Various devices such as imagery are rampant throughout Anthem. Rand relies a great deal on sensory imagery to depict Equality’s society, the tunnel, and the Uncharted Forest. While sensory appeals to taste (gustatory) and smell (olfactory) are not the most dominant forms of imagery, they are suggested at times.
One example of taste is when Equality sees Liberty, the Golden One, for the first time. Liberty is kneeling by the water. “And the drops of water falling from their hands, as they raised the water to their lips, were like sparks of fire in the sun.” The obvious imagery is sight, but Rand also hints at taste imagery. If we consider that the water is a spark of fire, that suggests it brings heat, sparkle, and refreshment. The reader considers how refreshing a cold drink of water tastes to a thirsty person on a hot day. Rand continues this idea with reference to the one drop of water that falls from Liberty’s hand.
Rand references the motifs of hunger and thirst throughout the book. She mentions, for instance, those who are rumored to have died in the Uncharted Forest. “They perish from hunger” because they have gone to a forbidden place. She also mentions that the “trees have swallowed the ruins” of the old society, thereby covering up its secrets. Additionally, Rand makes mention of actual eating. For instance, after obtaining freedom, Equality satisfies a growing hunger by cooking a bird: “ . . . no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand.” These references allude to taste and the reader can imagine.
Rand’s allusions to smell are also present. For example, when in the tunnel, Equality feels at peace. The fear that is present in society is left behind, “But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men.” Equality describes a purity, a lack of smell, in the tunnel. It is a safe haven, a place that is sacred, where others cannot follow. There is no smell of others because the tunnel has not been disturbed for so long, so it retains its purity. The reader considers that the tunnel must have a musty odor if it has been closed for so long, but to Equality that is a welcome and pure smell.
We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating (from part Eight: It has been a day of wonder, this, our first day in the forest).
The above is an example of gustatory (taste) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 kills a bird, cooks it himself, and eats it. It's his first kill in the forbidden forest, and he finds that he enjoys this transcending experience of autonomy and independence. The food tastes better than anything he's been forced to eat for most of his life. The imagery illustrates Equality 7-2521's wonder and delight in being able to savor the taste of roasted bird meat.
We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers. But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground (from Part Two: Liberty Five-Three Thousand).
The above is an example of olfactory (smell) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 revels in being alone in the tunnel he has discovered. The air is clean in the tunnel, and he tells us that, in his opinion, "there is no odor of men" to mar the immaculate purity of the place. The imagery illustrates how special this tunnel is to Equality 7-2521; it smells clean and is a cocoon of peace to him.
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