I Am. I Think. I Will.

I am. I think. I will. These are the first words that Equality 7-2521 utters after
discovering the word I in chapter eleven. He went through over twenty years of his life using
the word we to refer to himself. For the first time in his life, Equality 7-2521 experiences the
joy and freedom of being able to express himself as a single individual. With this, he is able to
dream of a whole new life that he and the Golden One could dwell in. They could live on their
own land and eat of the food they produce. He stands on the peak of a mountain and spreads his
arms. Equality 7-2521 started naming all of the things that belong to him. He says that his hands,
spirit, mind, ears, and eyes belong to him, and only him. Ayn Rand believes that the word I
must be the primary thought of each individual, while the word we can only be a secondary
thought, at best. When the two ideas are reversed, society becomes oppressive rather than
liberating for men.
This quote can be separated into three single ideas. I am, is simply stating what the
narrator is. At one point, Equality 7-2521 is a part of everybody. He is trapped inside the brick
walls that contain each persons thought process. This is what the wall of blocks symbolizes in
the visual. You can picture Equality 7-2521 standing and looking up at a force that separates him
from we to I. He has already broken tons of transgressions, such as stealing, being alone,
inventing, and preferring, so he might as well break one more. He is a man that wants to find the
truth of the world. He wants to find the Unspeakable word and get an insight into the
Unmentionable Times. Equality 7-2521 is a person that wants to create and make things better
for his brothers. He is a man who holds on to his own mind in a collectivist society that demands
blind obedience to the group.

I think, represents Equality 7-2521s thoughts. His independence of thinking and of

spirit is what explains his actions from the earliest days of his childhood. He is a man that thinks
freely. The visual represents this part of the quote because Equality 7-2521 is wondering whether
he should break free into a new world, or stick to the dystopian world that he is used to. He
thinks ahead to ponder both aspects of this idea. If he stays in the world of we, he will never be
able to live how he would like. Equality 7-2521 would be restrained from helping the world to
the best of his ability if he stayed within the constraints of the wall. In fact, he would probably be
executed for the many transgressions he has already committed. On the other hand, if Equality 72521 was to escape through the wall to his own world, he would be able to live as he wanted
with the Golden One.
Equality 7-2521 finally decides. I will represents him breaking down the wall and
escaping into the Uncharted Forests. He starts a new life with the one he loves. This new life is
full of new adventures and colorful resources. He creates and discovers as he pleases. Equality 72521 made a breakthrough. He can now live as he was made to live: freely. He gets to live out
his individuality rights. He knocked down the walls that so many of his brothers were afraid to
do. Of course, none of his brothers liked the way they were living, but they finally had a hero
among them that would express what every other person was thinking.
Equality 7-2521 explained that he had found the answer. He needs no reason to exist
because he is his own reason. He names his eyes and ears as the organs which give significance
and beauty to the world. His mind and his judgment are the only things that can find truth, and
his will is the only thing that can make his choices. Some words are wise while others are false,
but only the words I will it, are holy. Equality has rediscovered the Unspeakable Word, thus
fulfilling his quest and allowing him to fully articulate the philosophy towards which he has

strived. His society used words to restrain him, but now he uses words to free himself from
collectivist doctrine.