Ayn Rand's Timeless Writing Style
Writings From Novel Atlas Shrugged
Aug 27, 2009 Patricia Faulhaber
Who was Ayn Rand? Was she a philosopher, historian, fiction or nonfiction writer? Or, possibly she possessed the visionary sense of the future and the extraordinary talent to channel those visions through her prophetic writings?
Regardless of what readers believe her to have been, she was an exemplary writer that filled her books with passages that brought the story to life. Her fictional messages have remained timeless for over fifty years.
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged was Rand’s fourth novel and has been called her greatest. It is a fictional story of big business versus those running the country and their supposed protection of the needs of the people.
The writing brings the story alive so much so that readers will be able to see the book play out in their minds as if watching it in real-time.
Just a few examples of passages she used to bring home the socialist platform for the economic environment in her story:
“Need versus greed.”
“I’ve seen enough of them to know what makes the kind of poor that want something for nothing.”
“You have sacrificed justice to mercy. You have sacrificed independence to unity. You have sacrificed reason to faith. You have sacrificed wealth to need. You have sacrificed self-esteem to self-denial. You have sacrificed happiness to duty.”
Human Psyche
Plus, Rand wrote many phrases that perfectly define the human psyche such as:
“He did not have the strength to feel – not even to suffer.”
“The woman in Romette 9, Car No. 12, was a housewife who believed that she had the right to elect
politicians, of whom she knew nothing, to control giant industries, of which she had no knowledge.”
“A rational process is a moral process.”
“Thinking is man’s only basic virtue.”
“Substitute motion for thought.”
“If you have not heard it, my dear old-fashioned friends, it has now been proven that the rational is the insane.”
Writing Theme
One of the amazing underlying themes Rand uses in Atlas Shrugged is the question that people who have given up continue to ask, “Who is John Galt?”
It is meant to be a phrase similar to people today using the word “whatever” to indicate that there is not an answer, reason, solution, or any act to turn a particular situation from bad to better.
Rand spreads that question throughout the novel, using it at least 21 times. Midway through the book,
Rand surprises readers by introducing a character named John Galt and how and why the question was started.
Who is Ayn Rand?
Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. She came to the United States with permission from Soviet authorities for a short stay. Rand knew before she left Russia that she would stay in the U.S.
Before moving, she studied philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd. She decided at age nine she wanted to be a fiction writer.
After a brief stint in acting and wardrobe, she sold her first screenplay. Her first novel, We the King, was set in Russia and published in 1936 followed by Anthem in 1938. Next, The Fountainhead was published in 1938 and her greatest work, Atlas Shrugged published in 1957.
After her last novel, Rand wrote and lectured on her own philosophy, Objectivism. She died in 1982.
Writer’s Personality
Ayn Rand seemingly displayed her philosophy and personality on the pages of her novels. She obviously was a strong, determined woman that knew her own mind and what she wanted and then made her own way in the world.
Her strong writings are intricately reflective of those strengths.
Read how Atlas Shrugged Delivers Timeless Message here.
Read about Atlas Shrugged:Ayn Rand's Great American Novel.
Atlas Shrugged Book Review Part Three
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