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.
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.
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.
I meet people that are a lot like the negative characters all the time. Rarely do I come across people that remind me of positive one’s though. There are a couple though.
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.
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)
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:
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.
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:
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.
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?
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.
