Anthem

In what way(s) do Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 feel confused and torn during their days in the Uncharted Forest?

Chapter IX

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When Liberty arrives in the forest Equality embraces her. He is startled because he has lived for twenty-one years without knowing joy. He tells her not to fear the forest or solitude and that she should forget good and evil. They decide to forget everything but their bond and their new world, and they hold hands as they continue into the forest.

They begin making love at night, and Equality 7-2521 realizes that sex is not a matter of shame but rather one of ecstasy. They walk away from the City each day, using a handmade bow and arrows to kill birds for food while gathering water and fruit in the forest. At night, they sleep in a ring of fire to protect themselves from animals. He hopes to build a house one day but is content to continue walking.

He does not understand his new, simple life, but forgets his questions as he watches the Golden One and her beauty as she walks through the forest. However, as they travel in silence, he continues to wonder about the truth of whether solitude is truly evil. He notices that although he has been taught to find joy only in working for others, he was only tired when he did so and only now finds joy as he lives for himself, and he wonders about where their thinking about morality went wrong.

One day, the Golden One tells him, "We love you," but frowns because something in the statement is not right. She then says slowly, "We are one…alone…and only…and we love you who are one…alone…and only," but they both know that they have not quite grasped something significant. They are missing an unknown word.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/anthem/study-guide/section9/