Whitford   1  

Anthem: Rand’s Dismissal of Sin

Ayn Rand is quite possibly one of the most famous female philosophers of modern time.

Through her collectivist novels, she is renowned for her unique perspective on government and

lauded as a heroine of libertarianism. Even half a century past the publication of her novels, the

ideas she presented through them still impact society today. Yet, while she is most famous for

her beliefs on government, the subtle undertones of her novel, Anthem, may lead the reader to

delve deeper into her worldview. Through Anthem’s protagonist, Prometheus, also known as

Equality 7-2521, Rand coveys her conviction that man cannot be free until he rejects the concept

of moral authority. Since Prometheus’ relationship with government is inseparable from his

relationship with religion, a complete rejection of both is presented as the only means to his

freedom.

In the beginning of the novel, Rand establishes an inseparability of moral authority and

government, which binds Prometheus to the course that has been determined for him. The first

lines of the book say, “IT IS A SIN TO WRITE THIS. It is a sin to think words no others think

and to put them down on a paper no others are to see…We have broken the laws…May we be

forgiven” (17). The first thing Rand does upon establishing the story and characters of Anthem is

introduce the reader to the fictional society’s concept of sin; the idea that the government of the

book strictly controls the ideology of good and evil; that the standard of right and wrong is based

on what is deemed law. The root of “all evil” is listed as breaking the law of being alone.

As soon as the reader is familiar with the initial concept of sin, he or she is shown how

Prometheus struggles with a seemingly dichotic relationship between good versus evil. Before he

even introduces his name, he tells of the light that he must not waste because he needs it for the

Whitford   2  

work, which is his crime (18). He tells how he is born with a curse because his body has grown

taller than his brothers. Then he says how he also is cursed with a mind that “has always driven

us to think thoughts which are forbidden…We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us

and no power to resist it” (18). Rand uses these lines to show that Prometheus is a helpless

victim of his desires. Although he cannot reconcile these desires with his actions, he is incapable

of forsaking them. The government in Prometheus’s city imposes laws in the same capacity

which religion typically regulates moral behavior, by declaring all it opposes to be sin. The use

of the term “sin” draws the reader to associate all acts against the government with deep moral

reprehensibility.

This initial realization will follow Prometheus through the entire novel as he attempts to

free himself from government regulations only to be controlled by the internal concept of “sin”

with which he was indoctrinated. Prometheus’ brothers are unable to see how the government

controls them because they place a religion-like faith into the “Great Truth,” which is that all

men are one and must function as a collective whole” (18).

Another way the line between government and religion is obscured is by Rand’s use of

religious language for government activities. She attempts to draw the reader into contempt of

the church by describing heinous government activity in terms typically reserved for sacred

worship. Three terms Rand uses to associate government with church, apart from the terms “sin”

and “curse,” would be the use of the words “brother,” “worship,” and “hymns,” which are sung

during the social meeting.

Twice Prometheus mentions the concept of working to remit his sins, an ideology often

associated by the Christian works-based salvation theory. The first mention is when he receives

his life mandate, a position lower than he desired, “We knew we had been guilty, but now we

Whitford   3  

had a way to atone for it. We would accept our life mandate, and we would work for our

brothers, gladly and willingly, and we would erase our sin against them” (26).

His second reference to earning a remission for his sins is when he is heading to the

Council with his discovery of the light box and he says, “We shall confess everything to them.

They will see, understand, and forgive. For our gift is greater than our transgression” (61).

Rand’s purposeful inclusion of these two instances further reinforces the association of

government and religion as equal entities.

Once Rand has established the innate connection between government and religion, she is

able to take Prometheus through a series of events that will shape his view of sin and change his

relationship with God and government forever.

Through the struggles Prometheus encounters with his curse and the sins he commits, he

begins to question the existence of good and evil as he knows it. The reader first sees Prometheus

begin to doubt the true evilness of his sin when he accidentally happens upon an old abandoned

subway tunnel, leftover from the “Unmentionable Times.” Although at this time his doubt is not

overt, a seed has been planted in his mind that all which seems evil may not always work for evil

in the end. Because Prometheus is still in a state of indoctrination, he says regarding his find,

“This is a foul place. They are damned who touch the things of the Unmentionable Times” (32).

Yet, though he says this, his subconscious is in conflict with the idea, for the next line continues

to say, “But our hand which followed the track, as we crawled, clung to the iron as if it would

not leave it.” He notices here the way his psyche interprets the dichotomy of good and evil, as

though neither are truly as defined or opposite as he has been led to believe all his life.

Prometheus knows that the sins he commits are considered wrong, yet he cannot justify

by their outcomes that they are purely evil. When he sneaks down into the tunnel with the stolen

Whitford   4  

manuscripts and candles, he begins to understand his wrongdoing as something that is actually

beneficial. Though he still considers the actions to be “sin” he also acknowledges “And in these

two years [of reading the manuscripts] we have learned more than we had learned in the ten

years in the Home of the Students” (36). Rand shows the reader through this portion of the book

that though Prometheus has committed crimes, he actually cannot be held accountable for them

as evil because in the end, the actions accomplish good; they better Prometheus as an

intellectual.

Prometheus also is introduced to the beautiful concept of love through his forbidden

experiences with the Golden One. Though he knows preference to be a crime, he cannot believe

in his heart that loving with a true and pure love could actually be a sin.

As Prometheus continues to commit his crimes, his heart and mind begin to harden to the

concept of sin and by that he begins to feel a greater sense of peace and personal freedom.

Though he is still technically under the control of his government, beginning to reject the

concept of moral authority has already allowed him to experience a greater sense of self-

awareness. Prometheus realizes for the first time in his life that although he has sinned, “there is

no shame in us and no regret” (37). He feels no burden of wrongdoing and no fear. “Strange are

the ways of evil! In our heart there is the first peace we have known in twenty years” (37).

Though he has yet to expressly denounce the existence of sin, Prometheus lays here the mental

foundation for the moral choices he will later make.

A second way Prometheus begins to see good and evil as existing not as opposites but as

equal choices on a parallel plane is from the impact good actions have on his brothers. He sees

how his brothers live in fear due to the perceived consequences of evil. He also sees them

develop apathetic, hopeless spirits. When he is caught singing during an inappropriate time, he

Whitford   5  

talks about how although all men are bade to be happy, few are. He says,

The heads of our brothers are bowed. The eyes of our brothers are dull, and never do they

look one another in the eyes. The shoulders of our brothers are hunched and their muscles

are drawn, as if they are shrinking and wished to shrink out of sight. And a word steals

into our mind, as we look upon our brothers, and that word is fear (46).

He also tells of how the brothers must believe that “It is not good to feel too much Joy nor to be

glad our body lives. For we matter not and it must not matter to us whether we live or die” (46-

47). Prometheus begins to renounce the reality of good and evil after watching his brothers lives

conflict with what he feels the rewards and consequences should be.

As the novel progresses, Prometheus realizes that the concept of sin is what has been

holding him captive. Although through most of the book the government is blamed for

controlling thoughts and actions, Prometheus realizes that his own perceptions of right and

wrong are truly what have been controlling him.

For Prometheus’s struggle with sin, the pivotal point in the novel is when he takes his

discovery of light to the Scholars hoping to gain acceptance from it. He believes up until

speaking with the Scholars that the good outcome of the discovery will overshadow the

wrongness of breaking rules to discover it. Yet, when he goes before them, he sees that the

Scholars are not even interested in his discovery; all they care about is the fact that he discovered

the light on his own and what all men have not thought together must be evil. When Prometheus

hears their response, he experiences a revelation of self-awareness. He sees here how he really

cares more about himself than he does brother man, even more than he cares about doing that

which is “right.” He admits, “We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good

of our brothers. We built it for our own sake. It is above all our brothers to us, and is truth above

Whitford   6  

their truth” (76). This revelation frees Prometheus to act on his desires and not care about what

others say or feel. As Prometheus runs into the Uncharted Forest away from the Scholars who

wish to punish him for his sins, he discovers elements of himself that he would never have been

able to know while he was under the influence of the government’s moral authority.

Prometheus discovers the beauty of his own countenance as he rejects the doctrine of sin.

When he first enters the Uncharted Forest, he stops by a stream to drink and sees his face for the

very first time. He recognizes his own beauty and remembers that he is the “damned.” Yet, this

time, for the first time in his life, instead of believing in his own damnation, he laughs.

The Golden One follows Prometheus into the forest because she also understands the

journey of self discovery that Prometheus has taken and the positive impact rejecting sin has had

on his outlook. She explains her desire to join in his discovery, “We have followed you…and we

shall follow you wherever you go. If danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death, we

shall die with you. You are damned and we wish to share your damnation” (82). She says, “We

wish to be damned with you, rather than blessed with our brothers” (83). The Golden One says

this to Prometheus, not meaning that she believes they will be damned to hell in the traditional

concept of the term, but that if being “damned” is what it is called when someone discovers the

meaning of truth and happiness, then, damnation is certainly better than the misery known before

as blessing. Prometheus responds to her perception with the phrase “Let us forget their good and

our evil.” He is not referring to forgetting those actions he did that were evil and those of his

brothers which were good, but more wholly to forget altogether the doctrines of “good” and

“evil.” He no longer cares if something is labeled as “sin,” for he will not let that label influence

his decisions any longer. The only thing he will allow to impact what he does will be his feelings

toward that choice.

Whitford   7  

Now that both Prometheus and the Golden One, have rejected the idea of moral authority,

they are able to experience for the first time, the ecstasy of an intimate relationship. Prior to

coming to this point of moral rejection, anytime Prometheus and the Golden One showed favor

to one another they were blanketed with guilt. They could not enjoy each other’s company for

the nagging feeling of sin. Now that they were freed from that concept, Prometheus “knew that

to hold the body of a woman in our arms is neither ugly nor shameful, but the one ecstasy

granted to the race of man” (84).

The farther Prometheus journeys into the forest, the further he is freed from moral

concept. As he experiences the joys of solitude and the satisfaction of working to hunt for his

food, he reflects, “If that which we have found is the corruption of solitude, then what can man

wish for save corruption? If this is the great evil of being alone, then what is good and what is

evil?” (85).

Although Prometheus rejected the laws much earlier in the book, to an extend he still

believed in their truth. Now that he is separating himself from morality, his true thoughts and

feelings emerge. He realizes, “We have broken the law, but we have never doubted it. Yet, now

as we walk through the forest, we are learning to doubt” (86). He conjectures that there is one

error in the thinking of men, yet he says he does not know what that is. Through this statement,

Rand is prodding the reader to come to the same conclusions she has toward the morality of man;

that the frightful error man makes is not to do that which is sin, but it is to believe that that which

is truth can be found outside of oneself. She wants the reader to conclude from Prometheus’s

discoveries that the concept of moral authority and its definition of right and wrong go hand in

hand with the control of government and leads to the stymied progression of society.

Though Prometheus claims not to understand the downfall of man, he does understand

Whitford   8  

how he is aiming to be different. For instead of looking to the councils or to a higher power for

direction in his life, now that he has capacity of total freedom, he chooses to look for guidance

from within himself, “We look ahead, we beg our heart for guidance in answering this call no

voice has spoken, yet we have heard” (93). “May Knowledge come to us! What is the secret our

heart has understood and yet will not reveal to us, although it seems to beat as if it were

endeavoring to tell?” (93). He has not yet come to his overt conclusion of the deity of man, yet

Rand has conditions the reader for Prometheus’ revelation which will come in the next few

pages.

Prometheus suddenly finds the answer to all his questions. The spiral of rejection and

self-reflection he has participated in for the previous pages now culminates in the main message

of Rand’s story. When Prometheus reads the manuscripts he finds in the abandoned house in the

uncharted forest, he makes the greatest discovery of all. He finds the use of first person

pronouns, which releases him to understand the meaning of who he is and why he exists. He

declares upon learning the use of first person pronouns, “I am the meaning. I wished to find a

warrant for being. I need no warrant and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant

and the sanction” (94). No longer will Prometheus need to question life or morality for he has

discovered that all the answers and meaning are already within himself. “The guiding star is

within me…my happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its

own purpose” (94).

Now Prometheus not only rejects the idea of his curse of sin being bad, but he is thankful

for the way sinning has led him to discover the greater meaning of life. For without his

impetuous curiosity, he never would have found the tunnel in the city; he never would have

risked his life and livelihood to read the manuscripts by candlelight many evenings in secret; nor

Whitford   9  

ever discover light, present it to the council and run off into the wilderness. He realizes that

though all of these actions were “wrong” they have brought him so much good he cannot

imagine how terrible his life would still be without having done them. He says,

I understood the blessed thing which I had called my curse. I understood why the best in

me had been my sins and my transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins. I

understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kills the spirit of man nor the sense

of truth within him (98).

Prometheus has attained complete freedom through a total rejection of the concept of sin.

Although Ayn Rand is most famous for her writings against collectivism, a deeper look

into her novel Anthem will reveal that Rand not only writes against government, but she also

writes against the concept of moral authority. In Anthem, Rand portrays Prometheus as a

character who is bound by an indoctrinated belief of sin. The government in Prometheus’ city

uses the idea of moral authority to control its subjects in much the same way Rand believes

society uses the concept of religion to control people. Rand establishes her worldview by

painting Prometheus as a character who must undergo a transformation in belief before being

able to experience freedom.

Prometheus comes to discover truth and freedom at the end of the book once he has

rejected the concept of sin. He realizes that not only has the government and his brothers

enslaved him by using consequences for his actions, they have enslaved him by teaching him the

concept of right and wrong. By seeing how his “wrong” actions produce desirable results,

Prometheus is able to declare the government’s teaching of morality as false and establish his

own concept of truth, which he finds from within himself. Since Prometheus can see his sins

leading him in a direction that promotes his understanding of good, he cannot justify them as

Whitford   10  

wrong. Even though he does not initially reject the idea of his sins being evil, he cannot find

within himself the power not to continue sinning. Prometheus never believes that his curse is

something for which he should be responsible. Through this book, Rand shows how Prometheus’

coming to reject the concept of sin leads him to achieve freedom by not allowing government to

use the convention of religion to control its citizens. Prometheus’ relentless dismissal of sin leads

him to reject the concept of moral authority and discover self-awareness and egoistical freedom.

Whitford   11  

Work Cited

Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Signet, 1996. Print.