AYN RAND
Among the greatest thinkers to have lived on this earth.
Among the scores of thinkers and writers who whip up the public sentiment, dole out loads of emotional blackmail, glorify tolerant servitude to others whims and force our actions to be guided by others' thoughts, Rand had the courage speak of the one wonderful philosophy - Rational Objectivism - Our life to be guided by the following tenets - Purpose of my life is my own happiness. My activity and efforts should be for productive accomplishment. A Reasoning mind to be my only ally in the entire process.
Hard to accept, tough to follow, her ideas were truly ground breaking as she literally shook the advocates of Socialism, who branded her as evil. When almost the whole of this world considers "Me" concept as vulgar, her writings were of the highest order in the contrary. She glorified the importance of "self" like never before.
Never ever did the word "I" look so very beautiful. Never ever the concept of "Me" felt more meaningful. Never ever did the idea of "Self" seem so respectful. The protagonists of her novels represented this ideology. In addition to rejecting the altruistic moral code of society, she believed in independence, both at the emotional and intellectual level, which was also advocated fiercely in her writings. This does not mean that she visualized a loner as the perfect human. She had a very beautiful view of relationships as well. (In a Country, where more marriages splits at the Court than at death, Rand was married to the same person for over 50 Years till death - an accomplishment in itself in America!)
The finest writer ever to have walked this planet, she gave a whole new dimension to the idea of relationships, love and sex. It was not about looks. It was not about economics. It was certainly not about caste or creed or class. It was about values. Each one falls for or is attracted to their own type - those who reflect and share their own value system. The pig falls for a pig, the moocher falls for one of his kind, the rational, for his type. Whenever, the value systems are in harmony, the relationships, both spiritual and physical, becomes meaningful. When they are in conflicts, there is no happiness, for the purpose is just to get on with it as a matter of ritual.
Her first major fiction, "We The Living", widely regarded as a tad autobiographical was infact a study in contrast. Though a self proclaimed anti-Communist, Rand's first major novel had a communist hero. But, the novel was not about communism, but about our thoughts, actions and beliefs, set in the communist Russia. The idea of intellectual and emotional independence is also beautifully brought out in that piece.
The other three writings "Anthem", "The Fountainhead" and the greatest of them all "Atlas Shrugged" are all about taking the idea of independence to a whole new level. "Anthem" sets the tone, "The Fountainhead" builds the momentum and "Atlas Shrugged" delivers. "Anthem" is set in an extreme future where humans lose their identify. The word "I" is missing. Every person is assigned a number, a la inmates of a prison. Humans do not have a choice, for the choice is made by the State. They are not supposed to have a vision. The extreme world is what we would be in if the extreme Commies had their way. "Fountainhead" speaks about work ethics. The idea of "independence" in an Auditor's world is far basic when compared to the Howard Roark's idea of the same in the novel. "Atlast Shrugged" is all about what will happen if the thinkers (the prime movers) go on strike.
When scores of books tries to motivate you by telling stories of crackpots and humbugs becoming cracker jackers and Mr/Ms Somebody, her works demonstrate the power of the human mind and independence that can accomplish the maximum, without being preachy. One mantra that her book shouts throughout is - Be Yourself. Do Your Best for Productive Accomplishment.
Her thoughts puts lot of things on proper perspective. The dialogues of Francisco on "Money" and John Galt's Radio Address in "Atlas Shrugged" and Howard Roark's courtroom defense in "The Fountainhead" are sheer class.
Tough to read, tougher to follow, her books are plain dangerous. You either love her ideas or loathe them. If you loathe them, you will surely miss the real purpose of life. If you love them, you are in a even more dangerous zone. It takes weeks to get off it completely. Its ideas lingers so hard that it will make you have a relook at yourself harshly. It will make you face the unwanted truths about yourself.
Couple of greatest contradictions to have plagued her unusually high ideals were her thoughts about - homosexuality (she thought that to be loose moralled, ignoring the fact that it is a biological issue and a matter of personal choice), women in power (she was not always an advocate of woman in power, though in Atlas Shrugged one of the Central Characters / Prime Mover, Dagny Taggart heads a Business Empire) and most importantly her reluctance to convert her masterpiece into a movie (she was totally against giving any creative 'independence' to the film makers). Even Noam Chomsky had slammed her calling her as "Evil" for her extreme ideas and her anti-altruistic views.
Whatever be her contradictions and comments on her by some of the other greatest thinkers, she certainly gave a new dimension to the all important idea called "Self". She rates as the best writer cum philosopher I have known of.
Comments
First of all, thanks for introducing me to the works of this legendry writer. Whose writings made me think twice before watever i do.
The fountainhead and Atlas shrugged has taken away many of the internal turmoil, as how u mentioned once, I learnt wat is it all about.
The term values is very apt. Though its a relative one. Make lots of sense. Value of relationships or be it anything.
I should say. I realised myself. How i was cheating on myself. What is that real "Me".
What is more important is not understanding others but its wat we have understood about ourselves. How true.
Thank you sir.
I was myself thinking of writing about Ayn Rand and more so, the characters of her novels--The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged (haven't read the others, yet). But if I write it, my blog would be more about what I felt about then rather than what she was (documented to be). Though, procrastination got the better of my inspiration.
I just want to add another category of readers of Ayn Rand--those who don't understand her work. Ayn Rand's works have been so much praised by the relatively intelligent, that it's become obligatory for some people
to "like them", without of course, understanding any of what she'd written. Last heard a person describe Howard Roark as a "weird guy, whose actions were totally unpredictable(!)", who'd liked the novel very much. I personally found Roark's actions, at least not, erratic.
Again, I enjoyed this blog.
TC.