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.
Alissa Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand) was born February 2, 1905 is St. Petersburg, Russia. She was the oldest of three sisters and her father, Zinovy Rosenbaum was a successful pharmacist and businessman who owned his own pharmacy, Ayn and her family lived a wealthy life. Early in life, Ayn found school to be unchallenging and found refuge in writing screenplays at the age of six and novels at the age of eight. At a young age Ayn also took to politics as she supported republican ideas. In 1917, at the age of 12 she witnessed first hand the initial shots of the Russian Revolution from her balcony. It was overnight that her family was suppressed to poverty as communist thugs confiscated her father’s pharmacy. This disrupted the comfortable life that her family enjoyed and she and her family were forced to flea St. Petersburg’s to Crimean Peninsula, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Civil War. While she attended high school she became an atheist, as she valued reason above anything else because the revolution and the fact that she and her family was suppressed as individuals. The fact that she witnessed this brutal civil war shaped her beliefs as she realized that the government was taking away her right to think and be an individual.
After attending high school away from home she graduated at the age of 16 and returned back to St. Petersburg whe...
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...nd put down due to collectivism or just as an individual they will always claw and fight for their own freedom and the individual will always declare his or her own purpose in life.
Overall Any Rand is an amazing individual with an amazing philosophy for living on earth. Through every novel she wrote she put her philosophy of objectivism as the centerpiece to each one. Rand wrote so much about wanting people to be selfish but to be selfish in a way where you follow reason not faith and you work hard to achieve a meaningful life. As well as making your own happiness your main priority and to learn from others by treating them as individuals. Ayn Rand was so dedicated to her philosophy and she devoted her life to get her view across to the people that in the end all she wanted was people to know that her philosophy was the key for living on earth day in and day out.
One being the fact that this book is a collection of her essay and speeches. But the main one is how this book discusses her own Philosophy. She first explains the importance of philosophy and how it used in the real world unknowingly today, but she then says the philosophy most people follow today, Altruism, as irrational. “Altruism is the rationalization for the mass slaughter in Soviet Russia – for the legalized looting in the welfare state – for the power-lust of politicians seeking to serve the common good” (Rand 27) Altruism is basically the thought of having selfless actions and to serve others. This completely contradicts Ayn Rand’s philosophy of living, Objectivism. This is where the book becomes different form other books and even the entire world. Many people and religions are taught to help others. This follows Altruism in the fact that we are serving others and being selfless. Objectivism has many different layers to it but one of the most important parts to it is the concept that man should be self-serving. That we should be selfish and live for ourselves only under the condition that it doesn’t harm others. This is extremely different from everything we are taught since we were
Mankind is composed of sovereign individuals, and each person only has one obligation to self: think of "me" before "we."
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
Regarding the autobiographical nature of Kira, the main character in We the Living, Ayn Rand said "The specific events of Kira's life were not mine; her ideas, her convictions, her values were and are." (xvii) So by examining Kira's views on different things one can conclude Rand most likely shares the same views. If one reads We the Living it is very evident what Rand's views of Communism are: she is out rightly opposed to it and its core values.
Ayn Rand wrote Anthem as a critique of Communism, yet along with that she demonstrated her own belief system of individual ideals. Objectivism was aptly shown throughout the entire novella with the thoughts and actions of the main characters, Equality and Liberty in contrast with the universal thought of the city and society. Rand clearly showed her philosophy well in this story.
Rand explains the anatomy of the human, their various conflicts throughout their lives, and how the human is expected to react in certain circumstances. Furthermore, Ayn wrote this sentence in her essay, “But to pronounce moral judgment is an enormous responsibility” (Rand, 4). Judging someone by their mistakes takes a good amount of responsibility, when accusing someone there has to be evidence to support their claim. Humans do not go around the world throwing accusations at each other, if the world was like that, it would be a disaster. Equality has a lot of responsibility by becoming critical of the leaders of his society. He believes that there is more to the world, that there is still many unknown things to discover outside of his society. In fact, Ayn added on her essay the following sentence, “An irrational society is a society of moral cowards -- of men paralyzed by the loss of moral standards, principles, and goals” (Rand, 18). Equality always follows the rules, he nevers breaks a rule until he discovered that there is more to learn about the world. It is difficult for him to act a certain way, only because he wants The Council to be
... an individual, he has his own ideas, plans, thoughts, and is his own being and is looked down upon because of it. This book shows us that Collectivist societies do not work and they lead to brainless, incompetent people who have no meaning in life. The book's theme of individuality and identity show the downfalls of Collectivism vividly and very well. Throughout the book Anthem, the theme of individuality and one's identity, shown through Equality's own ideas, own love, and own ego, are vital to show Collectivism's faults.
Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton, 1995.
In conclusion, it is shown that Equality 7-2521 makes his journey from a prisoner of collectivism and extreme social dependence to an exclusive freedom. Ayn Rand portrays a society afraid of change, rebellion, and the idea of any singularity at all. Equality first frees himself from the shackles of his brothers, allowing him to be an individual. Next he discovers that he, as one person, can judge the truth, others change the truth the way they want you to understand it. Finally, the reflection of himself in a stream shows Equality that he is not only mentally, but physically different than what seems to be a shapeless society. Ayn Rand conveys the theme of individualism through the development of Equality's ego, he is able to find the importance of one’s self and help society ameliorate itself for years to come.
Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.
That is the main point that Rand seems to want to hit. There is no point of being your own self if you keep yourself directly chained to the ideals of society and not yourself. One of the other themes that she shows to the reader is that someone's love will not always be for all. Equality shown early in the book falling in love with someone named Liberty 5-3000. He has been taught to respect and value all his “brother” equally, but the thought of one touching Liberty drives him to anger. Liberty continues to be talked about almost every other chapter as she becomes a part of his life. In chapter seven, the book states, “Then a blow of pain struck us, our first and our only.”(Rand, 77) There is no regret for leaving or any hurt from being banished except Liberty. Love can be seen as a mere thought, but Rand seems to show that it is an emotion that shows the individual inside
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.
In this world, and in the world of Ayn Rand’s imagination, there are two kinds of people: those who live to create, and those who wish to live as parasites feeding off the benefits of those creations. In Atlas Shrugged, she explores what might happen when the creators of the world stop creating; the parasites are left to try to live on their own. The novels that Miss Rand writes always reflect this sort of thing. She writes of the battle between the two types of people as some write of the battles between good and evil. In reality, each side of the battle can be equated in such terms. These writings provide a detailed analysis of the two forces, and leave the reader with a profound sense of vitality and inspiration.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness--this is what Americans identify as the full definition of “to live.” These were the ideas that attracted generations of immigrants to the shores of Ellis Island and Angel Island, hoping to find tangible dreams promised in the torch of The Statue of Liberty and in the cobblestone sidewalks of San Francisco. To the rest of the world, however, what does “living” really mean? As Kira Argounova, the protagonist, states: “Why do you think I’m alive? Is it because I have a stomach and eat and digest food? Because I breathe and work […]? Or because I know what I want, and that something which knows how to want—isn’t that life itself?” (399) We the Living by Ayn Rand creates a backdrop of communism in the Soviet Union, where the responsibility for one’s own survival and well-being is subordinated to a “duty” to others, which “forbids life to those still living” (189). However, when the communist government forces all citizens to sacrifice all of their property and freedom for the benefits of the State and Society, the three protagonists Kira, Leo, and Andrei unfortunately learn that despite how strong, independent-minded, and confident they are, staying alive demands the sacrifice of their biggest values.
Throughout life, you are faced with everyday conflicts; getting cut from soccer tryouts, not receiving the grade you wanted on a biology test, arguing with your siblings, etc. Equality 7-2521 was faced with conflicts as well; however, to a more extreme level. Several external conflicts throughout Ayn Rand’s Anthem, shape Equality’s character. The controlling factors of Equality’s society, that lead to several conflicts, prevented him from sharing his intelligence, choosing and communicating with others and venturing outside the city walls.