After struggling for about an hour trying to decide what to write, I stumbled across question 105 in the Socratic Seminar questions for the novel The Fountainhead. The question asks "What does The Fountainhead's message of independence mean to you personally, at this point in your life?" I am not positive whether or not I had the opportunity to expound upon my answer to such a delicate question. And as much as I wish to just pick an easier question to answer so I can finish and move onto my other homework, I can't help but think more and more about this question.
Rand's philosophy of independence shown in this novel could be interpreted in many different ways. It all depends on how you view it. But personally, at this very point in my life, I see a deep meaning that I wish to take into consideration each and every day of my life. To me, it says to always do what you were meant to do, to always go forward with life caring about yourself and not about other people (to a certain degree, of course, for Howard did care dearly for all of his friends); to me, it says be your own person no matter the cost, no matter the risk, no matter the consequences; it says to be true to yourself, always, never to settle for less, to always make your own path and to never let anyone else control your life, because it is always going to be your life, not anyone elses. This sense of independence, this necessity to life, isn't about doing everything by yourself. It isn't about doing things without the help of others, it isn't about making sure you can pay your own way through life and making sure that you are the only support in your life. It isn't about losing your human qualities to become your own person. To me, it's simpler than that.
To me, Ayn Rand is just trying to say, do what you know in your heart that you were meant to do. Be your own person by not caring what other people think or say about your life. Don't worry about what life throws at you. You were created to handle more than you could ever possibly imagine. Do what is going to make you happy; not what is going to make your family happy, not what will make your friends happy, not what is going to make anyone else in the world happy; just worry about your own happiness.
At this point in my life, I feel like the majority of my life is about pleasing others. Everything I say and do is to make other people happy, and I lose track of the things that make me happy. I lose track of my singing and my reading and my writing and my friendships and my sleeping; I lose track of being silly and dancing around like an idiot and looking up at the clouds in the day and gazing at the stars at night. I want so badly to focus on being my own person, I want so badly to make my life about me and no one else. I am young enough to begin to focus on independence, as soon as I am off on my own. As soon as I'm out on my own, I can begin to apply this message of individuality to my own life.
