What is the summary of Chapter 1 in Anthem?

Equality 7-2521 explains that all children begin in the Home of Infants where they stay until they are five years old. Then they move to the Home of the Students until they are fifteen. At fifteen the Council of Vocations chooses their jobs for them, and they must go to work.

What is the first chapter of Anthem about by Ayn Rand?

As the story opens, Equality 7-2521 states that it is a sin to do the writing he is doing. It is a sin to do things that do not involve others, and the words he thinks and writes are for no eyes or ears but his. This is not his only crime.

What is the summary of Anthem?

Lesson Summary Her novel Anthem tells the story of a society destroyed by collectivism, the philosophy that individuals exist only to contribute to the well-being of society. In the novel, everyone is forced to be equal and to think the same. There is no more I, just we.

What is the theme of chapter one in Anthem?

Equality 7-2521 is Rand’s prophet, in the sense that he rejects all the collectivism that has come before him and ushers in a new age of individualism. His society rejects him because he is superior to it, both intellectually and physically, and, most important for Rand, in his belief that the self is important.

What happens in chapter 2 of Anthem?

In chapter two, Equality meets a woman named Liberty 5-3000. She works in the Home of the Peasants, and he clearly likes her. This chapter begins with some of the most descriptive words that appear in the novel as Equality describes watching Liberty 5-3000.

What is the ending of Anthem?

The take-away message of the ending is that the individual human ego is the highest and most holy thing that exists. In Equality 7-2521’s view, the ego is what gives meaning to the world, and what gives human beings a reason for living (their own happiness).

Is Anthem a short story?

Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in the United Kingdom. The story takes place at an unspecified future date when mankind has entered another Dark Age.

What happens in chapter 3 of Anthem?

In Chapter 3 of Anthem, we hear about how Equality 7-2521 discovers electricity. While in his underground tunnel laboratory, he cuts open a dead frog and one of its legs move. Equality finds that this is caused by his knife touching a copper wire and the salt water in the frog’s body.

What happened in Chapter 5 of Anthem?

In Chapter 5 of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality 7-2521 figures out how to make light with electricity. He is thrilled with his discovery and he wants right away to share it with the World Council of Scholars, in order that it might be used to make the world a better place.

Why is Anthem called Anthem?

Leonard Peikoff explains the meaning behind this title: “[Rand] is (implicitly) upholding the central principles of her philosophy and of her heroes: reason, values, volition, individualism.” Thinking that the original title was too blunt, unemotional, and would give away too much of the theme, Rand changed the title …

Why is ego the last word in Anthem?