I am. I think. I will do it. Or yes? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, free will is defined as a voluntary choice or decision. This means that, when applied to life, you have a choice about how to live. You can choose your destiny and decide which path in life you want to follow. While reading Anthem, Ayn Rand describes a society where everyone is equal. No one is superior to anyone else. Everyone is treated equally and has the same opportunities as his brother. However, this company comes at a price. No one is capable of thinking or speaking for themselves. They are also assigned a job that they will keep until they are no longer able to work. Society is based on determinism. This is where external forces, such as council, determine the behavior of men in society. In the book Anthem, no one has the free will to live as they wish. The description of how people are raised in the book is a perfect example of how they have no free will. The men and women go to a place called the Mating Palace where "each of the men has a woman assigned to him by the Council of Eugenics" (Rand 41). This happens every spring and babies are born every winter. Not only do women lose their children, but children grow up without ever knowing their parents. This is an example of determinism because external forces determine who men mate with. They also cannot have children of their own. Citizens cannot speak freely or even think thoughts that are not approved by the council. They dare not speak freely "because they dare not express the thoughts of their mind. Because everyone must agree with everyone, and they cannot know whether their thoughts are everyone's thoughts, and therefore... middle of paper.. . ... all hands, even impure ones, can reach you? What is my wisdom, if even fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the clumsy and helpless ones, are my masters? my life if I just have to bow, acquiesce and obey?” (Rand 97) Questions like these are forbidden in the community. These were questions that all men pondered, but none dared speak of. The council instilled fear in the minds of its citizens with queues of punishment if anyone thought of such questions. Equality was the only exception for society. Despite what he was taught throughout his life, he asked the questions and took it upon himself to answer them. I remain of my opinion that in the book there was no free will, despite the deviance of equality, the rest of society conformed to the rules and laws established upon them from birth.