How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. Then he was enslaved by the kings. But he broke their chains. He was enslaved by his birth, by his kin, by his race. But he broke their chains. He declared to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for his is the right of man, and there is no right on earth above this right. (12.16)
Equality 7-2521 sees the history of humankind as the history of the progressive liberation of the individual from servitude. After long periods of being enslaved to one higher power or another, the individual finally became fully free to pursue his/her own happiness as an end in itself. This passage seems addressed to us, the readers: we live in that free world, more or less. But Anthem is set after the freedom we know has been lost again; it's a warning to us about how easy it might be for that to happen.