I have been listening to the audio version of Ayn Rand's Anthem and am therefore
rediscovering the story. I don't remember when I first read it, whether it was
in high school or in college, but at the time I felt inspired for the first
time. I didn't have the words then to explain what I felt, though I suppose it
was similar to Rand's definition of sense of life as "the wordless feeling that
this is what life is about." I felt inspired by it in ways that I have never
felt inspired by her other works.
Now, having re-experienced the novel, I can state more precisely what it was
that struck me so deeply. First of all, this is a more youthful, idealistic
story than any of Rand's other works. The "perfection" of Howard Roark orJohn
Galt is missing here, as is the grimness of the worlds of Atlas Shrugged and We
the Living. (The former is almost unbearably grim to me--it is a story fraught
with loneliness, in which the heroes are the sole beacons of light in a world
committed to darkness...)
Instead, Anthem is about a young man (Equality 7-2521, later re-named
Prometheus) coming to learn what it is to be a free human being, and in so
learning discovering, as he states soon after re-uniting with his true love,
"what joy is possible to men on earth." This young man at first unquestioningly
accepts the irrational beliefs of his society, believing himself to be "evil"
because he cannot fit into this world. He longs to rid himself of the "curse" of
curiosity so that he can be one with his fellow men. I believe that this is not
only because his society has taught him that the many is always good and the one
always evil, but because he knows somehow that he does not and cannot fit in
here, and on some level wishes to belong.
I have been this young man who wants so desperately to belong that he tries to
act upon his intelligence and disown it at the same time. He has lived inside
me.
Anyway, Anthem is the story of how Prometheus comes to find and follow his own
path. Along the way he is joined by a young woman whom he first re-names The
Golden One, and then Gaia, and currently this aspect of the story is the part
that most fascinates me. When our hero runs away to the uncharted forest, Gaia
follows him:
"They raised their head, and there was a great pride in their voice; they
answered, 'We have followed you.'...
Their white tunic was torn, and the branches had cut the skin of their arms, but
they spoken as if they had never taken notice of it, nor of weariness, nor of
fear.
'We have followed you,' they said, 'and we shall follow you wherever you go. If
danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death, we shall die also.
You are damned and we wish to share your damnation.'
They looked upon us, and their voice was low, but there was bitterness and
triumph in their voice:
'Your eyes are as a flame, but our brothers have neither hope nor fire. Your
mouth is cut of granite, but our brothers are soft and humble. Your head is
high, but our brothers cringe. You walk, but our brothers crawl. We wish to be
damned with you, rather than blessed with all our brothers. Do as you please
with us, but do not send us away.'"
I find this to be one of the most romantic passages in any love story I have
ever read. I take from it my own ideal for romance: to share my life with a
person whose vision of life and of integrity are as passionate as my own. To
love and be loved so deeply and so strongly that nothing could tear us apart
from one another, not even the cruelty of a world that does not understand.
I can see the shadows of Howard Roark et al in this passage, and yet it is
different, because these two people intend to share their lives with one
another, and their hopes, and their struggles. This is the only one of Rand's
novels where the love story seems an integral part of the novel--sure, there is
romance in her other works, but they seem to be side issues, one small part of
illustrating the perfect man or the proper philosophy.
I have drifted from my major point, which is that this is a story of idealism.
Prometheus almost loses his life because he foolishly believes that his world
will forgive him for the "transgression" of working alone when they see that he
has invented a light that will benefit them. Even when he has grown apart from
that world, he does not give up this idealism; in his final speech he states
that he will someday return to the City in order to rescue his friends and those
whose spirit is still alive. I feel sad and exhilarated at once when I read that
passage, because I know that if he were to return to the City, the City would
attempt to destroy him. And yet I love the spirit of a boy-becoming-man who
wants to give freedom to his friends as he has given it to himself, and believes
that truth and virtue will triumph, even knowing the way others have used his
virtues against him.
A couple of other things strike me about Anthem. First, a somewhat technical
point: this book is more a poem than a novel, and I think that is part of its
appeal to me. I am, in part, a poet, and I feel closer to Prometheus than Rand's
other heroes because he "stares at the stars too long at night" and notices the
way the sky changes color. Prometheus sees beauty even in this horrible world he
has been born into, and perhaps this is yet another example of his idealism: he
cannot believe in the existence of pure evil.
The other point I want to make is more important, in terms of why Anthem is so
significant a novel to me.
For several months, I suffered from a major depression based on loneliness. The
details are too personal to go into here, but suffice it to say that
Prometheus's speech in Chapter 11 helped save my life. I learned from it to
reserve my love for those people who truly deserved it, and in so doing totally
lost the need to be loved by everybody. As a result, not only am I happier and
freer in general, but the friends I so desperately sought seem to suddenly be
drawn to me, and my social life is blossoming.
And so, here are some significant excerpts from that speech. I hope it affects
or has affected others as it has me.
FROM Anthem Chapter 11:
"...I wished to know the meaning of things. I AM the meaning of things.
...
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It
is my ears that hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It
is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only
searchlight which can find the truth.
...
Many words have been granted me, and some are wise, and some are false, but only
three are holy: "I will it!"
Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me, the guiding star and the
lodestone which point the way.
...
I am a man! This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard. and
mine to use, and mine to kneel before!
I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my spirit
is not to be blown into coins of brass to be thrown to the wind as alms for the
poor of spirit.
...
I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned.
I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I shall
choose only such who please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither
command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, and walk alone when
we so desire.
...
What is my joy, if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my
wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all
creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life if
I am but to bow, to agree, and to obey?"
***
I am a writer. I am working on a new version of the myth of Icarus, intended to
be a celebration of his idealism and passion instead of a tragedy. I have
dedicated the work, in part, to Ayn Rand, because Anthem has had such a
significant impact upon me. I only hope that I will have the ability to write as
fine a novel and impact others's lives as significantly.
I often wonder what happened to Prometheus and Gaia after their son was born and
their new city built. Perhaps someday I will have the honor of writing a sequel
to this wonderful book. I hope, in any case, that Prometheus never lost his
benevolent spirit, his idealism, or his zest for life. I hope he never gave up
his belief that people were basically good and that their spirits were capable
of being re-awakened.
Long live the spirit found in Anthem.