Anthem

The short story Anthem follows the mind opening journey of a street sweeper: Equality 7-2521. In this Dark Age, Society no longer has a concept of "I", rather they have developed a hive mind set. From the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep all is carefully controlled by the Ruling Council. Equality 7-2521 is thinking on his own though: he is vain, intelligent, and beautiful. He has known this from a young age, because he never quite fit in no matter how hard he tried to conform.

This is as far into the story as I will go for fear of spoiling the read.

The drive and theme behind this book is ego. This book is a comment on individualism and how it is necessary in order to be creative, innovative, and progressive. The word ego is unfairly paired with condescending under tones but in reality ego is a highlight on each mans skills, talents, and beauty. This book begs not only the question "where is our society headed?" but "who am I?" If we begin to ask the second question more often that the first we begin to shape our society into a more productive center of life. Each human being has a wild mind that is always firing off and making new connections, if we contain those ideas how will we ever grow? Society is focused on working for a higher power, but imagine if each individual worked to better himself. Would we not have a human race that is continually developing and growing? This book remind me of the renaissance man - a man praised for being a well rounded individual and having knowledge that spans over many different topics, skills, and ideas. These are the kinds of people we need to be praising and raising up, not the kind that allow their lives to be a question. Discover yourselves, and unlock a whole new world of possibilities. This book is a great read and will expand your mind and give you a new perspective on the concept of "I."