The stoning of people was a tradition practiced by many countries as a means of punishing a citizen for committing a crime. It went on for centuries, until someone finally realized the true horror of the act. Life is full of traditions that people uphold only because their ancestors did before them. However, there comes a time when traditions, even those practiced for thousands of years, are no longer beneficial to society or yourself. All it takes is for someone to realize their immorality. In Ayn Rand's Anthem the word “I” no longer exists in society. Everyone is called the royal "us", but a young man named Equality 7-2521 begins to question, reluctantly at first, this act. Equality 7-2521 has been different from the beginning and he knows he is special, even if he doesn't want to be. Rand's life experiences played an important role in his work. He uses his escape from Russian society as the basis for Equality's journey to individual freedom. Ayn uses other symbols such as light, the Unexplored Forest and manuscripts, to drive home the idea of ​​individualism. At this moment the only light available to the citizens of this society is that of candles, Equality 7-2521 in fact creates a light bulb and brings it to people. The Uncharted Forest is a forbidden forest that holds relics of the pre-Great Rebirth era. Equality 7-2521 must hide in the forest after his plans for greatness go awry. Anthem is told to us from Equality's point of view as he writes on manuscripts he has stolen. Furthermore, after finding an old house in the forest, Equality 7-2521 finds dozens of manuscripts which he reads and eventually discovers the words "I". These symbols help increase his hatred of collectivism. At the same time she strikes… at the center of the card… the self must come first and all else will follow. This is exactly the idea that Equality 7-2521 modeled after. Equality 7-2521 “emphasizes the idea that respect for oneself and one's freedom requires similar respect for the freedom of other selves” (Cox np), so his idea of ​​selfishness is not mistaken for selfishness which is the intrinsic need to control others. Rand wanted a society where the only control is you controlling yourself. The idea of ​​a collective unit thinking and acting the same way disgusted by Ayn and her past experiences is a good indicator of why this happens. He wrote Anthem to tell his story, in a hyperbolized way, to show people that collectivism harms members of his society. No one except the people at the top can thrive in a collectivist society and that is why Equality 7-2521, much like Rand herself, had to run away and start over..