“Every great new thought was opposed…. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.” (The Soul of an Individualist 1)
In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, “the City” employs propaganda and regulates all activity to exert complete control over its citizens. Collectivism is hailed as the perfect society, while any expression, from smiling to thinking independently and even to saying the word “I,” is punishable by death.

Prometheus envisions a society based on egoism, in contrast to the brand of altruism enforced by the City. The discovery of old manuscripts and their use of the words “I” and “Ego” confirm his role inspired by the Saint of the Pyre – an unnamed individual burned at the stake for using the word “I” –  as the heir of  “all the martyrs who came before [the Saint] and who died for the same cause …,” keeping the spirit of individualism alive (83).

Prometheus first realizes the inalterability of the government’s philosophy of complete control and collectivity when he demonstrates his light-box to the World Council of Scholars. The Scholars have long been his role models, and he has longed to join their ranks. However, his invention is immediately denounced as a dangerous new power that doesn’t have the support of the community. The Scholars explain that the box “would bring ruin to the Department of Candles … a great boon to mankind, as approved by all men…” (58). Prometheus entered the meeting of the Scholars confident that his discovery would be hailed as the future of humanity; instead, he was humiliated, threatened, and forced into a wild retreat from society. This was confirmation that achieving the individualist dream would require a struggle against collectivism.

After discovering old books that contained the word representing the spirit of man, “I,” Prometheus finally learns about the historical necessity of bloodshed for freedom. Man once declared that every individual has inalienable rights that mustn’t be taken from him, “[standing] on the threshold of freedom for which the blood of the centuries behind him had been spilled” (86). Dictatorship by gods, kings, and his own kin has repeated itself, but there have always been revolutions that have freed the enslaved. From these books, he realizes that conflict has always been the driver of change and that the two ideas are inseparable by nature.

Individualist thoughts are always considered dangerous by collectivist and totalitarian societies – and Prometheus knows this. The governing structures of the City realize that just one outspoken critic can lead to an uncontrollable ripple effect of dissent. It is likely that the books Prometheus discovers contained historical examples including Soviet Russia, Communist China, and North Korea, which all further this argument. Defectors and individuals who wouldn’t participate in groupthink were sent to gulags or re-education centers, or just shot. Even when individualists attempted to survive quietly, the rulers harshly struck them down. Because of the City’s intense policing similar to the societies he reads about, Prometheus knows that, in time, he too will be targeted.
Prometheus follows the psyche of a “great creator” well: he discovers a gift that betters society, is met with vengeful backlash, and is now preparing to fight for individual freedoms (The Soul of an Individualist 1).

Instead of a quick destruction of collectivism, Prometheus envisages a gradual movement to rekindle the age-old battle. He would begin to reintroduce Individualistic ideals to a wider group, demonstrated by his plan to sneak into the City one last time and “call to … International 4-8818, and … all the men and women whose spirit has not been killed….” After recruiting the strong-willed, Prometheus would lead them back to his fortress to start “the first chapter in the new history of man” (85).

Prometheus has experimented with many new technologies such as electricity, breaking all laws to work with “the science of things.” Escaping to the Uncharted Forest, he continues in this independent mindset and recovers many other lost technologies that the collectivist society of Anthem has lost. These assets, such as “flying ships and power wires…” (86), give a him a distinct advantage over his brutish brothers.  “I shall learn how to use the wires…. Then I shall build a barrier … more impassable than a wall of granite…. For they have nothing to fight me with, save [their numbers]” (84). Utilizing this new technology, Prometheus plans to build defenses unlike anything seen before. Because the citizens under the rule of the Councils are relegated to almost prehistoric technology, still using torches to light their homes, Prometheus concludes that victory must be inevitable.

More than the difference in technology, though, the mentality of Prometheus and his followers is the most important part of a cohesive strategy for victory. As an Individualist, Prometheus “serve[s] nothing and no one. He live[s] for himself” (The Soul of an Individualist 2). His beliefs are self-sufficient, self-motivated, and self-generated. Prometheus has nobody to consider except people he decides to help, unlike his collectivist brothers. Additionally, Prometheus is a staunch follower of Rand’s philosophy. Past dissidents, like the Saint of the Pyre, failed to be as pure in their individualist thinking, as seen by their lack of escape attempts from the Palace of Corrective Detention, even though there have never been locks or guards. On the other hand, after being sent there and whipped close to death, Prometheus stays true to his Rand-like individualism and escapes. Using the ideals of Individualism, Prometheus will be able to discover new truths in many fields and secure his freedom.

Prometheus exemplifies the undying clash between the soul of the individual and the collective desires of society. Although countless men have fallen to the ideals of the “common good,” the individualist banner that has been drenched in the blood of war survives in him. From the moment he was rejected by the World Council of Scholars, Prometheus has represented the egoism that was lost in the decades of conflict and enslavement of man’s soul. His dream of freedom from a world of collectivism is still in its preliminary stages, but “the battle they lost can never be lost. For that which they died to save can never perish” (87).