Anthem characters

Also known as Prometheus

Appears from the start

A young Street Sweeper in a society that suppresses individuality and assigns every citizen a numbered collective name. Exceptionally curious and intellectually gifted, he regards his height, independence, and hunger for knowledge as faults because the authorities have taught him that personal preference is sinful. He secretly conducts experiments in an underground tunnel left from the Unmentionable Times.

Also known as The Golden One, Gaea

First appears in chapter 2

A young woman assigned to work the fields outside the city. Equality notices her upright bearing and fearlessness, then commits the forbidden act of preferring her above others. She returns his attention despite the rules that bar private attachment between men and women.

Appears from the start

A fellow Street Sweeper and Equality's closest companion. He is cheerful, loyal, and willing to protect Equality's secrets, although friendship itself is forbidden because it singles out one person from the collective.

Appears from the start

A weak and frequently ill member of Equality's Street Sweeper brigade. His assigned work illustrates the society's refusal to match occupations to individual ability or need.

First appears in chapter 7

A member of the ruling World Council of Scholars. Elderly and publicly honored as a great authority, he speaks for a council that accepts only discoveries produced and approved collectively.

Also known as The Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word

First appears in chapter 2

A condemned man whom Equality saw burned publicly years earlier for discovering and speaking a forbidden word. He faces death calmly and looks directly at Equality from the pyre, leaving the boy convinced that the lost word must matter profoundly.