Do not make the mistake of the ignorant who think that an individualist is a man who says: “I’ll do as I please at everybody else’s expense.” An individualist is a man who recognizes the inalienable individual rights of man–his own and those of others.” Ayn Rand – Textbook of Americanism. What does it mean to be true to oneself in a world that demands conformity? This complex struggle is central to the character of Hank Rearden in Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ a novel critical of Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. In the story, Hank Rearden is a well-known steelworker and businessman, and the mastermind behind a metal alloy that is more robust and lightweight than steel (Rearden Metal). He fights a strenuous internal war between his longing …show more content…
Philip, Hank's brother, persistently prods him in expectation of financial support, manipulating him with his sense of familial duty while simultaneously condemning him for his capitalist values. Hank’s mother often plays the victim, acting emotionally fragile to guilt-trip him into prioritizing the needs of the family over his goals and aspirations. She berates Hank for his perceived neglect, blackmailing him with claims that the family cannot survive without him, and suggesting that he owes them due to the supposed sacrifices they have made for him. Lillian, Hank’s wife and possibly the most manipulative of the family, regularly mocks him for his achievements. She not only brushes off his success, but actively puts him down and acts as if he is nothing but her possession. A prime example of this downplay is her cold reaction to Rearden’s heartfelt gift of the Rearden Metal bracelet in Chapter II of Part I. She dismisses and criticizes the gift, stating, “It’s the chain by which he holds us all in bondage.” Lillian makes Hank feel guilty for not sharing the same values, and she commonly suggests that he values his business over the family. All this dissension with his family causes Rearden to feel inadequate in these relationships, resulting in a fall in his
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where everyone was forced to be exactly alike? Well in Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem she directly confronts this topic through the main character named Equality 7-2521. Equality 7-2521 faces challenges directly relating to the issue that the government has been trying to address for many years. Equality 7-2521 is not like his brothers, he is smarter, wiser and even taller, therefore, his brothers think that he has “evil in his bones” (Rand 18). The book Anthem is the firsthand account of how Equality 7-2521 finds the word “I” amongst the word “We”. He does not agree with these rules that the government has put into place, these are the rules that held him back for a time, but in the end, pushed him forward to be his own person.
Ayn Rand's classic story of one man's desire to become an individual in a nameless society presents a compelling refutation of collectivism in all forms. The hero, labeled "Equality 7-2521" by the State, chooses to challenge conventional authority as he learns the joys of experimentation and discovery, the ecstasy of human love, the challenge and fairness of liberty, and the happiness of self-interest. Equality 7-2521 writes three unique phrases in his journal: 1. "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to an end. It is the end.", 2. "We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.", 3. "The word 'We' . . . must never be placed first within man's soul.". These phrases will be discussed individually in the remainder of this essay.
Have you ever read a book or seen a movie set in a dystopian society? Well the book “Anthem” written by Ayn Rand is about the main character Equality 7-2521 breaking away from the teachings of his dystopian society and finding his true identity. Ayn Rand is a brilliant writer. Equality realizes that collectivism is a way to strip him, Liberty, and all their brothers of their individuality, happiness, joy, love and freedom. Equality comes to this realization from internal conflicts he has with himself.
In the long trek of life, people are constantly chided to follow their hearts, and to be themselves, and to let our individuality run free. As Georg Simmel once said,“The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life.” He is utterly correct. Every person, every mind and every heart, has their own way of doing things. We have associated individuality with singularit...
Depending on who you are and what you believe, you will have your own idea on the positives and negatives of individualism, and where you stand. Despite the fact of the good and bad in American Individualism, without the freedom of standing alone, we are nothing. To group individuals together, categorize them and classify them as a single entity is demeaning to each person’s individuality. There is a lot of positives and negatives that go along with being an individualist.
What is individualism? Individualism is to be self-reliant, and a better principle of being independent. The typical American, most of the time, consider themselves as a independent “individual”. Arguably, most Americans are in the middle of individualism, and collectivism.
Noah Miller English Honors: D Ms. Hiller 13 December 2013 1984 Major Essay Assignment. Individualism is the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. When put into a collective whole, one might do for the whole more than one does for oneself.
Individuality is not accepted in this society because it causes conflicts with one another. The government demolishes any kind of individuality one has, and does not tolerate with any kind of knowledge because they will find a way to punish an individual. Individuality expresses the differences of a person, it create a unique personality of one self like Clarisse McClellan.
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.
Individualism from the transcendentalist era is very different then it is in the modern day. In the transcendentalist era, everyone believed that the person is more important than the society. You see this in self reliance where Emerson says “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events” (Emerson par. 3). In this quote, i believe the emerson is saying that you know what's best for yourself and you should follow your heart, but society is always going to try to tell you something different. In the modern day, people rely more on the
In many ways I agree with his statement, but I don’t feel that this is a feasible concept. Individualism is something I wouldn’t want taken away from me because I
Opponents of the collectivism idea say that there is no room for individuality when a society conforms. Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live it as he sees fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to
Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).
The notion of individualism is extremely important in exercising the duty people have to cease from the...
To craft an essay on Hank Rearden's internal conflict in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," we must first identify the conflicting premises that torment him. Rearden, a steel magnate and inventor, is a paragon of the industrious, self-made man. His conflict arises from the clash between his personal values of productivity and self-reliance, and the external pressures of a society that demands he serve others at the expense of his own interests. The conflicting ideas within Rearden's soul are primarily between his own moral code, which celebrates the virtue of selfishness, and the moral code of altruism imposed by society.