Anthem
Anthem
by Ayn Rand

Anthem Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Sometimes, there’s more to Lit than meets the eye.

Biblical and Mythological Overtones

Anthem has this mythic and ancient feel about it, and at times it even reads as if it were a work of scripture. A large part of that is because of the style in which it's written. (See "Writing Sty...

Light and Water

There's a lot of light symbolism in Anthem, which helps to add to the mythic/religious feel of the story. The most important instance of it centers around Equality 7-2521's invention of a light bul...

The Uncharted Forest

Can you think of a more perfect name for the place where our hero goes to leave his society behind and find himself?The Uncharted Forest is in part a symbol of the unknown. It embodies all those my...

Images of Self-Reliance

Self-reliance was a big deal for Ayn Rand, and Anthem is chock full of classic images of self-reliance. Equality 7-2521's scientific researches are individual, and he discovers electricity all by h...
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