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Anthem
Anthem
drink from a river (We knelt down by the stream and we bent down to drink and we saw
our own face for the first time. (Rand 80)). Before making this discovery, no one had known
what they looked like. The Forest had not been explored and it was said that the myths the people
had heard were all stories made up (But our Councils say that this is only a legend. (Rand 48)).
Equality states that he did not know where he was going, but he ran anyway (But we ran. We
knew not where we were going. We knew only that we must run to the end of the world.
(Rand 75)). This meant that Equality had no idea where to go or where to stay, but he trusted
himself to do what was best while he was running from the Council.
The Uncharted Forest also represents fear, denial, and isolation a trait that many people
had when they had heard about the myths. Equality had several questions he had asked himself
about the society he had previously lived in, as well as the difference between good and evil
(But questions come to us again, as we walk in silence. If that which we have found is the
corruption of solitude, then what can men wish for save corruption? If this is the great evil of
being alone, then what is good and what is evil? Yet now, as we walk through the forest, we
are learning to doubt. (Rand 85-86)). The Council had made sure everyone had been taught the
same thing, making sure that no one else would learn anything new that would reveal the truth.
When Equality had discovered good and evil, he began to doubt himself and what he was
taught. The lightbulb that Equality and his friends put together in the tunnels was against the
Councils mores of doing a job that wasnt theirs. Within isolation, Equality and Liberty were the
only two in the Forest.
Symbols represent some hidden meaning in a book. Ayn Rands Anthem has multiple
symbols, but the Uncharted Forest has the most value. It represents the unknown, mystery and
curiosity, as well as fear, denial, and isolation of the characters.