Ayn Rand: The Conflict Between Individualism And Collectivism

Evelyn Dyer

Mrs. Vogel

AP English

3 January 2018

Ayn Rand: The Conflict Between Individualism and Collectivism Ayn Rand is a Russian-American author who wrote about her philosophy, Objectivism. Objectivism is the philosophy of rational individualism. Throughout her novel, The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand routinely endorses the individualists thinking and way of life. However, there is always an opposing side. Collectivism is the philosophy that the community comes before the singular man, and sometimes that must require sacrifice. In the Fountainhead, Ayn Rand presents the conflict between individualism and collectivism through her characters such as Howard Roark and Ellsworth Toohey. Ayn Rand was a great believer in the individualist way of life. Throughout the novel she convinced the audience that

People praise new inventions and ambitious people that know what they want in life. Back in the day, “The great creators—the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors—stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.” (Rand 678). That is not necessarily the case today. Most praise it however, there are still some that oppose it. Although individualism is praised today more than it used to be, collectivism is still highly praised more. One major example of a collectivist is Ellen Degeneres. She praises those who give up their life’s work to support and provide for others. In today’s American society Ellen is the figurehead for a collectivist. Despite all of this, Ayn Rand has greatly brought these different ways of thinking into the light by writing the book, The