I’ve been keeping myself busy lately by playing through the new release of
Bioshock. The game is most certainly an immersive experience, while the atmosphere remains frighteningly eerie. You are immediately thrown out into this city called “Rapture;” a supposed utopia and safe haven for the people. As you descend upon “Rapture” it is apparent that this established utopia has gone to complete hell as the architecture toils in ruin and chaos. As you arrive to the fully submerged city, the domineering and preeminent voice of Andrew Ryan (Ruler of “Rapture”) resonates through your radio:
“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?
No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone…
No god. No kings. Just man.”
Andrew Ryan then claims to reject these answers, and offers you the salvation which is “Rapture.” He goes on to continue that his utopia is a place where, “The artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality…” Ryan’s statements remain true for his utopia, however these lack of restraints bring about the ultimate undoing for “Rapture.” The insane artist; Cohen, murdering victims to create his “Master Piece,” while Scientists create rampant Splicers who mercilessly eviscerate innocents. It is blatantly obvious that these freedoms offered in “Rapture” ironically bring about its own destruction. As this tumultuous route becomes more apparent, Ryan is forced to assume the loathsome role of both “god” and “king.”
Much later in the game, your character personally encounters the demented ruler of “Rapture.” For those of you who played the game, you can recall using the golf club on Ryan while he repeatedly taunts you with the phrase, “Man chooses! Slaves Obey!” Although you do succeed in ending Ryan’s rampage, it’s not without being completely debased to the status of a mere puppet. While Ryan chose to die, your character was just an extension to unwillingly carry out his decree.
- - At this point, I enjoyed the game immensely until I discovered it was inspired by the pompous hag; Ayn Rand. It seriously sunk in like a ton of bricks. You could actually see her philosophical manure seep in through the relationship between Andrew Ryan and your character in the game. Her foundational argument in ethics has been so apparent in Andrew Ryan; driven by “moral” selfishness to uphold his delusional dream of “Rapture.”
In retaliation to her literary critics, Ayn Rand once stated that the goal of her literature was to:
“Project the vision of the ideal man: not man as he is, but man as he might and ought to be.”
Your character is the Slave which represents “man as he is,” while Andrew Ryan represents “man as he might and ought to be.”
note: Although Andrew Ryan's "Rapture" ends in complete ruin, it doesn't mean the overall theme is Anti-Objectivism. Ryan is romanticized as this Tragic Hero for being able to choose his own chaotic demise. However, the main character(a representation of altruism) is demeaned to this slave-like status by having no control over his own actions. Ryan
immortalizes himself and his representation of Objectivism by commanding his own death from your character. Your character has
no choice, while he assumes full dominance. It's this master-slave relationship between the two characters which demonstrates Objectivism in a
romantic sense, above that of self sacrifice.
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Andrew Ryan ultimately immortalizing himself:
