Ego can be defined as, self-importance, conceit, a person’s thinking, feeling, or self-esteem. Our society has given the word egoist a negative connotation. Most would define an egoist as an “arrogantly conceited person,” who generally is not someone that is desired to be around or to be known as. However, the true definition of an ego is one’s self, and an egoist is someone who believes it’s importance. In Anthem, a dystopian novel by Ayn Rand, the conflict between the individual man’s ego and a collectivist society collide. This conflict is discussed again in “The Soul of an Individualist,” a speech found in another Ayn Rand novel, The Fountainhead. “The Soul of an Individualist” and Anthem challenge the common misconception that
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After being told his entire life that “Everything which comes from one is evil. Thus we have been taught with our first breath.”(85), Prometheus states that he is “done with the monster of ‘We.’”(Rand, 97). A creative individual at heart, living in a collective society and being forced to conform with others is a terrible thing. Prometheus wants to be free think and create for the rest of his life. He believes in what is said in “The Soul of an Individualist,” when the author says, “... man’s independent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependence upon men is evil.” Prometheus believes that it is valuable to put people in an environment where they can freely think. This is why he wants to go to the House of Scholar and why he wants to rescue his brothers from their broken society. Prometheus is an egoist who is not only fighting for himself, but for the ego of others. In other words, Prometheus would agree with the statement: “I recognize no obligations toward men except one: to respect their freedom and to take no part in a slave society.” (“The Soul of an Individualist”). An egoist, someone who truly places value on one’s self, thoughts, feelings, and ideas would feel the same about other people, and they would stand for everyone to have a right to their own
After being told his entire life that “Everything which comes from one is evil. Thus we have been taught with our first breath.”(85), Prometheus states that he is “done with the monster of ‘We.’”(Rand, 97). A creative individual at heart, living in a collective society and being forced to conform with others is a terrible thing. Prometheus wants to be free think and create for the rest of his life. He believes in what is said in “The Soul of an Individualist,” when the author says, “... man’s independent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependence upon men is evil.” Prometheus believes that it is valuable to put people in an environment where they can freely think. This is why he wants to go to the House of Scholar and why he wants to rescue his brothers from their broken society. Prometheus is an egoist who is not only fighting for himself, but for the ego of others. In other words, Prometheus would agree with the statement: “I recognize no obligations toward men except one: to respect their freedom and to take no part in a slave society.” (“The Soul of an Individualist”). An egoist, someone who truly places value on one’s self, thoughts, feelings, and ideas would feel the same about other people, and they would stand for everyone to have a right to their own