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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 35 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Rand, Ayn
Equality 7-2521. I wonder if Rand did this on purpose. She gave her main character the name Equality, when nothing in his society was equal.
Home of the Useless. While we don't call them "useless" I think that is how our society feels about the elderly. We put them in nursing homes and just leave them there for the most part. Rand was very insightful.
Transgression of Preference. At the council where they decided what job a person would have, Equality desired to go to the House of Scholars.
Street Sweeper. When the council pronounced him street sweeper, Equality asked if they had made a mistake.
A hole. He found what was probably the remains of some type of sewer grate.
Liberty 5-3000. She had blonde hair and her job was to work the soil.
Golden One. He called her this because of the way the sun hit her hair.
Electricity. He made the wires glow and the glow gave off a light. He took this box to the council.
They rejected it. Instead of embracing his experiment as something that could better their society they destroyed it.
Ego. This small word held such power in a society that allowed no ego.
In books. There was a library in the house Equality and Golden One find. Equality begins to read them and discovers individuality.
Prometheus. Equality brought a new type of fire to his world, just as Prometheus brought fire to humans.
Gaea. He named her after Mother Earth because she and Equality would be the parents of a new world.
| In "The Fountainhead," the bulk of the story takes place in which city? | Ayn Rand 101
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New York City. The story and its characters center around the architecture of New York City in the early 20th century.
We the Living. "Red Pawn," her first screenplay, was published in 1932. "Night of January 16th," her first published stage play, followed shortly thereafter. "The Fountainhead" was her first widely-read novel, and the one that catapulted her into literary fame, but it was "We The Living," published in 1936 (a work loosely based on her years under Soviet tyranny), that began her brilliant string of successful novels.
| In one of her most famous works, "Atlas Shrugged," to which character in the book does the title refer? | Ayn Rand 101
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John Galt. The title is a reference to the mythic tale of Atlas, carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders. John Galt, symbolically "carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders" as a thinker, inventor, and man of great accomplishment, "shrugs" the world off his shoulders by "dropping out" of society, refusing to contribute his great inventions to an unappreciative world, and recruiting others of a like mind to join him.
| Rand's short novel "Anthem" is the inspiration for an entire album concept by a very famous rock group. What is the album's title? | Ayn Rand 101
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2112. '2112', the breakthrough album of legendary Canadian rock trio Rush, is based on this novel. The liner notes of the album credit "the genius of Ayn Rand."
| In "Atlas Shrugged," the use of what controversial new metal for Taggart Transcontinental's train tracks is a source of contention between Dagny Taggart and her brother James? | Ayn Rand 101
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Rearden Metal. Hank Rearden's new metal is superior to all other available metals, but since Rearden is not a part of the "Looter" political structure, the use of his metal is opposed, and even actively sabotaged, at every turn.
| In "Atlas Shrugged," who is the President of Taggart Transcontinental? | Ayn Rand 101
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James Taggart. Although Dagny Taggart is the real power and brains that drives Taggart Transcontinental, her brother James is actually the President (and one of the leaders of "the Looters").
| In her breakthrough novel "The Fountainhead," what is the profession of the main character, Howard Roark? | Ayn Rand 101
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architect. Roark's innovative and far-ahead-of-its-time style of architecture is of course vilified by most, and recognized and appreciated by only an elite few people of vision. The character of Roark sets the tone of the heroic individualist to be seen in Rand's next work, "Atlas Shrugged."
| This main character in "Anthem" finds a secret underground tunnel system, to which he steals away to study and learn. What is this character's name? | Ayn Rand 101
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Equality 7-2521. In this barely-concealed indictment of socialism, fascism and totalitarianism, Equality 7-2521 rebels against the mind-control of the State, conducting secret experiments that ultimately lead him to the re-discovery of the now-unknown electric lightbulb. While short, this novel packs in quite a scathing rebuke of the Soviet system that Rand endured early in her life and despised.
I. In an effort to completely submerge the individual self, and thus maintain ultimate control, the State has forbidden the very concept of individuality. All characters in the book refer to themselves as "we," until Equality 7-2521 re-discovers the forbidden word.
| In "The Fountainhead," who does Howard Roark initially go to work for after graduating from college? | Ayn Rand 101
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Henry Cameron. Cameron was credited with the creation of the modern skyscraper early in his career, but eventually falls into disfavor with the emergence of the more popular re-hashing of Neo-Classical architectural styles favored by his less-talented contemporaries, such as Francon and Keating.
| The main character in the novel, Kira Argounova is a young women returning to Petrograd after an extended exile with her family. Kira quickly joins the Technological Institute and studies in order to do what? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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to be come an Engineer. Kira wants to become an Engineer to build things that have a purpose, not just buildings for the appearance. In one instance, Kira stands transfixed as she watches a construction crew build a building. Her family, especially her older sister is disdainful of her career ambitions.Throughout the book, Kira relates back to her dream of building bridges and building and her ambition to do so.
| Kira meets many students at the Technological Institute, many of which are part of the Communist student government. Kira meets one person, who despite their political differences become friends throughout the novel. Who is this friend? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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Andrei Taganov. Kira meets Andrei Taganov early on in the novel through the Technological Institute. Andrei is a G.P.U. Officer, which is a secret communist police force. Although Kira is cold and unfriendly towards Andrei at first, they develop a friendship. Her family is unhappy with her choice of Andrei, because they have lost everything to the revolution.
| Kira meets Leo Kovalensky on the street late one night. She falls in love with Leo at first sight and the two bond through their mutual dislike of the G.P.U. Why does Leo approach Kira on the street in the first place? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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he thinks she is a prostitute. Leo initially thinks Kira is prostitute, and she furthers that thought when she is ready to throw herself at him. He soon realizes his mistake and the two begin talking. Leo is intrigued by Kira and her ideals. The two set a date, a month from that night, to meet again.
| Because of Leo's failure to find work, the couple almost starve and Leo gets very sick. With what does Leo come down with? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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tuberculosis. Leo comes down with tuberculosis and is told by a doctor that he must be sent to a sanitarium in the Crimea or die. Sanitariums are expensive and Kira takes it upon herself to petition the government to help fund Leo's trip. The government refuses because of the opinions and ideas of the couple. In desperation, Kira becomes Andrei's mistress to help pay for Leo's treatment in the Crimea. Although Kira cares and respects Andrei, she does not love him the way he loves her. With the help of Andrei's money, Leo is able to go to the Crimea.
| After Leo's return to Russia, he opens a store with his new found, very rich friends and some corrupt members of the Communist Party. Is the store just a facade for illegal ventures? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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t. The store is a facade for illegal speculation and trade, which Leo goes into business with his friend from the Crimea and Morozov and Antonina Pavlovna. Leo and his business partners make a lot of money, which they spend recklessly. He worries Kira very much, but she realizes that she has very little say in what Leo decides to do.
| Andrei begins investigating Leo's store for crimes against the State and in the process, finds out the truth about Kira and Leo's intimate relationship. When Andrei confronts Kira about Leo, how does Kira respond? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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Kira tells Andrei the truth about Leo and her feelings about both Leo and him.. Kira is a strong character, and would never lie outright to Andrei about her relationship with Leo. She tells Andrei the reason she became his mistress was the help Leo recover and go to the Crimea for treatment. Andrei and Kira in this scene realize what their love and political ideas have done to each other. Because of Andrei's respect and love for Kira, he is able to get Leo released from prison.
| Andrei Taganov commits suicide because of his loss of standing in the Communist Party. After attending Andrei's funeral, Leo tells Kira is plans for the future. What does Leo decide he is going to do? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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Go to Europe with Antonina, becoming in sort a gigolo.. Leo tells Kira that he is leaning Russia with Antonina Pavlovna and in a sense, become her kept man. Kira realizes that Leo has lost all his sense of morality after coming back from the Crimea and is aware that she can no longer keep him here. Andrei's death and Leo's departure are the catalysts for Kira to do what she feels she needs to do.
| Clad in her mother's wedding dress and her uncle's white bearskin rug, Kira starts her escape from Russia on foot. Does Kira make it out of Russia? | "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
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No, she is shot dead crossing the border.. Kira is killed by a border officer before she able to make it out of Russia. Kira knows she is dying when shot and forces herself to crawl as far as she can from her hellish life in Soviet Russia. Until the very end, Kira still loves Leo and defends her love of him.
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