The Forbidden Word

A young man lives in a place where the word "I" does not
have meaning. It is a society where there are no
individuals. It is, however, a place where one strives to
serve one's brothers. Equality 7-2521 was taught from birth
that individuality did not exist. It is a crazed society
where the only form of government is collectivism.

Equality, at age 21, has absolutely no freedom. He is a
strong, tall young man who stands about six feet. However,
in this society, anyone who is six feet tall is considered
to be evil. His dream of going to the House of Scholars is
lost and he is sent to the Hose of Street Sweepers instead.
Here the rules are very strict. He is not allowed to laugh
or sing for any reason. These are only a few of the
hardships that Equality has had to face in this mixed up
society. His troubles get greater and greater until finally
he does something about it.

All through his life, Equality thinks he is not capable of
accomplishing anything. As time passes, he discovers that
he is capable of doing many things by himself and more
importantly that he is an individual. When it appears that
he is in an endless tunnel, he discovers a light. This
provides him with the confidence that he is able to do
things. Other experiences, such as falling in love with
Liberty and seeing his reflection in the pond also help him
to believe in himself as a strong individual. Equality
later realizes that he has committed sins as he was growing
up. He thinks by showing his invention to the House of
Scholars that he would be forgiven for his wrongdoings. He
hopes to show his invention to society and find a way into
the House of the Scholars. He also wants to prove that
being tall does not make one an evil individual. He feels
that he has sinned because he was sent to the Palace of
Corrective Detention when he did not reveal where he had
been. He wishes to be forgiven for being sent there. Even
though entering the tunnel is against the law, he feels
that he is going to discover things that would improve the
society that he is living in.

Equality tries to get the House of Scholars to accept him
for the last time. He finds out when and where they are
going to meet and devises a plan. He decides to escape from
the Palace of Corrective Detention and go to where the
meeting is being held. He arrives at the Council of
Scholars and the members look at him in astonishment. They
are afraid at first because they do not know exactly what
Equality is presenting to them. After they realize what it
is that Equality is showing them, they are very insulted
that a mere street sweeper was belittling their
intelligence as Council members.

Upon hearing that his idea is rejected, he leaps out the
window and runs to the Uncharted Forest where no man
survives. He finds out that Liberty has followed him into
the forest. They come together and find an abandoned house.
They enter it and see things that they have never seen
before. They find clothes, 2 beds in one room, and one
thing that shocked them the most, a mirror. After looking
into the mirror, Equality now knows for sure that he is an
individual. He now understands that the word "I" that he
had learned from the manuscripts of the Unmentionable Times
has meaning. He knows that he lives for himself and not for
others. He realizes that he is his own self and he
determines his own fate. He then changes his name to
Prometheus in honor of a Greek God who stole the light of
the 600's and gave it to man. Prometheus had suffered just
as Equality had, and Equality admired him very much and
chose his name to be his own. Liberty also changed her
name. Equality gave her the name Gaea after the Greek
Goddess who was the mother of earth and all the God's. Gaea
becomes pregnant and they both decide to raise their child
as an individual and to never let it experience the
hardships they had faced in the crazed society of
Collectivism.

Equality makes it his duty to rescue the other friends he
had left behind. He feels that they deserve the same
freedom that he is now experiencing. He plans to "save all
men and women whose spirit has not been killed within them
and suffer under the yoke of brothers." Equality wants to
bring his friends to his fortress and start a community
wherein the dreadful word "I" will never again be
forbidden..