Equality 7-2521 begins the novel as a dense youth who has began to realize that he might be different from those around him. He does not like his differences and tries to regulate himself. His relationship with his only friend, International 4-8188, shows how he has preferences for certain people, rather than like everyone the same as the law wishes. When he discovers the tunnel, he realizes that he enjoys solitude and his indivualism becomes even more apparent. When Eqaulity 7-2521 and The Golden one meet, they immediatly fall in love. Because he wants to think about her all the time, and because the urge is so overwhelming, he gives himself to his sin. In so doing, he takes his first major step down the road toward breaking with society. Moreover, the Golden One represents Equality 7-2521’s first meaningful encounter with another human being. His relationship with her baffles him. He knows that he wants to possess her, but he does not know why. He admires her arrogance and her strength, and he knows she admires him similarly, but he doesnt understand why he prefers her as much as he does.

When Equality 7-2521 creates the lightbulb, he is pushed into complete rebellion. Up until the time when the World Council say they want to break his lightbulb, Equality 7-2521 worries for his brothers and their welfare. He would rather have himself destroyed rather than his lightbulb, and he is forced into expulsion from his society. Equality 7-2521 realizes he actually created the lightbulb just for the sake of creating it, and that he wants to live because his body is a great thing—this realization severs his last connections to society and makes him a complete and total indivual.

After he breaks from society, Equality 7-2521 embraces narcissism and pride unheard of in the society in which he once live in and, in so doing, he realizes his boldness. For the first time, Equality 7-2521 feels proud for killing his own food and eating it, and the next time he sees the Golden One, he enjoys sex for the first time. The pleasure he finds in his body mimics the pleasure of his mind. By breaking from the boundaries of society, Equality 7-2521 becomes his own man in both his mind and his body.

The empty house in the forest acts as Equality 7-2521’s skill for providing for himself on a continual basis. He is quite proprietary about the house and its contents, and it provides the key to his revelation. When he finds the word “I” while he is reading in his library, Equality 7-2521 suddenly knows that he is the center of his own world, and the curse he has been fighting is actually a blessing to be embraced. He discovers that he is an end in himself and that his happiness is reason enough to live. With this epiphany, his transformation is done. He is not afraid and singular, self-important and proud. He has discovered himself and become his own man.