Ayn Rand's Probjectivism Vs Objectivism

The poem “Invictus” by William E. Henley, and the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, both have common themes that discuss the importance of individuality. Each of the themes that these works have to offer will be discussed throughout the paragraphs of this essay.

“It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil” (17). Equality 7-2521 was born into a society that portrays a totalitarian rule. The people living in the controlled environment have been taught and brainwashed to know only one thing: the priority of the group over the individual person. Equality 7-2521 is one of the few people raised in the world of collectivism that is born different – filled with curiosity, gifted with intelligence; the difference leads him to believe he is cursed and evil. He was ashamed of his unique qualities and believed that he was a flaw. It is this divergence that makes him believe there is an initial

Throughout the novel, Anthem, and a speech from Fountainhead, written by Ayn Rand, it expresses the argument between individualism vs collectivism. An individual is a person who has control of his or herself, while a collectivist is someone whose hard work benefits their society. Although, another ideology that Ayn Rand mentions in her literature is egoism, throughout her books the significant meaning of being an egoist is considered a good thing, but in our modern society today we consider it a trait reflected by a selfish person.

Ayn Rand’s ideology centralizes on the idea that total human individuality is absolute and is obtained only by means of reason, self-esteem, and total worship of virtues. Atlas Shrugged ideal hero, John Galt, is the major example of objectivism and its complex layers. He is the symbol of no guilt, no fear, no submission, and no doubt in the value of the mind. Henceforth, John Galt is the reality that lies behind any human; the use of reason and self-interest as the motor for the improvement of the world; and, in consequence, the natural right to live by the power of thinking.

A crucial question people often find themselves asking is whether to live for themselves or to live for others and to what extent. Ayn Rand's novella, Anthem, explores a dystopian society that takes the theme of living for others to a whole new level. The sternness of this culture creates an emotionless and a bland society set on fulfilling collectivist principles. Anthem's society manipulates language to enforce collectivist doctrine by excluding words which cultivate a personal identity and merging religious and government views.

At first glance, the book Anthem by ayn rand is pretty good. The book flows nicely and makes you want to stay up reading it instead of sleeping(at least that’s what I did). But there is a lot more hidden in the writing than you might think. In this essay, I will be discuss the topics of the unspeakable word, Objectivism, Rand putting her life into her work, and the possibilities of a connection between Anthem and the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld. Ayn rand is a really smart author, and she has hidden many secrets in her book.

Morality is a system of values and principles of conduct. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, one system of morality belonging to the totalitarian dictatorship was collectivism. Opposed to this belief Equality, the protagonist, chooses individualism as his moral compass. Equality is not a normal man he is curious, intelligent, and strong. He distrusts society and chooses his own morality, individualism.

Anthem – Ayn Rand Morality is a system of moral conduct or conformity to ideals of right human conduct. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, one system of morality was so destroyed that Equality creates his own system of morals. Throughout Anthem, Equality, the narrator, goes through a series of events that led him to change his view of morality. At the end of Anthem, the collectivist society’s view of morality remains the same while Equality’s view of morality changed to ideals of right human conduct and an increase in his personal inner strength.

Ayn Rand was a woman born and raised in Russia. She is what one would call a very dauntless woman when it comes to her personal thoughts, and she is not fearful of sharing her said thoughts. She is a strong believer of Ethical egoism, to look out for one’s own self interest, and her blunt fashion of voicing her thoughts shocked most of the public. She also wrote a book, Anthem, as if to show what would happen if we solely relied on our government and fellow man, how we would revert to a time before technology and almost have a Hungergames type of segregation. Now, the government of today is not like the one described in Ayn Rand’s book, however, government official Rand Paul referenced her writings in his argument against the Energy Independence act of 2007, and may have unintentionally compared the two governments. There is no right or wrong way to claim his action as. Many believe it was incorrect to make this reference,

Rand declares the Abrahamic God as faulty and non-existent; mankind should not be enslaved to Him or to others, but to be dedicated to only himself. According to Anthem, human nature’s anxious breaths cannot be stifled with a series of synthetic laws that limit man’s ego, synonymous to ‘selfishness’ today. While the word ‘selfishness’ carries a negative connotation to most, to Rand, selfishness is good; to “redeem both man and morality, it is the concept of ‘selfishness’ that one has to redeem” (The Virtue of Selfishness, ix). She does not define selfishness as arrogance, but as the leading factor that will enable a man to title himself the king of his beliefs. Yet while Rand elaborately praises the human ego, and incessantly condemns the dystopian morality, she reminds people of mankind’s dominance over the earth, and the gift of freedom and will endowed by the one and only,

Believing in yourself and the things you can do is what sets you apart from the others surrounding you. In a world of dystopian collectivism, rules and regulations have turned life negative for generations upon generations of people. The perfect world that they have created has begun to crack. Ayn Rand believed that collectivism was not beneficial to this dystopian life and showed her reasonings through the character Equality 7-2521, the exclusion of the word “I”, and fear.

Ayn Rand, the author of Anthem, states, “The mind is an attribute of an individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain.” This statement means Ayn believes highly in individualism. Individualism is a belief in the freedom of action of individuals. Ayn Rand’s theme of individualism is not a sin is developed and supported in many of her works such as Anthem through the characters, Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000, and their actions.

The issue of what the leaders have done wrong and what they ignore doing. Anything that is new and interesting made him feel proud of himself. Equality 7-2521 would have agreed with Ayn Rand’s philosophy about Moral Judgement. What Ayn Rand believes in the philosophy that any man cannot be determined on who they are or what they do over morals that may or may not be correct according to what type of society. A world where any man are free of being tortured from thinking differently and acting

Rand portrays her true devotion to the individualistic mind most prominently by acknowledging the portion of the text when Equality makes it to the Uncharted Forest. She shows his mind rapidly changing from the confound of the collectivist mind to the ever-growing mind state of an individualist. The image of this rapid change is rather profound throughout this portion of the text.

How should we live our lives? Do you live for others or for yourself? What do you deem to be the ideal: selflessness, or selfishness? Why? Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead addresses these issues and her philosophy behind it called Objectivism. Her rebellious rhetoric is to convince us that the only true virtue is selfishness and that we should abide by its standards and live for ourselves.