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A character in Anthem

Equality 7-2521 / Prometheus

Equality is the narrator, a twenty-one-year-old Street Sweeper whose intelligence and curiosity make him feel guilty in a society that worships sameness.

The book

Cover of Anthem by Ayn Rand
AnthemAyn Rand, 1938

A society removes the word I and turns equality into the control of every individual life.

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Who they are in the book

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Equality is the narrator, a twenty-one-year-old Street Sweeper whose intelligence and curiosity make him feel guilty in a society that worships sameness. He wants to understand nature, choose his work, and love one person freely. His secret experiments lead to the rediscovery of electricity. After the Scholars reject him, he escapes, discovers the word “I,” renames himself Prometheus, and plans a new individualist society.

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