In the journey that is Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand suggests that man has the potential to achieve the unreachable if they are able to self actualize and use their mind to manipulate their surroundings. Although considered repetitious and mundane at times, what kept me intrigued about Atlas Shrugged was the unique psychological state of mind that all of Rand’s characters possessed. The unemotional, detached, miserable human beings defied their innate instincts and fought against nature in order to live in a world that man hand crafted. This paradox and struggle between becoming socially and economically ‘accepted’ versus using the mind to pursue and gain self worth was intertwined between the lines all throughout the novel. It created deep levels of frustration and anger in me. This occurred several times when I believed that Dagny was on the verge of a break through and was willing to change her perceptions of her world and her own life; however, I was made a fool when each and every time she regressed back to society’s norm of what it means to be a human being.
Essentially, society became a large hierarchical high school. The looters’ represented the top tiered popular kids willing to take out anyone that was in their way, and the men who employed their minds and imaginations were outcasts and at the bottom of the tier as if they were the schools’ nerds. Rand is very clear, however, that because society followed the devilish ways of the looters’ game people became antisocial meaning that they possessed no consciousness nor did they feel guilt. In fact, all feelings were suppressed as the manipulation of people became the number one priority for every single citizen willing to climb up the economic ladder that existed in this made up world. I found it quite intriguing that Rand illustrated through her text the fact that the consequences that manifest through a society that neglects to use its’ collective mind are innumerable. Among them includes the human need to achieve perfectionism; however, the side affects of this behavior created by the looters resulted in a wide spread epidemic of fear.
Throughout the novel Rand critiques the industrialized and the ‘progressive’ world. She in a sense pokes fun at the fact that one of the only goals that her characters posses is to achieve perfectionism, and yet they can never achieve it. Because they abandon their roots, or their minds, their journeys to perpetually strive for perfectionism is hindered as their ability to progress is halted. The cancer that pushes them to achieve perfectionism slaughters the idea of balance and the core value of what it means to be human. In a way, people detached themselves into two different entities. People that possess the ability to know oneself and feel emotion, and the people that move in the world without a mind or a conscience. I constantly wanted Rand’s characters to join forces with their true selves, as I had empathy for their worthless lives.
Furthermore, I believe the apocalyptic setting that Rand depicts throughout the novel to be a house of terror. Fear takes over several hundred of the pages that Rand’s audience reads. It is this denominator that all her characters exhibit. This is the source of every single conflict that manifests throughout the novel. Fear of the unknown, fear of financial security, and fear of social power are among a few of the fears that exist in each of the characters. Dismay and anxiety are a crucial catalysts in the diversion from nature and love. Rand defines her characters by how they define fear, how they are able to either conquer it or let it consume them, and how they are able to compensate for it.
However, Rand’s main objective through her description of fright is to compare different types of fear side by side. She focuses on the uneasiness of standing still versus the angst of change. She mentions how people cannot stand to be in the present moment. For example, when Dagny panics when her train stops moving, she is terrified to see her perspective of the world halts in a sudden moment. However, on the other hand, Rand also describes fear of change through James when he begs for stability and falls to his knees at the idea of uncontrolled change.
Rand illustrates that “man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons,and to make weapons - a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and we have comes from a single attribute of man -the function of his reasoning mind.” Rand worships the mind and believes it to be an all knowing, self sacrificing entity. She even hints at the fact that the independence of the mind is God-like. She bows down to its presence and believes it to be the most valuable and holy tool of this universe. She makes a powerful statement that a true man of the mind, like John Galt, will experience the most intense emotional bonds to individuals around him because he is a man of the mind. It is the interconnection between emotional capability, and the capabilities of the mind that Rand pleads to her reader will make society as a whole complete and most importantly the reader themselves self actualized.
Essentially, society became a large hierarchical high school. The looters’ represented the top tiered popular kids willing to take out anyone that was in their way, and the men who employed their minds and imaginations were outcasts and at the bottom of the tier as if they were the schools’ nerds. Rand is very clear, however, that because society followed the devilish ways of the looters’ game people became antisocial meaning that they possessed no consciousness nor did they feel guilt. In fact, all feelings were suppressed as the manipulation of people became the number one priority for every single citizen willing to climb up the economic ladder that existed in this made up world. I found it quite intriguing that Rand illustrated through her text the fact that the consequences that manifest through a society that neglects to use its’ collective mind are innumerable. Among them includes the human need to achieve perfectionism; however, the side affects of this behavior created by the looters resulted in a wide spread epidemic of fear.
Throughout the novel Rand critiques the industrialized and the ‘progressive’ world. She in a sense pokes fun at the fact that one of the only goals that her characters posses is to achieve perfectionism, and yet they can never achieve it. Because they abandon their roots, or their minds, their journeys to perpetually strive for perfectionism is hindered as their ability to progress is halted. The cancer that pushes them to achieve perfectionism slaughters the idea of balance and the core value of what it means to be human. In a way, people detached themselves into two different entities. People that possess the ability to know oneself and feel emotion, and the people that move in the world without a mind or a conscience. I constantly wanted Rand’s characters to join forces with their true selves, as I had empathy for their worthless lives.
Furthermore, I believe the apocalyptic setting that Rand depicts throughout the novel to be a house of terror. Fear takes over several hundred of the pages that Rand’s audience reads. It is this denominator that all her characters exhibit. This is the source of every single conflict that manifests throughout the novel. Fear of the unknown, fear of financial security, and fear of social power are among a few of the fears that exist in each of the characters. Dismay and anxiety are a crucial catalysts in the diversion from nature and love. Rand defines her characters by how they define fear, how they are able to either conquer it or let it consume them, and how they are able to compensate for it.
However, Rand’s main objective through her description of fright is to compare different types of fear side by side. She focuses on the uneasiness of standing still versus the angst of change. She mentions how people cannot stand to be in the present moment. For example, when Dagny panics when her train stops moving, she is terrified to see her perspective of the world halts in a sudden moment. However, on the other hand, Rand also describes fear of change through James when he begs for stability and falls to his knees at the idea of uncontrolled change.
Rand illustrates that “man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons,and to make weapons - a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and we have comes from a single attribute of man -the function of his reasoning mind.” Rand worships the mind and believes it to be an all knowing, self sacrificing entity. She even hints at the fact that the independence of the mind is God-like. She bows down to its presence and believes it to be the most valuable and holy tool of this universe. She makes a powerful statement that a true man of the mind, like John Galt, will experience the most intense emotional bonds to individuals around him because he is a man of the mind. It is the interconnection between emotional capability, and the capabilities of the mind that Rand pleads to her reader will make society as a whole complete and most importantly the reader themselves self actualized.
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