Reading and Understanding Ayn Rand

A Look at the Influential Author and Some of Her Best Books

Aug 26, 2009

Ayn Rand, founder of Objectivism, is a fascinatingly complex author whose works seem daunting. When understood, however, they are not as intimidating as they look.

Rand’s two most popular books were, and still are, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Both are massive works of fiction, featuring larger-than-life characters that are the exemplars of Objectivist philosophy. To a reader approaching Rand for the first time, these books can seem intimidating; however, if read with the right level of understanding, each book proves to be an enjoyable and interesting read.

Ayn Rand

Rand was born in Russia in 1905. Reading by the age of six, she embarked on a life-long journey of reading and writing. She came to regard America as the epitome of what freedom of individuality represented. In February of 1926, she obtained a visa to visit the United States and came with no intention of leaving.

She worked for several years in various non-writing jobs until she began writing screenplays and novels. She started writing The Fountainhead in 1935 and published it and many other novels before her death. Her two greatest and most lasting works are The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Objectivism

Through the course of her life and writing, Rand developed a philosophy called Objectivism. In it she espoused the doctrine of selfishness. Selfishness, to Rand, was a virtue: it is not the greedy gluttonous behavior traditionally associated with the word but instead the maintenance of one’s individual purpose.

Objectivism is the idea that the world and reality exist separately from the individual, and that working to gain dominion over one’s perceptions in order to gain happiness is the most generous act a man can perform. Only by living to the best of one’s abilities is one regarded as being a true human.

Throughout her writing, Rand crafted her heroes to reflect the attributes of Objectivism and attempt to explain the philosophy through example rather than exposition. She also wrote extensively on Objectivism in the form of essays, pamphlets and other books, but her novels remain her best-known writings.

The story of the architect Howard Roark gained popularity through word of mouth and was made into a movie starring Gary Cooper as Howard Roark and Patricia Neal as Dominique Francon. The book follows Roark’s struggle to find work as an unbending individualist and to defend his work from the “selfless” changes people constantly ask him to make.

When a housing project he designs is changed without his permission, he dynamites it and defends himself in a rousing speech for the rights of the individual man to his own work, his own creation and above all his spirit.

Rand’s work in The Fountainhead promotes her philosophy of Objectivism. She does so through the example of Howard Roark, the true Objectivist individual and contrasts him to characters like Gail Wynand –the newspaper tycoon who could have had Roark’s integrity but failed, and Ellsworth Toohey –the epitome of the people Rand despised: he encourages people to “selflessly” give up their individuality and submit their minds to the wills of the majority.

Reading Ayn Rand’s writing in The Fountainhead can be made easier using a basic understanding of her theories of Objectivism. Going in with the knowledge that selfishness is a virtue and selflessness is a pejorative term will help clarify many of the philosophical points. The story itself is a complex one, ranging across years of time and focusing heavily on developing all of the main characters.

The Fountainhead is a complex story with many layers. Rand’s use of Roark, architecture and fiction to espouse her philosophy creates a story that will have readers spellbound and curious.

Atlas Shrugged is the story of Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden John Galt and a world gone mad; the most productive men –the Objectivists of the story –disappear from the face of the earth. Featuring more elements of science fiction than The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged is also the more complicated of the two books.

The story is based around the question of what would happen if the creative minds of the world went on strike, and instead of the architectural theme of The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged deals more closely with the railroad industry.

The collectivist mindset of society in Atlas Shrugged has driven the world into an economic and social depression, and no one seems to want to find the answers. Those who could solve the problems –the creative men –are vanishing one by one. Dagny and Hank attempt to find out why, while also attempting to weather the scorn of a society that hates their attempts at creation.

Atlas Shrugged is the most philosophically loaded of Rand’s novels. Her advocacy of the concepts of Objectivism, particularly the idea of rational selfishness, is heavily emphasized in the writing. Large digressions from the action of the plot are made in order to allow Rand to expound at length on the ideas of Objectivism.

Far from creating characters that were merely symbols for aspects of her Objectivist ideas, the people who populate the world of Atlas Shrugged are larger-than-life individuals who exist in a world they can see more clearly than the rest.

In addition to dealing with Objectivism, Atlas Shrugged also presents a contrast to the Marxist Labor Theory of Value and supports the ideals of laissez-faire capitalism.

The copyright of the article Reading and Understanding Ayn Rand in Philosophy Books is owned by Bailey Shoemaker Richards. Permission to republish Reading and Understanding Ayn Rand in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.