Fountainhead and The open boat
In today’s world there are many kinds of people that do things at their own free will. In the novel “The Fountainhead” it is shown that people made their own decisions to go where they wanted to go in their own free will. In the story “The Open Boat” men have shown to open to their own instincts and follow their own path for survival. Both stories show many forms of determinism, objectivism, naturalism, collectivism, realism, etc. All to be shown at their own free will
Ayn Rand was young when she was exposed to many forms of society. She spent most of her childhood growing up in Russia. She learned the ways of capitalisms and it flaws. She detested capitalism and objectivism. She has written many novels that expose society for what it is and how wrong it can be. Ayn exposed much more in the story of The Fountainhead.
In “The Fountainhead” Ayn Rand shows her own views on free will. She belligerently shows how the world has come to collectivism to live their lives. ““Fine.” Said Mrs. Keating, “Go to the Beaux-Arts. It’s a grand place. A whole ocean away from your home. Of course, if you go, Mr. Francon will take somebody else. People will talk about that. Everybody knows that Mr. Francon picks out the best boy from Stanton every year for his office. I wonder how it’ll look if some other boy gets the job? But I guess that doesn’t matter.”” (P.35). this quote shows collectivism by showing how “emotional” one can be about not being better than his/her peers around them. Ayn’s point of view on free will in this quote shown telling of how Peter Keating had a choice on whether to take Guy Francons job offer or go to the Beaux-Arts academy for architecture, even though his mother was pressuring him into tak...
... middle of paper ...
...human life by using nature and the environment around said person, in “The Open Boat”. They both use irony, naturalism, objectivism, determinism, etc. to evince the, modern, human nature.
Free will is something that every man/women possess that only they have control over. Every day we make choices that positively or negatively affect us. I have seen people give up their own free will, only to take off the pressure of society, encompassing them and making the “second-handers” (Rand) free will is now loosely expresses and the true definition of the terminology is long lost. But, definitions are opinions and my opinion of free will is we as humans have a choice and it is up to us to utilize what we have available, we have the free will to do what we want. It is important to be free. It is important to make your own choices. And it is most important to be different.
Howard Roark’s speech in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead displays the author's personal philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism is an idea that Ayn Rand had developed and promoted in her works of literature. Objectivism advocated for the rights of individual freedoms such as someone being able to do whatever that person desires with their own creations. In this case, Ayn Rand’s character Howard Roark; who had dynamited his own building . Through Rand’s persuading diction, immense detail, and powerful organization, Ayn Rand takes a stand through a fictional character to promote the idea that an individual should be able to live freely without society or the government scrutinizing him.
Ayn Rand based her novel of the idea of objectivism the idea that reality exists independent of consciousness, and that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self. We see this throughout the entire novel and within all of her characters. Ayn Rand had an interesting perception of selfishness and selflessness, along with her view of objectivism. As a reader we are thinking the opposite of what the characters are thinking, and never know what is going to happen next. Roark and Keating gave new meanings to selfishness and selflessness within the world of architecture.
Ayn Rand is the author of “Anthem”. This story was written in 1938. Rand has a unique mind; her writing is different from others. The book itself was interesting to read. The story was like something I have never read before. The city in Anthem has numerous rules and controls over humanity to ensure nobody is unique.
Ayn Rand was not at all shy with her political beliefs in Anthem. Rand’s personal philosophy, Objectivism is very much centered on individuality like Anthem. In Anthem the supporters of the collectivist society had a weak defence most likely due to the author’s position. I will not be defending Anthem’s collectivism, it is labeled as a dystopian written by someone who hated the idea and therefore didn’t give true collectivism a fair shake. In this essay I will try to objectively defend collectivism and it’s potential as a societal system.
Everyday throughout life you live with the idealism of free-will, even if you believe in a bigger plan throughout guided by fate. You chose how you live, you make decisions about life, which may lead to a predestined fate that we may not know existed. What if we could see the blueprints of our fate? Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse five could. He wrestled with both ideals throughout his life. Billy Pilgrim’s life of free-will lead him to a predestined fate with numbed emotions.
The Russo-American author who founded the philosophical system of “Objectivism” Ayn Rand. A person who immigrated to the United States back in the late 20s. "Anthem", is a novella she wrote that was originally published in 1938 in the United Kingdom. A valuable thing this novella teaches the reader is how powerful individual thought and creativity is, how precious it is to think the way you want to and not have to abide to what others think or say. This story depicts a world in the future, a collectivist dictatorship in which Individuality and Creativity are crimes.
Plato once said, “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” By being forced to do what is not wanted, keeping the genius within oneself behind bars, and unnecessary punishments, ideas of resistance may occur in one’s mind. Ayn Rand shows opposition to collectivism through the lack of preference of jobs, human intelligence, and strong discipline.
Ayn Rand uses objectivism in her writing to demonstrate the collectivist idea about society. Objectivism is Rand's philosophy in which she believes, or according to the philosophy, that everyone in this world has the opportunity to become rich as long as they take a chance. It's not about being a whole, but, about being an individual.
According to Ayn Rand and her book the Anthem, Having a collectivistic society is a big problem and the world is better off with an individualistic thinking society. I disagree with Ayn Rands’ thoughts to argue that with free thinking what has ever changed? There’s always a discrepancy between freedom of speech and freedom in general but rather are the rules being made by these individualist that Ayn Rand spoke of the cause of more good than evil for the entire society.
From living in a depressed Russian society to living in the freedoms of America, Ayn Rand expresses the experiences she has had and the way she views American society. Ayn Rand was associated with the nationalist era. This era was during the French Revolution and inspired many people in Europe, including Ayn. The beginning of nationalism was in the 1900s, such as the time Ayn grew up in. Rand believed, “The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me”(Rand). This quote is very ironic because in Ayns early life she had left Russia and moved to America. While living in the United States, she pursued her dream in being a writer.
Free will is generally has two similar key points that revolve around it: moral responsibility and freedom of action. Free action is generally when an agent is exercising their free will. For example, let’s say a man named mark was deciding
Ayn Rand’s controversial views and opinions on ethical egoism have paved the way in liberating and absolving society’s conservative elite from feeling guilt or compassion towards those who are less fortunate in society - including those from the middle-class, the working poor and minorities. Though Rand penned her theory decades ago, her brand of ethical egoism is still touted as gospel by some politicians and those in the upper echelons of society, creating gridlock in the government and a deep division among the classes.
Ayn Rand was truly a remarkable woman and accomplished an astonishing feat throughout her career and her philosophy continues to affect many people’s lives. Through her works of fiction and her essays later in her life she discovered a whole new philosophy, a philosophy for living on earth. This vision has inspired countless people to take charge of their own lives.
Rand’s exaggerated approach in writing about collectivism and individualism was necessary for the reader to gain a greater understanding of the evils of collectivism. Collectivism is “the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it” (Oxford Dictionary). In collectivism, there are no freedoms or individual rights; this means that individuality is lost. “Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called “the common good.”” (Ayn Rand). Equality 7-2521 lived
Over the years, there has been an extended running controversial debate as to whether free will truly needs an agent to encompass a definite ability of will, or whether the term “free will” is simply a term used to describe other features that individuals may possess, which leads to the controversy of whether free will really does exist. The result of free will is assumed to be human actions, that arise from rational capabilities, which as a result means that free will is depended normally on are those events, which leads us to believe that the opportunity of free action depends on the leeway of free will: to state that a person acted freely is simply to say that the individual was victorious in acting out of free choice (Van Inwagen 1983).