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Individualism vs collectivism
Personal ethics and impacts
Individualist vs collectivist culture
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The main theme of Rand’s novels is the contradiction between her definition of selfish and selfless versus the popular understanding. She sees being selfish and concerned with oneself as a positive attribute as it means that individual has chosen higher values for himself and being selfless and altruistic as a fault as people tend to be unethical (Flanagan). Howard Roark is a character who is selfish and the protagonist of The Fountainhead. After being arrested for blowing up the Cortlandt housing project, Roark chooses the most hostile jury he can and not to bring witnesses. Instead he defends himself with a philosophical speech as he tells them, “The mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain.... …show more content…
No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another” (Rand Fountainhead 679). Not only does the jury find him not guilty, but received this verdict by himself. He and only himself were responsible for defending himself, thus selfishly protecting his own right to live. To a society and jury who saw him as a threat for his selfishness, the individualist can influence them by simply sharing his own values.
Rather than human characters, Rand’s are more like complex abstractions which allows room for glaring ironies (Guerard). Traits in one character make them evil, but the same traits in another: good. The main antagonist of the book is Ellsworth Toohey as he represents collectivism and constantly tries to force Roark into a situation where he is powerless. On the other hand, Henry Cameron serves as his mentor and attempts to guide him to a life unlike his own. Cameron was an architect much like Roark, but he succumbed to the pressure and humiliation of society as they broke him for having ingenious ideas. Toohey hates everyone who is more talented than him while Cameron hates everyone less talented than him, but they both want the same thing: obedience. Cameron the individualist “chose
The concept of what is "individuality" and what is not has plagued and delighted man since the dawn of time. “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy adds 302 more pages to the pile of all the works that have been on the quest to define individualism. In this novel, McCarthy takes us through four faces of the key character’s life, John Grady, to portray the idea of illusory individualism. He contends that John Grady is simply a product of a society in contrast to his (Grady) notion of free will. Simply put: Grady has no alternatives but an obligation to conform to society. McCarthy uses him to create the platform in which to comment on oppression of individuality, expectation of conformity to the values of the society and the fact that the concept of individualism is a myth.
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
Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a very unique novel. It encircles individualism and makes the reader think of how people can conform to society and do as they are told without knowing the consequences and results of their decisions. Also, it teaches the importance of self expression and the freedom that comes along with being your own person and having the power to choose what path to take in life. Figurative language is used often in this book and in a variety of quotes that have great importance to the theme, plot, and conflict of the novel.
In a year that remains undefined beneath a small city lit only by candles, a young man is working. He works without the council to guide him and without his brothers beside him. He works for his own purposes, for his own desires, for the dreams that were born in his own steady heart and bright mind. In his society, this is the greatest transgression. To stand alone is to stand groping in the dark, and to act alone is to be shamed by one’s own selfishness. The elegantly simple society that Ayn Rand has created in the novel Anthem has erased all segregation and discrimination by making every man one and the same with those around him; only Equality 7-2521 defies the norm with his ruthless
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel is set in a future society that is so highly collectivized that the word “I” has been banned. The world is governed by various councils who believe that man’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the Great Truth “that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together” (Rand, 20). Any indication of an individual’s independent spirit is swiftly and brutally put down, with the transgressors being punished with severe prison sentences or even death.
Human nature has many elements that reveal the growth and personality of a person. In Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief”, the author successfully portrays various aspects of human nature through Hans’ conflicts that originate from the tough reality that he lives in. Elements of human nature can be seen as a result of Hans’ constant struggles with guilt, kindness, and love.
Anthem by Ayn Rand is a soul-shifting and mind-blowing novella that explores the dangers of a collective, dystopian society. As a man named Equality 7-2521 stumbles through life, he realizes that he has a burning desire to learn and explore, traits discouraged by the society he lives in. In the City, there are many rules, and all of them shadow the idea that “we are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE. One, indivisible, and forever.” (3) Equality 7-2521, with his passion for learning and science, slowly breaks away from this iron rule set by society, and in doing so, learns of the importance of individualism and freedom. In Anthem, Rand’s use of literary devices such as symbolism, characterization, and imagery help develop and present the tone of the importance of individuality and the dangers of a collective society.
... his ideas for a much improved future. He describes how his two young sons, his beautiful wife, and his community will create around his philosophy of being an individual and possessing freedom. Throughout the novella, Prometheus painfully breaks his chains of confinement, to find his quest for knowledge. With many painful experiences, he finds out that individuality can never be fully controlled, because freedom is always with him. Rand depicts a society where collectivism is the core belief and anyone opposing it, will be a martyr. But it will be one individual who will rise from the depths of despair and fight for his individualality; and eventually find his purpose in life.
Rhetoric by definition is the art of persuasion by speaking and writing; being able to sway someone else’s opinion to match or appear similar to your own. Aristotle has given further definition to rhetoric. He created the rhetoric triangle. The rhetorical triangle uses the three basic credentials that people use to make decisions. They are ethos, or credibility of the author or speaker; pathos, or ability to draw emotion out of your audience; and finally the logos, or the logic of the message being sent out and determined valid by the audience. I feel that one of the best example that I could find of the rhetoric triangle is the character Ellsworth Toohey, in the novel The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. This character uses every part of the rhetoric
Utilitarianism, the belief in doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people, is often seen as a cold and harsh ideology, as shown in Ayn Rand’s Anthem. The book shows the egoistic-capitalists of former society “reborn” into a perfect utilitarian state where there is no individual or self; there is only “brother-man.” The society is led by a hierarchy of councils, which face extremely limited opposition, the only case being Equality 7-2521 evading the World Council of Scholars when the glass box was unveiled. This case of limited opposition is to be expected, as the new system of society ostensibly has no problems; there are enough resources and life sustaining necessities for everyone, but additionally, they do not realize they are oppressed. The aspects of life in Anthem’s universe provides no reason to oppose the councils. However, in order to ingrain themselves into the society of Anthem, the former society has to have implemented certain ideologies to achieve the book’s status quo. Society became extremely utilitarian, as well as egalitarian, abolishing egoism and inequality. “We are nothing. Mankind is all” (21).
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.
There has always been a slight anxiety of being alone or standing alone. Students rarely want to admit to having an answer different from the rest of their classmates; some people do not want to go somewhere and do something by themselves. Notably, with more shy or anxious people, they will often stick around someone they know, so they will not be alone in the crowd. Although that company might help them make it through those nerve-wracking moments, when is the right time for them to walk alone? Should a person ever walk alone? In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality’s internal conflict of conformity versus individuality plays a role that Equality needs to overcome in order to complete their quest for freedom which helps create their outcast archetype and gives significance to the final word of the novel.
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.
Philosophy demands literature that can abet the understanding of social views. Without reflective literature, man cannot begin to comprehend the essential messages behind philosophy. One such philosophy, objectivism, is represented exceptionally by the novel, The Fountainhead. Through the use of compelling dialogue, Ayn Rand reveals her own feelings towards objectivism, and her thoughts towards conformity and independence. The interpretations and the implications of several of the quotes within The Fountainhead accurately depict the essence of objectivism and encourages the opposition of conventional standards through the embodiment of the uncompromising innovator "standing against the world."
The ultimate motive of both the altruist and egoist is personal gain. Separating the two ideologies is the method by which this is accomplished. For the altruist, addressing the needs of humanity is purportedly the sole purpose of existence. Egoists, on the other hand, refuse to act if an action does not directly benefit themselves. In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand addresses the function of altruists and egoists within society through character development. There are four characters in particular who distinctly exhibit the attributes of altruistic and egoistic individuals: Catherine Halsey, Peter Keating, and Ellsworth Toohey possess altruistic qualities; whereas, Howard Roark is explicitly egoistic.