Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Ayn Rand Characters In Real Life

Rate this topic


Dagny

Recommended Posts

One of the reasons I loved Ayn Rand's books from the beginning was that the characters she created had personalities that were just like the personalities of people I'd met in real life. Everything from their behavior to their way of looking at life. Here are a few examples. (not using names)

Catherine Halsey: I had a friend in high school who was Christian and would always try to get me to go to her bible study groups during lunch. She was always volunteering and talking about how God was in her life. She was really nice and everything but even back then I knew religion was definitely not for me. Recently I heard that she is working as an occupational therapist!

Peter Keating: I've met plenty of these, but one guy from high school in particular stands out. He was upset that there was no valedictorian in our high school because he was sure he would have been picked. He invited the principal and various teachers out to lunch with the money he made playing the stock market. He used big words without knowing their meaning. He was annoying to be around and stuck up.

Howard Roark: I knew a friend who was atheist in high school. He was my best friend (only friends..no romantic feelings involved). but he was really awesome. He was the most honest person I'd ever met. He didn't care was others thought of him. He stood up for his beliefs. He was rational and very smart. As far as I know I don't think he was an objectivist...but he certained followed the ideals of objectivism. Last I heard he was at uc berkely majoring in business.

As for John Galt: I haven't met anyone like him in person but everyone on this forum seems like a John Galt to me. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've met plenty, but that's because I have been hanging out with Objectivists for over four decades and the philosophy attracts them.

That's not saying everyone involved with Objectivism is an Ayn Rand hero -- far from it -- but there are enough that I can select out the best and fill my life to overflowing with extraordinary people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i feel for you if you have a mother like rearden's mom. my mother can sometimes be a bit overbearing too...but i think she's more like keating's mom when she tries to lay the guilt trips on me. she used to try to tell me what to do in every aspect of my life...but that changed when i turned 18.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about Roald Amundsen as Ragnar Danneskjold on his holidays? :yarr:

My dad is Peter Keating - we haven't spoken in years - my mum thought he was selfish but I know he is selfless. He is all things to all men. He has a drink problem which has aged him so badly he could pass for Grandad's little brother.

There was a girl at my work, who has now gone, who could have been an Ayn Rand villain. She was a master of social metaphysics.

An argument would go something like " Oh, Black Sabbath. (Patronisingly) You have a strong view on something but you should realise that someone else has a different view (with the implication that you are wrong and that they are right" No attempt would be made to refute you and there was no attempt to give you anything to refute yourself.

It took me a couple of years to work it out but i reckon it was a combination of ad hominem and ad verecundum.

Simon Pritchett in drag maybe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ZiggyKD

My brother reminds me of Francisco.

Is he single? :lol:

Most everyone I have met reminds of the more negative aspects, however I have met one man who reminds me a bit of a budding John Galt...time will surely tell :)

I have a brother who attempts to live his religion (mormonism) to the letter - contradictions and all - he has so many mixed premises that he can contradict his own argument three times in ten minutes and not even see it. (it is actually kind of sad)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've met plenty, but that's because I have been hanging out with Objectivists for over four decades and the philosophy attracts them. 

That's not saying everyone involved with Objectivism is an Ayn Rand hero -- far from it -- but there are enough that I can select out the best and fill my life to overflowing with extraordinary people.

Just taking a glance around this forum that seems prophetic of my life thusfar. I'm happy to have discovered Objectivism so early in my life. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you say you're like Ms. Taggart, Dagny?  :lol:

haha...one can only hope. she is the only female character in a book whom I would choose for a role model. although ...my grandfather, uncles and father were/are in the transport business....they have trucking companies not trains though. maybe someday i'll follow them and start my own...maybe even include trains...ya never know. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An interesting question: Who were you most like prior to reading the books?

I'd have to say I was something of an Eddie Willers - a drifter. I discovered Rand whilst backpacking through India.

Having said that Ive always been a strong philosophical searcher like Galt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a sense of life aspect, I would have to say I was something like Steven Mallory in The Fountainhead.

Me too. Which is probably why I had such a strong emotional response to his character the first time I read the book. Now I'd like to think I'm more like Howard Roark. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before I read the books I can't say that I was really like any one character, it was kind of a mix. I had a lot of ideas that are part of the basic foundation of objectivism but I also had some irrational notions/premises that got corrected. It was kind of like some things were really blurry and fuzzy and objectivism cleared it all up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been many of Rand's characters but only in different situations and circumstances.

The characters I know who I could compare with in order from greatest to least is

1. Dominique (Before the conversion)

2. Gail Wynand

3. Midas Mulligan (I'm great with money. No one will tell you otherwise. ;)

4. Ellsworth Toohey (In terms of ability. I make the highest grades in Social Sciences and English but dispise Science and Math.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do people seem to be looking for Rand's characters in real life? Some people say they cannot find John Galt, and that they are searching for one. Does anyone here think it is a little dogmatic to view these people as real life gods as such? Ayn Rand presented ideal characters to show how man should properly act. These characters are not necessarily real. Thoughts, anyone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do people seem to be looking for Rand's characters in real life?  Some people say they cannot find John Galt, and that they are searching for one.  Does anyone here think it is a little dogmatic to view these people as real life gods as such?  Ayn Rand presented ideal characters to show how man should properly act. These characters are not necessarily real.  Thoughts, anyone?

I think it is worth it to seek out the best people you can find. That's what I have been doing my entire life and quite consciously since I was seven years old.

Many of the real people I have found have the stature of Ayn Rand heroes. Some of these have the unstylized, unessentialized complexity of NON-fiction characters and I often find them even MORE interesting than Ayn Rand heroes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ayn Rand presented ideal characters to show how man should properly act. These characters are not necessarily real.

I disagree. Rand even elaborated on this -- that her characters were not portrayed for "didactic" purposes. Rather, they were presented as objects of contemplation, as an end in itself. "Would I want to meet these characters and observe these events in real life?"

If some of her characters remind us of people in real life, so much the better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In real life, your chances of finding a real Ayn Rand villain are very high as the ideas behind the villains of Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead are still prevalent worldwide.

For example, Wesley Mouch was President of America until he was defeated by Ronald Reagan.

The ideas behind Ayn Rand's heros are still not very widespread so your chances of finding one are quite slim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ideas behind Ayn Rand's heros are still not very widespread so your chances of finding one are quite slim.

It is rare to encounter great heroes in your everyday life. All that means is that you have to actively and deliberately and creatively seek them out.

THEN you'll find them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before I discovered Ayn Rand I think I was a mix of Dominique and Steven Mallory. I used to feel quite hopeless about the state of the world.

To answer the other question about Ayn Rand characters in real life I shall quote something Ayn Rand herself said "I trust that no one will tell me that men such as I write about don't exist. That this book has been written-and published-is my proof that they do." I got it from the back of my Atlas Shrugged-in the About the Author section.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BlackSabbath said:"In real life, your chances of finding a real Ayn Rand villain are very high as the ideas behind the villains of Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead are still prevalent worldwide.

For example, Wesley Mouch was President of America until he was defeated by Ronald Reagan.

The ideas behind Ayn Rand's heros are still not very widespread so your chances of finding one are quite slim"

I think the chances of finding one of Rand's villians in real life is very slim. Of course the ideas are prevalent world wide, but most people that I know of today are plain simple-folk that don't give a damn either way. At least in America, the culture is based on ignorance, not blatantly stating selflessness as the moral good. However, these 'simple-folk' do hold faulty premises which is the reason why we have so many problems today. I believe it will be hard to find a real life Jim Taggart or Wesley Mouch. But very easy to find people similar to them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...