Andrew Ryan: The Hero of Bioshock. SPOILERS!!

[Aqualung]

Woah. Woah. WOAH, woah, woah.

You found The Fountainhead boring?

You can't be reading it correctly.

Judging by your name, your avatar, and your topic... You like Bioshock a bit much, non?

Anyway, I couldn't even complete Bioshock, but I know what you're talking about. Andrew Ryan is really just another archetype, nothing too special. Not sure my AP English teacher would have thought too highly of that short analysis. But you are right.

I can see where the plot is going from a mile away and the book takes forever to get there (Same for Atlas Shrugged) I didn't read these in school or anything, I just wanted to learn about objectivsm. Rand needs to cut down on the wordiness and write more like Albert Camus, who is ironically more to the point than Rand.

I could've written more but I didn't want to scare away people with short attention spans (Didn't seem to work too well) plus it's the internet, I'm not writing a thesis paper.

Understandable. TL;DR's are head-to-keyboard worthy. Although you need to truly analyze The Fountainhead and get very in depth, which is hard for people our age unless you do do it proper in class.

[sub]"Do do"...[/sub]

But it's funny, that's exactly how I felt about Bioshock. "I can see where the plot is going from a mile away and the book takes forever to get there." I think they took more from Ayn Rand than you think.

 

[InvisibleMilk]

I would have to say that is a brilliant analysis...

2nded. I never really thought too in depth about the Bigger picture's morality.
"Ohh, a demon daughter!"
"Steampunk Shotgun ^.^!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH BIG DADDY!!!"

 

[Lord_Panzer]

Well done. Ryan was always my favourite character, to the point where,, had the infamous 'putter' scene been interactive, I'd never have finished the game.

 

[Worgen]

I wouldnt call him a hero but he certainly is a tragic char, no matter how stupid he is. Altho Im biased on that front, I take a dim view of laissez-faire philosophy since it can only work if everyone obeys the rules and acts the same or similar way. He certainly beleaved in laissez-faire but he also had a megalomaniac bent going on too, same as the old barons of industry, in fact back then being poor was looked on as a moral deficiency. the poor was seen as immoral and Ryan certainly seems to have that outlook. So hero, absolutly not but tragic... err yeah Ill give that too you

 

[A Weary Exile]

I wouldnt call him a hero but he certainly is a tragic char, no matter how stupid he is. Altho Im biased on that front, I take a dim view of laissez-faire philosophy since it can only work if everyone obeys the rules and acts the same or similar way. He certainly beleaved in laissez-faire but he also had a megalomaniac bent going on too, same as the old barons of industry, in fact back then being poor was looked on as a moral deficiency. the poor was seen as immoral and Ryan certainly seems to have that outlook. So hero, absolutly not but tragic... err yeah Ill give that too you

I don't think he hated the poor, I think he liked everyone who lived by reason and was a hard worker, but hated everyone else. It's not so much about money as it is self-worth through acheivment no matter what rung of society you're in (If only that's how it really worked) I know for a fact that a Laissez-faire state could never work for the simple fact that humanity is filled with cheating dickheads who need to be put on a leash and beaten, but Ryan came so close to a utopia and Fontaine's unwillingness to be an honest worker was the stake in Rapture's heart.

 

[Worgen]

I wouldnt call him a hero but he certainly is a tragic char, no matter how stupid he is. Altho Im biased on that front, I take a dim view of laissez-faire philosophy since it can only work if everyone obeys the rules and acts the same or similar way. He certainly beleaved in laissez-faire but he also had a megalomaniac bent going on too, same as the old barons of industry, in fact back then being poor was looked on as a moral deficiency. the poor was seen as immoral and Ryan certainly seems to have that outlook. So hero, absolutly not but tragic... err yeah Ill give that too you

I don't think he hated the poor, I think he liked everyone who lived by reason and was a hard worker, but hated everyone else. It's not so much about money as it is self-worth through acheivment no matter what rung of society you're in (If only that's how it really worked) I know for a fact that a Laissez-faire state could never work for the simple fact that humanity is filled with cheating dickheads who need to be put on a leash and beaten, but Ryan came so close to a utopia and Fontaine's unwillingness to be an honest worker was the stake in Rapture's heart.

I dont think he hated the poor in the classic sense of the word but I think he certainly had distain for them, here we seem to love the rags to riches story and if you take the laissez-faire view then when you see a poor person chances are your just seeing someone who didnt have the moral fortitude to become rich and successful

 

[SarBni]

I agree that he is definitely a tragic character, but like Worgen, definitely wouldn't go so far as to call him a hero. A true hero doesn't corrupt his/her/society's morals just to protect them. It's a bit similar to the way Caesar gained his power, and then abused it, albeit in a mostly benevolent way. Although Ryan did the opposite, he was a malevolent abuser of his power. In his true laissez-faire utopia he wouldn't have tried to interfere at all. I think everybody down there got so screwed up/separated from society that they forgot how to be decent people, pretty much anybody left alive down there was insane, Ryan included. But tragedy doesn't make one a hero, I wouldn't call any characters in that game even remotely close to being a hero. Except maybe Tenenbaum trying to redeem herself, and Bill McDonaugh...

 

[Baggie]

Brilliant! Really well done explaination of motives and consequences.

I don't know about the role of Jack bring an opportunist though, the decision to become a big daddy wasn't exactly required, he was cured of the mental conditioning before that, he could have just left.

 

[lostclause]

My thoughts pretty much. I found I didn't appreciate Ryan's character as much until after I killed him (partially because on my first playthrough I didn't look for diaries) but afterwards you realise what he was trying to do and admire it to a degree.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Andrew Ryan isn't a villian. He is just portrayed as one.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

In the middle. Ryan was far from a Hero. He was willing to destroy Rapture and all the people in it for his own stubborn gain, willing to control their minds and mutate their bodies. He sunk as low as Fontaine for the sake of his pride.

 

[blackfrancis567]

You could be on to something there

 

[GloatingSwine]

I agree when Fontaine says something like "They think they're all going to be captains of industry but they forget that someone's got to clean the toliets." He was dead-on but you don't have to be a business magnate to be an honest hard-worker.

However, cleaning the toilets for captains of industry is not a rewarding position. Fontaine was correct, social stratification is inevitable in an objectivist/libertarian paradise, because those already at the top have the incentive and resources to stay there at the expense of those below them (see: Sander Cohen's approach to aspiring artists once he had the prestige of his reputation). Fontaine merely saw the opportunity that this system inevitably creates to advance himself. He was a true entrepreneur, the kind that an objectivist paradise makes inevitable, and cannot survive.

Fontaine didn't want to make an honest living he wanted to have power by any means necessary. I think the embargo thing was more to keep Rapture safe from discovery rather than censorship, but that's me. What Objectivist needs a bible anyway?

Fontaine put in a great deal of hard graft and effort to achieve what he did.