Anthem

While experimenting with a frog using copper wire, Equality 7-2521 sees the dead frog twitch. He diverts his research to discover what made the frog twitch, and when he combines brine, copper, and zinc, he discovers electricity. He is thrilled at the discovery, which confirms that the Council of Scholars is wrong to claim that everyone already knows everything that exists. Equality 7-2521 does not know the name “electricity,” but he has discovered that it causes compasses to point north and that it causes lightning. He has built devices that generate electricity using copper wiring and other supplies that he has found in the tunnel. Alone in his discovery, Equality 7-2521 feels both fearful of his isolation and superior to the Scholars, although he knows he has much more to learn.

Several days after their first verbal exchange, Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 speak again. Equality 7-2521 says he thinks of her as the Golden One, and Liberty 5-3000 tells him she has named him the Unconquered. He calls her “Our dearest one” (29), and she asks him to say it again.