Anthem: Novel Summary: Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

Here, Equality 7-2521 finishes his creation of the box, which uses an electric current to give off light.  In humanistic, enlightenment terms, he describes the power of electricity (and the power of individual ability): "There are no limits to its secrets and its might, and it can be made to grant us anything if we but chose to ask." If anywhere in the book, this statement sums up Rand's view of man and human potential. 

Soon Equality 7-2521 decides to reveal this box to the Council of Scholars, and though he knows he has committed a sin in developing such a device apart from others, he believes that his gift of electricity will outweigh his transgression.