The Golden Bough: Jesus, John Galt, Luke Skywalker, and Dorothy
Sir James George Frazer outlined this in a monumental effort, THE GOLDEN BOUGH. Myths are common across peoples and cultures. Perhaps the paradigm is THE MUSICIANS OF BREMEN, known best from the German, but also known in Chinese. The Chinese story is a bit different from the German. In myths, told around a campfire, memorized and improvised by bards, characters transmogrify. Two characters become one as Arwen in the movie version of Lord of the Rings. Characters change gender as Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" became Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars".
Ultimately, the supreme altruist, Jesus, appears as the supreme egoist, John Galt. It makes no difference.
In "Atlas Shrugged" as explained by Jungian archetypes, Ragnar Danneskjo"ld is the trickster (Norse Loki or Aztec Coyototl, etc.). High Akston is the Jungian "Mother"; and the Strike is the Jungian "Flood." Cheryl Brooks is the Jungian Orphan.
Ayn Rand did NOT consciously plan that out. Indeed, that is the wider thesis: myth is accepted implicitly. As a youngster, Rand was enamored of a hero named Cyrus in an adventure called "The Lost Valley."Examining that tale would reveal some deeper myth, whether Indo-European, Asian, African, Amerind, or Australian - and paralleled in other one or more of those other cultures as well.
The very title "Atlas Shrugged" only has meaning as a mythic archetype, understood within the culture to which it was directed.
Ultimately, the supreme altruist, Jesus, appears as the supreme egoist, John Galt. It makes no difference.
In "Atlas Shrugged" as explained by Jungian archetypes, Ragnar Danneskjo"ld is the trickster (Norse Loki or Aztec Coyototl, etc.). High Akston is the Jungian "Mother"; and the Strike is the Jungian "Flood." Cheryl Brooks is the Jungian Orphan.
Ayn Rand did NOT consciously plan that out. Indeed, that is the wider thesis: myth is accepted implicitly. As a youngster, Rand was enamored of a hero named Cyrus in an adventure called "The Lost Valley."Examining that tale would reveal some deeper myth, whether Indo-European, Asian, African, Amerind, or Australian - and paralleled in other one or more of those other cultures as well.
The very title "Atlas Shrugged" only has meaning as a mythic archetype, understood within the culture to which it was directed.
