The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature

by Ayn Rand

  Henry Dorn sat at his desk, seeing what men cannot see except when they do not know they are seeing it, seeing his own thoughts in a way of sight brighter than any perception of the things around him, seeing them, not pushing them forward, but seeing them as a detached observer without control of their shape, each thought a corner, and a bright astonishment meeting him behind each corner, not creating anything, but being carried along, not helping and not resisting, through minutes of a feeling like a payment for all the agony he would ever bear, a feeling continuing only while you do not know that you feel it…

  And then, that evening, she is sitting alone on the roof, and there’s a shot, and that window is shattered, and that man leaps out onto her roof. She sees him for the first time—and this is the miracle: for once in her life, he is what she had wanted him to be, he looks as she had wanted him to look. But he has just committed a murder. I suppose it will have to be some kind of justifiable murder… No! No! No! It’s not a justifiable murder at all. We don’t even know what it is—and she doesn’t know. But here is the dream, the impossible, the ideal—against the laws of the whole world. Her own truth—against all mankind. She has to…

  Oh, stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

  Well… ?

  Pull yourself together, man. Pull yourself together…

  Well? For whom is it you’re writing that story? For the Women’s Kitchen Friend?

  No, you’re not tired. You’re all right. It’s all right. You’ll write this story later. You’ll write it after you have money. It’s all right. It won’t be taken away from you. Now sit quiet. Count ten.

  No! I tell you, you can. You can. You haven’t tried hard enough. You let it get away with you. You begin to think. Can’t you think without thinking?

  Listen, can’t you understand a different way of doing it? Don’t think of the fantastic, don’t think of the unusual, don’t think of the opposite of what anyone else’d want to think, but go after the obvious, the easy. Easy—for whom? Come on now. It’s this: it’s because you ask yourself “what if… ?” That starts the whole trouble. “What if it’s not what it seems to be at all… Wouldn’t it be interesting if…” That’s what you do, and you mustn’t. You mustn’t think of what would be interesting. But how can I do anything if I know it isn’t interesting? But it will be—to them. That’s just why it will be to them—because it isn’t to you. That’s the whole secret. But then how do I know what, or where, or why?

  Listen, can’t you stop it for a little while? Can’t you turn it off—that brain of yours? Can’t you make it work without letting it work? Can’t you be stupid? Can’t you be consciously, deliberately, cold-bloodedly stupid? Can’t that be done in some way? Everybody is stupid about some things, the best of us and the brightest. Everybody has blind spots, they say. Can’t you make it be this?

  Dear God, let me be stupid! Let me be dishonest! Let me be contemptible! Just once. Because I must.

  Don’t you see? It’s a matter of one reversal. Just make one single reversal: instead of believing that one must try to be intelligent, different, honest, challenging, that one must do the best possible to the best of one’s ability and then stretch it some more to do still better—believe that one must be dull, stale, sweet, dishonest and safe. That’s all. Is that the way other people do it? No, I don’t think so. They’d end up in an insane asylum in six months. Then what is it? I don’t know. It isn’t that—but it works out like that. Maybe if we were told from the beginning to reverse it… But we aren’t. But some of us get wise to it early—and then they’re all right. But why should it be like that? Why should we…

  Drop it. You’re not settling world problems. You’re writing a commercial story.

  All right. Quick and cold now. Hold yourself tight and don’t let yourself like the story. Above all, don’t let yourself like it.

  Let’s make it a detective story. A murder mystery. You can’t possibly have a murder mystery with any serious meaning. Come on. Quick, cold and simple.

  There must be two villains in a mystery story: the victim and the murderer—so nobody would feel too sorry for either of them. That’s the way it’s always done. Well, you can have some leeway on the victim, but the murderer’s got to be a villain… Now the murderer must have a motive. It must be a contemptible motive… Let’s see… I’ve got it: the murderer is a professional blackmailer who’s holding a lot of people in his clutches, and the victim is the man who’s about to expose him, so the blackmailer kills this man. That’s as low a motive as you could imagine. There’s no excuse for that… Or is there? What if… Wouldn’t it be interesting if you could prove that the murderer was justified?

  What if all those people he blackmails are utter lice? The kind that do horrible things, but just manage to remain within the law, so there’s no way of defending yourself against them. And this man chooses deliberately to become a crusading blackmailer. He gets things on all those people and he forces them to do justice. A lot of men make careers for themselves by knowing where some body or other is buried. Well, this man goes out after such “bodies,” only he doesn’t use them for personal advancement, he uses them to undo the harm these people are doing. He’s a Robin Hood of blackmail. He gets them in the only way they can be gotten. For instance, one of them is a corrupt politician, and the hero—no, the murderer—no, the hero gets the dope on him and forces him to vote right on a certain measure. Another one is a big Hollywood producer who’s ruined a lot of lives—and the hero makes him give a talented actress a break without forcing her to become his mistress. Another one is a crooked businessman—and the hero forces him to play straight. And when the worst one of the lot—what’s the worst one of the lot? a hypocritical reformer, I think—no, that’s dangerous to touch, too controversial—oh, what the hell!—when this reformer traps the hero and is about to expose him, the hero kills him. Why shouldn’t he? And the interesting thing about the story is that all those people will be presented just as they appear in real life. Nice people, pillars of society, liked, admired and respected. And the hero is just a hard, lonely kind of outcast.

  Oh, what a story! Prove that! Prove what some of our popular people are really like! Blow the lid off society! Show it for what it’s worth! Prove that the lone wolf is not always a wolf! Prove honesty and courage and strength and dedication! Prove it through a blackmailer and a murderer! Have a story with a murderer for a hero and let him get away with it! A great story! An important story which…

  Henry Dorn sat very still, his hands folded in his lap, hunched, seeing nothing, thinking of nothing.

  Then he pushed the sheet of blank paper aside and reached for the Times’ “Help Wanted” ads.

  Index

  A

  Abstractions: and man’s cognitive faculty; converting of, by language, into psycho-epistemological equivalents of concretes ; normative and cognitive ; metaphysical, converting of, by art, into equivalent of concretes ; emotional; criteria of; esthetic; development of child’s cognitive and normative abstractions

  Altruism: and man’s culturally induced selflessness; as archenemy and destroyer of Romanticism

  American Tragedy, An (Dreiser), as a bad novel

  Anna Christie (O’Neill), as imitation of Camille (Dumas fils)

  Anna Karenina (Tolstoy), as an evil book

  Anti-art, classification and examples of

  Aquinas, Thomas, as bridge between Aristotle and Renaissance

  Architecture: special attributes of as art; dependence of sculpture upon

  Aristotle: his principle of esthetics of literature ; 19th century guided by Aristotelian sense of life; Romanticism of 19th century, and Aristotelian influence on

  Art: as an end in itself; as selective re-creation of reality according to artist’s metaphysical value-judgments ; as concretiztion of metaphysics ; psycho-epistemological function of; as a universal language; beginning of, as adjunct of religion ; psycho-epistemology of, as illustrated by characterization in literature ; as indispensable medium
for communication of a moral ideal; primary focus of, as metaphysical, not ethical; not the means of literal transcription ; place of ethics in, dependent on metaphysical views of artist; of Ancient Greece compared to art of Middle Ages, in impact on man; as voice of the philosophy dominant in a culture; role of emotions in; profoundly personal significance of, for men; as special province and expression of sense of life ; as human product most personally important to man and least understood ; metaphysical significance of everything included in; and man’s confirmation of his view of existence; and the rational man; and the irrational man; as man’s metaphysical mirror ; bad, as production of imitation, second-hand copying, lack of creative expression; philosophical meaning as necessary element of work of; subject of an art work; style of an art work ; and mixtures of contradictory elements of reason and unreason; theme of an art work; objective evaluation of work of; and personal choices in enjoyment of; translating meaning of art work into objective terms; conceptual nature of; valid forms of ; as a unifier of man’s consciousness; how new subcategories arise; limits on freedom of stylization in; integration as the essence of; as man’s psycho-epistemological conditioner ; universality as important attribute of; as concretization of values ; and philosophy, relationship between; nonexistence of, today, as vital cultural movement; and attitudes of collectivist estheticians and intellectuals toward popular values in; as barometer of a culture; the end and the means in, as worthy of each other ; as the technology of the soul; as product of philosophical disciplines—metaphysics, epistemology, ethics ; see also Modern art

  Astaire, Fred

  Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand): theme of; plot-theme of; quoted on conventional view of morality; quoted on man as a being of self-made soul

  Avengers, The, successful British TV series

  B

  Ballet: as a system of dance ; essentials of its image of man; “modernization” of

  Balzac, Honoré de, as Naturalist writer

  Benefield, Barry, as popular-fiction writer

  Brothers Karamazov, The (Dostoevsky), characterization in

  Brown, Fredric, science fiction writing of

  Byron, Lord, and “Byronic” view of existence

  C

  Camille (Dumas fils), and imitations of

  Capitalism: destruction of, in politics; 19th-century Romanticists as enemies of

  Cat and Mosue (Günter Grass), Time quoted on

  Characterization in novel: as essential attribute ; definition of; extreme degree of selectivity required in; achieved by action and dialogue; error of asserting nature of characters in narrative passages without supporting action; and portrayal of essential traits of personality ; and revelation of motivation; consistency as a major requirement of; maintaining inner logic of; and faculty of volition; and Romantic novelists ; and popular fiction; and the Naturalists

  Chayefsky, Paddy, and modern Naturalist work Marty

  Child’s development: of moral sense of life; contribution of Romantic art to; of cognitive and normative abstractions ; and imposition of set of rules by conventional morality ; learning concept of moral values; and sins of adults in regard to child’s understanding of morality; dichotomy in consciousness of the practical versus the moral

  Choreographer: nature and demands of his role

  Chronicle: characteristics of ; return of modern literature to art form of

  Classicism: Romanticism as rebellion against; rules of, as improper criteria of esthetic value; school of, improperly regarded as representative of reason

  Cognitive faculty: as determining the proper forms of art

  Collectivism: resurgence of, and effect of, on Romanticism ; advocacy of, by today’s estheticians and intellectuals ; altruistic, today’s culture as dominated by

  Color harmony: a legitimate element in painting

  “Color symphonies”: as anti-art

  Concepts, nature and function of

  Conceptual consciousness: disintegration of, as the goal of modern art

  Connery, Sean, performance of, in Dr. No

  Consciousness: of man, art as serving a need of; art as confirming or denying efficacy of; integrating mechanism of, and sense of life; as soul; and faculty of volition ; concern of top-rank Romantic writers with

  Creative process, a short story by Ayn Rand as illustrative of nature of

  Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky), motivation revealed in

  Cubism

  Culture: art as mirror of a culture’s philosophy ; art as barometer of ; state of, and today’s art

  D

  Dali, Salvador, style of

  Dance: as a performing art ; as system of motion expressing a metaphysical view of man; its relation to music

  Decorative arts: their nature and proper task

  Definitions: as guardians of rationality

  Determinism: philosophical and esthetic contradictions in; philosophy dominated by doctrine of; as basic premise of writers’ presentation of man prior to 19th century

  Diatonic scale: development of

  Dr. No (Fleming)

  Don Carlos (Schiller)

  Dostoevsky, Feodor: choice of subject by; reasons for liking work of; as master of integration of theme and plot structure; and use of motivation in Crime and Punishment; as top-rank Romantic novelist ; characterizations in novels of

  Dramatic arts: subcategories of; importance of the play; director as integrator

  Dreiser, Theodore, and a bad novel

  Dumas, Alexander, as Romantic novelist

  E

  Emotional abstractions ; and individual’s view of himself; “important to me” as criterion of selection in

  Epistemology: of physical sciences and of humanities; man’s need of; as abstract base of ethics ; see also Psycho-epistemology

  Esthetics: Objectivist; criteria of judgment in; as branch of philosophy ; principles of; of literature, Aristotelian principle of; destruction of Romanticism in; field of, and mysticism; Romanticism in, as unrelated to theories of “Romantic” philosophers; state of, today, and prospects for philosophical Renaissance ; vacuum in, of our age

  Ethics: as normative science ; link between metaphysics and; and artist’s conceptual theory of; place of, in work of art dependent on metaphysical views of artist ; metaphysical value-judgments as base of; man’s need of; destruction of individualism in; need of Western culture for a new code of ; epistemology, as abstract base of; relation of, to art; teaching as task of

  Existentialists: philosophical view of existence of; sense of life achieved by

  F

  Ferber, Edna, as popular-fiction writer

  Fiction: and identification of reader with characters in ; difference between real-life news story and ; four essential attributes of; and history, difference between representations of; integration of theme and plot as cardinal principle of; motivation as a key-concept in; see also Novel; Popular fiction

  Film directors: Fritz Lang’s work

  Flaubert, Gustave, style of

  Fleming, Ian: as top-rank writer of popular fiction ; thrillers of

  Fountainhead, The (Ayn Rand): character of Howard Roark in; Gail Wynand’s conflict of values in ; two scenes from, as illustration of process of characterization; example from, of Classicism surviving into 20th century ; quotation from; quoted on meaning of art in man’s life; “The explanation rests,” paraphrase of quotation from

  From Russia with Love (Fleming)

  G

  Goldfinger (Fleming)

  Gone With the Wind (Mitchell): theme of; plot-theme of

  Goya, Francisco de, choice of subject by

  Grand Guignol of old French theater

  Grass, Günter, Time quoted on Cat and Mouse of

  H

  Hamilton, Donald, as top-rank writer of popular fiction

  Hawthorne, Nathaniel, as writer of top-rank Romantic novel

  Helmholtz, Herman Ludwig Ferdinand von: on mathematical nature of musical perception; on major and minor keys

 
Henry, O., as great Romantic writer

  Hindu dance: its image of man

  Hippies: as products of “Progressive” education; their reversion to the music of the jungle

  Hitchcock, Alfred

  Horror Story, in “serious” and popular fiction

  Hugo, Victor: choice of subject by; style of, as blend of reason and passionate emotion; reasons for liking work of; as master of integration of theme and plot structure ; historical essays interrupting stories of; universe of, contrasted with Schopenhauer’s; as top-rank Romantic novelist ; characterizations in novels of ; introduction by Ayn Rand to his Ninety-Three ; rediscovering novels of ; as greatest novelist in world literature; intellectual first-aid kit for reading and appreciation of ; and conflict in his sense of life; the thinker, as archetypical of the virtues and fatal errors of 19th century; novels of, as experience for the reader

  Humor, in “tongue-in-cheek” thrillers

  Hurst, Fannie, as popular-fiction writer

  I

  Identity, Law of: man’s need of definitions as resting on

  Impressionists, their work contrasted with Vermeer’s

  Industrial Revolution

  Integration: as psycho-epistemological key to reason

  Irrationalism: philosophy dominated by doctrine of ; sense of life achieved by apostles of

  It Can’t Happen Here (Lewis), as novel of Naturalistic school with Romantic approach