Anthem

Equality 7-2521

Also known as Prometheus

The narrator, formerly known as Equality 7-2521, who discovers the word “I” in the books found in the house and chooses the name Prometheus. They plan to rebuild lost knowledge and establish a new home with Gaea and their chosen friends.

Liberty 5-3000

Also known as The Golden One · The Unconquered · Gaea

Equality 7-2521’s beloved, who follows them into the Uncharted Forest and chooses the name Gaea. She is pregnant with their son, whom they plan to raise as a free individual.

International 4-8818

Equality 7-2521’s close friend, whom they plan to summon from the City to join their new community.

Fraternity 2-5503

A quiet young man who sometimes cries and shakes without knowing why. Equality 7-2521 plans to invite him to join their new community.

Solidarity 9-6347

A bright, fearless young man who calls for help in the night; the Doctors cannot cure him. Equality 7-2521 plans to invite him to join their new community.

Prometheus

An ancient man described in the books Equality 7-2521 reads; he brought the light of the gods to humanity and suffered for it. Equality chooses his name as a new personal name.

Gaea

A goddess described in the books as the mother of the earth and the gods. Liberty 5-3000 chooses this name, and Equality 7-2521 says she is pregnant with their son.

Equality 7-2521’s son

The unborn child of Equality 7-2521 and Gaea, whom they plan to raise to value individual thought and freedom.

Men of the Unmentionable Times

The people who lived in the ancient house found by Equality 7-2521 and Gaea; its two beds suggest that two people lived there. Their books and inventions preserve knowledge from the past.

Early defenders of individual freedom

A few unnamed people from the distant past who, according to Equality 7-2521’s reflections, resisted the worship of “We” and died after their warnings went unheeded.

Teachers

The instructors at the Home of the Students who teach the children conformity and assign work according to the Councils. They punish Equality 7-2521 for being unusually quick-minded and inquisitive.

Old Ones

Elderly people sent to the Home of the Useless at forty, where they live until they die. They are also said to whisper about the Unmentionable Times.

Union 5-3992

A sickly Street Sweeper with half a brain who sometimes suffers convulsions. They work in Equality 7-2521’s brigade.

Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word

Also known as Saint of the Pyre

A young, tall person with golden hair and blue eyes, executed by burning for speaking the Unspeakable Word. As a child, Equality 7-2521 sees them meet death with joy and believes their face resembles that of a saint.

Collective 0-0009

The oldest and wisest member of the World Council of Scholars. They condemn Equality 7-2521’s solitary work and order the electric-light device destroyed.

Fraternity 9-3452

A member of the World Council of Scholars who rebukes Equality 7-2521 for thinking and working as an individual.

Democracy 4-6998

A member of the World Council of Scholars who calls for Equality 7-2521 to be burned at the stake.

Unanimity 7-3304

A member of the World Council of Scholars who proposes lashing Equality 7-2521.

International 1-5537

A member of the World Council of Scholars who asks Equality 7-2521 whether they worked alone.

Solidarity 8-1164

A member of the World Council of Scholars who says that Scholars with new ideas abandon them when the majority disagrees.

Alliance 6-7349

A member of the World Council of Scholars who declares Equality 7-2521’s electric-light device useless.

Harmony 9-2642

A member of the World Council of Scholars who argues that the electric-light device would harm the candle industry.

Unanimity 2-9913

A member of the World Council of Scholars who objects that adopting electric light would disrupt the Council’s plans.

Similarity 5-0306

A member of the World Council of Scholars who argues that easing people’s toil would be evil.