Equality 7-2521 has learned more than the word "I" from studying the texts of the Unmentionable Times. He has begun to understand the individualistic philosophy that underlies the meaning and value of this word. Equality 7-2521 had always understood this philosophy implicitly — he had felt that it was true and had lived it in action. But prior to the events of this chapter, he had not the conceptual understanding of such a philosophy; he lacked the vocabulary — the very words — necessary to think about it. In reading the lost books, he discovers the words and the thoughts that explain and validate what he has always felt. At the emotional level, he had always believed an individual has the right to his own life. Now, for the first time, he knows this is true, understanding it as an explicit, fully articulated intellectual theory.
The emotional power of this chapter must be noted. Leading to this point in the story hasve been pages of unrelenting collectivism. The reader has been immersed in a world in which all shreds of individuality have been ruthlessly extirpated, in which the word "we" is the only form of first- person reference known, and in which the group holds unquestioned dominion over an individual's life. Now, as Equality 7-2521 opens the chapter with the words, "I am, I think, I will," the impact of those words is profound. Equality 7-2521 has been liberated in a way far more fundamental than his physical escape. He is finally freed from the collectivist philosophy with which he has been indoctrinated all his life.
Formerly, the collectivist state owned his mind, for he still accepted the truth of their principles. Even in his acts of rebellion — during his scientific research when hidden in his tunnel, when illicitly wooing the Golden One, as he made his escape into the Uncharted Forest — he still believed that what he did was wrong. He still thought of himself as a transgressor worthy of punishment. He had rejected the collectivist code emotionally and in action. He had asked questions and tried to understand. But given his necessarily limited amount of knowledge, he had not the capacity to reach a full level of comprehension. When he reads the books of those of the lost times, however, he acquires the vocabulary of freedom. His opening words of the chapter have all the meaning and emotional power of his final liberation from slavery.
