PART SIX -anthem

After thirty days of silence, Equality 7-2521 returns to his journal, detailing the consequence of his absence from the City Theatre due to preoccupation with his invention. Caught for missing the communal event, he is confronted by the Council of the Home of the Street Sweepers. When questioned about his whereabouts, Equality 7-2521 refuses to betray the secret of his discovery, declaring, “We will not tell you.” This refusal leads to his capture and sentencing to the Palace of Corrective Detention, a grim punishment chamber without windows and furnished only with an iron post for the administration of lashes.

In the Palace of Corrective Detention, Equality 7-2521 endures a brutal whipping, the details of which are vividly conveyed. He describes the initial blows as severing pain, followed by a numbed detachment punctuated by acute agony. Throughout this torture, he remains silent, the repeated inquiries of “Where have you been?” answered only in his mind by a defiant allegiance to “The light.” This ordeal leaves him physically broken but spiritually unyielded, finding a grim satisfaction in having protected the secret of his light despite the severe physical cost.

Recovery is slow in the solitary cell, where he is confined without explanation. The cell’s entrance is marked by the sporadic appearance of judges and guards who deliver sustenance or further interrogate him, all of whom he confronts with silence or cryptic responses. Throughout these interactions, Equality 7-2521’s focus remains on his creation, the light that represents his individual achievement and defiance of the collective ethos that governs the City.

Through this chapter, Ayn Rand explores themes of individualism versus collectivism, the spirit of defiance against oppressive regimes, and the personal sacrifice required for the sake of one’s values and discoveries. Equality 7-2521’s experiences in the Palace of Corrective Detention symbolize the broader struggle of the individual against the conformity and repression demanded by his society. Despite physical captivity and suffering, his commitment to his invention and what it represents—personal achievement and the potential for a new way of life—remains unshaken, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit in the face of tyranny.