Individualism In Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead

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Ego. The word itself has a negative connotation. But Ayn Rand challenges that idea in her novella, Anthem. With an egoist leading the adventure through a society that has become collectivist, he quickly realizes that “quote about how being different is a sin” () . Slowly, he figures out that he doesn’t belong as collectivist, thus he follows his own selfish goals and becomes an individualist. And along with individualism, came ego, changing Equality in a better way, creating Prometheus. By definition an egoist is a selfish or conceited person. Despite not knowing about ego, Prometheus is an egoist. The first time Prometheus sees himself he says “quote saying he is different/beautiful” (). All of the characters know that Equality is special …show more content…
This is shown on multiple occasions through Anthem. It is also clearly shown when comparing “The Soul of a Collectivist” and “The Soul of an Individualist” in her novel The Fountainhead. In Anthem, Equality is highlighted as the protagonist yet he is an egoist, against the antagonist, collectivism. By showing that individuality is the better of the two options Ayn Rand prompts readers to think ego isn’t as bad as it is believed to be. Furthermore, when reading “The Soul of a Collectivist” no positives are listed of collectivism. “Quote about destroying happiness, babies getting furnaced” (). Regardless of being written by a collectivist character, when reading it is seen that there a more dark themes and almost no upsides of collectivism. Yet in soul of an individualist, the opposite occurs. “Quote about how individualism is da best” () Rand shows a biased opinion and shows many more positives of individuality than collectivism. All of the effort put into highlighting individualism is only to promote ego and self worth. Throughout several of Ayn Rand writings she proves to be a strong hearted individual for egoism. And she depicts these views with dynamic characters realizing how important such things are. By reading these works she hopes everyone can now see how important ego is and how it truly doesn’t deserve the bad reputation that it
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