What are the symbols in Anthem?

There are several symbols in the novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand.  Here is a list of some of the dominant ones:

Light: Light symbolizes knowledge, and it’s no accident that Equality discovers electricity and the light bulb in the sewers of the Unmentionable Times.  He takes the light to the Home of the Scholars to share his discovery, and he is thrown in jail.  The candles the society uses for light symbolizes ignorance while the light bulb symbolizes knowledge.

Liberty:  Equality first sees Liberty when he is sweeping the streets, and she is planting seeds in a nearby field.  Later, Liberty takes the name Gaea, the Greek god of Mother Earth.  She also becomes pregnant with Equality’s baby; and therefore, she is the first “Eve” of the new society they will form together. 

The Uncharted Forest:  The Uncharted Forest where Equality and Liberty go to escape the dystopian society represents the unknown and the future that lies ahead for them.  They were told their entire lives that the Uncharted Forest was a place of danger where no one who entered it ever escaped.  It is in the forest that they find their true selves and start their new society.  This “finding oneself in nature” is also a philosophy of the Transcendentalists of the early 1800’s. 

Prometheus:  Equality renames himself Prometheus after learning that Prometheus, a Greek god, brought fire to humans.  Just like the light that Equality found, Prometheus also brought the knowledge of light to man.