golden One follows him. He was not going to go back for her had she not followed his footprints. Once they find the house of glass in the woods Equality beings reading the books he finds and decides to call himself Prometheus and she listens and calls him that, then he chooses her name to be Gaea and she once again obeys without question. Why is it that the male chooses her name and she just obeys? The female communtiy deserves free choice on an equal level with men and should not just follow and listen. This is incredibly unequal and does not in any way promote self expression. This book is gender bias and not fair to women who are never given true freedom. I was curious as to why a woman would write a novel where the men are in control so I researched her biography. I found that Ayn Rand was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia during the time of communism and later moved to America. This made more sense to me, perhaps Rand's writing about personal freedom was already a stretch and the idea of personal freedom was a bigger issue to her when compared to feminism.
My favorite quote from this novel was on page 72. "Our brothers! You are right. Let the will of the Council be done upon our body. We do not care. But the light? What will you do with the light?" I liked this quote because it demonstrates human love. When a person truely loves another they only wish for that person to be safe and is willing to give up their life to save the other person. Althogh Equality was not trying to save a person, but rather a light, it is almost like the practice for when he is with the Golden One. He is learning to be a man in our society, first he wishs for a place of his own (the tunnel), then to have the ability to create ( the light) and now he is learning to love. I thought it was interesting to read Equality make the change from a part of the crowd to an individual and I think this quote shows that.
I liked this novel and thought it was a short and easy read. I like the message about personal freedom and the power of the individual, but I really disliked the male dominance aspect. I think that the novel would have been better, had the woman come into her own and learn to make decisions for herself rather than follow the man she loved. Perhaps this is also demonstrating the roles in male female relationships, where the power is never equal. One person is always more dominant and maybe Golden One loves Equality enough not to care that he is the dominant one. I do not agree with the male power in this book but I do think the novel was an interesting read.
