Miguel Santos Period 6 February 10, 2011 ANTHEM ESSAY “The meaning of man’s ego.” Ayn Rand is known for believing in individual rights and egoism and opposing against collectivism such as communism, fascism and socialism(as well as some others). In her story of Anthem tells about the society of which people lived an life controlled by the government, until the main characters decides to escape (though not at the same at first) from this and live on their own, independently which results into a self discovery for them as they learn things that was forbidden by the government’s strict policies. The theme illustrates the story because it’s about being independent and being in charge on your own like a leader rather then being a follower. By being independent, you’re learning and discovering things that are new to you, just like how Equality and Liberty learned how to be on their own and using the word, “I”. How the theme illustrates the characters is self discovery. Once they were able to escape the hell of their society and into the woods, they were open to a whole new world as they find new land. They find a house and upon looking around the library, there they see the word, “I” and it’s in that moment where egoism comes in to play a major for both of them because they see the value of its expression. Eventually, both the characters renamed themselves to assume their newfound identities. Liberty names Equality, Prometheus the “Unconquered” while Equality names Liberty, Gaea the “Golden One”. In a way, the theme also explains how that once the characters escaped, they realized at that moment that they were free and they didn’t have to do anything they were told to do and they start to feel more confident because of this as well as having a new understanding of the world that surrounds them.