If Equality 7-2521 is “not like our brothers,” then neither is the woman he loves: Liberty 5-3000, the heroine of Ayn Rand’s Anthem. But what kind of a woman is Liberty 5-3000? In this lesson, you’ll examine some of the secondary characters in Anthem, focusing mainly on Liberty 5-3000, but also looking briefly at Equality 7-2521’s friend, International 4-8818. In a society of docile, fear-ridden drones, what qualities of character must one possess to pursue one’s own, independent values on one’s own initiative?

Spoiler alert: This lesson assumes that students have read Anthem.