Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand
This essay will discuss the life and works of Ayn Rand. The
woman who would become Ayn Rand was born Alice
Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905. (Branden, Barbara pg.3
1986). She was born during the eleventh year of Nicholas
II's reign in Russia.(Baker pg.1 1987). Rand's birth was
just before a revolution in Russia, however this revolution
was put down by her first year.(Branden, Barbara pg.3
1986). The Rosenbaum's lived quite comfortably under the
czar.(Baker pg.1 1987). Beneath their large apartment was
Fronz Rosenbaum's chemist shop.(Branden, Barbara pg. 4
1986). Rand's father was a serious man whom she never
knew very well.(Branden, Barbara pg.4 1986). Ayn's
mother, Anna Rosenbaum, was the opposite of her father
and was very sociable. (Branden, Barbara pg. 4-5 1986).
As a child, Rand did not have a true sense of affection with
her father. (Branden, Barbara pg.5 1986). However, she
did develop a strong bond of love with him as she grew
older. (Branden, Barbara pg. 4 1986). Ayn did not get
along well with her mother. (Branden, Barbara pg.5 1986).
Although the Rosenbaum family was traditionally Jewish, it
is said that Rand really did not have a religious upbringing.
(Baker pg.2 1987). As a result, she became atheist as a
child after coming to the conclusion that believing in God is
degrading to humans in the sense that man should live for
no one else but himself. (Baker pg.3 1987). Rand
discovered a passion for upbeat, lively music which she
began collecting on records. (Branden, Barbara pg.8
1986). By the time she was five years of age, she had two
little sisters, Natasha and Elena. (Branden, Barbara pg.7
1986). As a whole, Ayn's childhood was not a pleasant
experience for her; in later years it proved to be an
unhappy memory as well. (Branden, Barbara pg.34 1986).
Ayn Rand received a good education and learned to read
and write at age six. (Baker pg.2 1987). She found her
classes boring and too easy. (Baker pg.2 1987). This led
her to begin writing simple short stories and novels. (Baker
pg.2 1987). Rand's inability to fit in socially at school and
her boredom with the education she was receiving led her
to become somewhat of a recluse with one exception: her
passion for literature. (Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986).
Literature seemed to absorb Ayn more than any other
thing; it intrigued her and gave her much pleasure to read
and soon, to write. (Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986). "She
would sit in school, barricaded behind a book, scribbling
furiously at her latest adventure, wanting only to be alone,
to write, to devise dangerous exploits for her characters."
(Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986). Rand's decision to
become a writer became certain at age nine. (Baker pg.2
1987). The decision was made while walking down a
London street that she would devote her life to writing.
(Branden, Barbara pg.14 1986). When the great war in
Russia began, Ayn started writing stories with "the intensity
that the times demanded". (Baker pg.2 1987). Rand
enrolled herself in a university at Petrograd, previously
known as St. Petersburg and her place of birth, at age
sixteen. (Baker pg.3 1987). Although she did not write any
creative, fictional works during her years at the university,
an outline for a play was later used as inspiration for her
novel, Anthem. (Baker pg.3 1987). Rand read many
literary works while she was at the university and gained a
lot of knowledge from them. (Baker pg.3 1987). Ayn Rand
graduated the university in 1924. (Baker pg.4 1987). In
1926, Ayn Rand celebrated her twenty-first birthday.
(Baker pg.4 1987). However, she did not feel that it was
her twenty-first birthday, to her it signified the beginning of
her life. (Branden, Barbara pg.62 1986). Rand arrived in
New York on a February evening at seven o' clock p.m.
(Branden, Barbara pg.63 1986). She had with her only fifty
dollars in her pocket, a typewriter in her arms, stories
etched in her mind and "the sense of life as exaltation."
(Branden, Barbara pg.63 1986). From New York, Rand
went on to Chicago to stay with some relatives there.
(Baker pg.5 1987). Ayn disliked Chicago very much and
went straight to work on writing scenarios and film ideas.
(Branden, Barbara pg.69 1986). Over this summer in
Chicago, Rand worked to improve her English, wrote
manuscripts and her film ideas. (Baker pg.5 1987). She
was ecstatic to finally be free and to be able to achieve all
the things she had always wanted. (Branden, Barbara
pg.71 1986). At the end of the summer in Chicago, Rand
set out for Hollywood with only her manuscripts and a
recommendation from DeMille's Chicago Distributors to
the Cecil B. DeMille Studio in Hollywood. (Baker pg.5
1987). Ayn's relatives sent her off with a train ticket and
one-hundred dollars. (Branden, Barbara pg.73 1986). She
was ready to go out on her own and truly begin her life.
(Branden, Barbara pg.73 1986). Alice Rosenbaum
re-named herself Ayn after a Finnish writer she adored.
(Baker pg.4 1987). It appealed to her because Ayn
rhymed with mine and promised she would be recognized
and admired. (Baker pg.4 1987). Rand came from her
"Remington-Rand" typewriter. (Baker pg.4 1987). Ayn
decided this name sounded more American than Alice
Rosenbaum. (Baker pg.4 1987). Furthermore, it signified
new-life and a relief from Russia's system. (Baker pg.4
1987). Lastly, Ayn did not want to endanger the lives of
her relatives in communist-Russia by her anti-communist
feelings. (Branden, Barbara pg.72 1986). Ayn Rand
moved into a room at the new Studio Club which was a
"...haven for young aspirants come to conquer
Hollywood..." and housed many actresses, dancers, studio
clerks and the like. (Branden, Barbara pg.73 1986). On
her first day looking, Ayn found a job working at the
DeMille Studio. (Baker pg.5 1987). Rand was hired as an
extra at the studio for seven dollars and fifty cents a day
which seemed to be a fortune to her. (Branden, Barbara
pg. 77 1986). She worked for DeMille for nine years until
his studio closed and remained in Hollywood for nine more
years. (Baker pg.5 1987). Ayn Rand met what was to
become her future husband after her second week in
Hollywood; his name was Frank O' Connor. (Branden,
Barbara pg.79 1986). Rand says her feelings for O'
Connor were love at first sight. (Branden, Barbara pg.80
1986). They were great companions and were married in
1929. (Baker pg.6 1987). Because she was now married
to an American citizen, Ayn applied for citizenship and was
naturalized in 1931. (Baker pg.7 1987). The two remained
married for fifty years until O' Connor's death in 1979.
(Baker pg.6-7 1987). Rand began working in the
wardrobe department of R.K.O. studios in the summer of
1929. (Baker pg.7 1987). She began writing We The
Living, which was published in 1936. (Baker pg.7 1987).
"With the Hollywood success under her belt, Rand felt
confident to take on Broadway..."(Baker pg.9 1987). Her
play, Night of January 16th was a great success and ran for
seven months. (Baker pg.9 1987). Ayn spent six years
writing her next novel, The Fountainhead. (Baker pg.11
1987). In late 1935, Rand was finally able to devote all of
her time to writing The Fountainhead. (Branden, Barbara
pg.36 1986). At long last, in December of 1942, Rand
completed The Fountainhead, (Branden, Barbara pg.174
1986), and the book was published in 1943.(Baker pg.13
1987). Atlas Shrugged was to be Ayn Rand's next novel.
(Baker pg.17 1987). She was aware that it would take
awhile to be accepted but that eventually, Atlas Shrugged
would have an influence. (Branden, Barbara pg.294 1986).
Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical novel which began with
the question: "What if all the creative minds of the world
went on strike?" (Branden, Nathaniel pg.79-80 1989).
When it came time to find a publisher for Atlas Shrugged,
Rand wanted to make sure that, because of the
controversy her book would inevitably cause, the publisher
would stand by her. (Branden, Barbara pg.294 1986).
Finally, the book was published by Random House
Publishers on October 10, 1957. (Baker pg.17 1987).
"Rand supporters and critics alike agree that this is the
essence of her philosophy of life, politics and economics."
(Baker pg.17 1987). Although Atlas Shrugged was
reviewed negatively for the most part, it sold extremely
well, with sales of 125,000 in just the first year. (Baker
pg.17 1987). "Whether it [Atlas Shrugged] takes its place
as a classic piece of American fiction or is judged merely a
huge burst of ideological wind depends on the taste of
future generations."(Baker pg.64 1987). Ayn Rand
referred to Atlas Shrugged as her finest novel, it was the
largest at 1,168 pages and took her nine years to complete.
(Baker pg.58 1987). Atlas Shrugged has become "the holy
text of the objectivist movement." (Baker pg.63 1987).
From Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand was able to present the
essence of her philosophy, Objectivism. (Ayn Rand
column). This book became her last novel of fiction
because by 1958 she had become a philosopher. (Baker
pg.17 1987). In 1961, Ayn published her first non-fiction
philosophic novel, For The New Intellectual. (Baker pg.19
1987). In 1962, Ayn Rand began the Objectivist
Newsletter, in which she was able to further her influence
of Objectivism. (Baker pg.20 1987). The four basics of
Objectivism are: Objective Reality, Reason, Self-interest,
and Capitalism. (Ayn Rand Column). Objectivism is against
altruism which "...holds that man has no right to exist for his
own sake, that service to others is the only moral
justification of his existence..." (Ayn Rand Column). During
the height of the Objectivist movement in 1968, Rand had
gathered a very devoted group of followers and believers
of her philosophy. (Baker pg.22 1987). The motto that
these followers lived by was: "I swear--by my life and my
love of it--that I will never live for another man nor ask
another man to live for mine." (Baker pg.22 1987).
Between the years of 1970-1971, Ayn Rand published
four more books on her philosophy: The Virtue of
Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, The Romantic
Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature and The New Left:
The Anti-Industrial Revolution. (Baker pg.22 1987 and
Branden, Barbara pgs. 324-325 1986). Rand expresses
the controversy of education given by the government.
(Ayn Rand Column). Education is said to be extremely
important by the government and the government plans on
spending millions of tax dollars under new programs for
education. (Ayn Rand Column). On the contrary, many
families who pay taxes cannot afford to send their children
to college, and they are not allowed to take away
educational costs from their taxes. (Ayn Rand Column).
Rand believed that the American school system is like the
situation brought up in Victor Hugo's, The Man Who
Laughs. (Baker pg.90 1987). "It is a story about a society
that kept children in oddly shaped pots until they were so
monstrously stunted and deformed that they could be used
to entertain dignitaries." (Baker pg.90 1987). Rand felt this
action is similar to that of nursery schools, where children
are taught to play fairly, and not to use imaginary or
conceptual skills. (Baker pg.90 1987). In addition, it
continues in higher grades and even in college. (Baker
pg.90 1987). Students are taught at these levels that " the
human mind is incapable of knowing anything for certain."
(Baker pg.90 1987). "....young Americans are so
intellectually mutilated that they are incapable of
identification..." (Baker pg.90 1987). The tormentors are
the "...Kantian professors who train teachers to suppress
individuality in children, who demonstrate by their own lives
that knowledge is beyond the grasp of the human mind."
(Baker pg.90 1987). Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982 at
the age of seventy eight. (Baker pg.28 1987 and Branden,
Nathaniel pg.1 1989). Her health had been rapidly
deteriorating for a few months prior to her death; she had
developed cardio-pulmonary problems. (Branden,
Nathaniel pg.1 1989). Ayn was buried next to her
husband, Frank O' Connor, at the Kensico Cemetery in
Valhalla, New York. (Baker pg.28 1987). "Ayn had begun
life with a single passionate goal--to create her ideal world
and her ideal man. And at the end of her life--despite the
odds against her, despite the pain and the losses, despite
the illness and anguish and death--it was done." (Branden,
Barbara pg.404 1986). "It's a benevolent universe, and I
love it, and any struggle was worth it. Struggle or
unhappiness are so enormously unimportant. I don't regret
a minute of my life." (Branden, Barbara pg.404 1986 [said
by Ayn Rand]). Rand led an eventful and memorable life.
She inspired many with her novels and her philosophy. The
world has gained tremendous insights and knowledge from
the philosophy and intriguing novels of Ayn Rand.
Bibliography: Branden, Barbara The Passion of Ayn Rand
1986 Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc. New
York, N.Y. Nathaniel, Branden Judgement Day: My Years
with Ayn Rand 1989 Houghton Mifflin Company Boston,
Massachusetts James T. Baker Ayn Rand 1987 G.K. Hall
and Co. Boston, Massachusetts The Ayn Rand Column: A
Collection of her Weekly Newspaper Articles Written for
the Los Angeles Times. With additional, little-known
essays by Ayn Rand 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979,
1991 Second Renaissance Books Oceanside, CA