The rules exist to limit the individuality and freedom of the citizens. Their purpose is to discourage rebellious behavior, therefore eliminating all free will. The society Equality envisions would be absent of strict rules that take away one's sense of self. This is because Equality has been oppressed by the rules of that society his whole life and would not want his society to be like that.
Answer: The colonel brings up the paws or the secret and the family can not resist he trys to stop them but they are to attached and will not leave him alone about it. He also has to get rid of the paw because it haunts him everyday.
