Life is a fascinating gift from the almighty, one, which doesn’t fail to charm and dazzle despite its ups and downs and its own shares of problems and fortunes. A pendulum intrigues us not because it keeps swinging from one end to the other but because how after reaching its amplitude with the slowest of speeds and greatest of strains, it still manages to retain enough energy to swing back to the center with full force and gusto. Life is just like that pendulum swinging from one vagary to the other but in between not without savoring the beauties which it warrants. Would it not be so dull and drab had it been just a one-way journey without its troughs and trenches, without its arid patches and its shares of the oasis.
Sometimes we fail to appreciate the beauty of life because all of it comes so simple and easy to us, we take it for granted. Ask someone in strife and testing conditions, when he doesn’t own his own life, when he is forced to live his own life as if it is a favor bestowed upon him by some ulterior force, a force whose dictates can not be questioned and whose whims and demands are sacrosanct. Ah you folks must be wondering why I am trudging on this path extolling life and being so philosophical about it all. But then those are the feelings I got as I read this masterpiece of a book, and I thought it as my duty to share my experiences with you all. For someone who has read it, would relate to it, he may agree or disagree that’s besides the point and for someone who hasn’t read it, its my solemnest advise please do read it and then you would realize why I am in that frame of mind.
The book in question being We The Living from the world’s first objectivist Ayn R’and, one whose ideas, principles and theories have influenced the way millions around the world think, so much so that her legendary work Atlas Shrugged has been voted as the second most influential book after the Holy Bible in the English speaking world. Her works have brought about a sea change in our outlook towards life, love her or hate her, but her influence cannot be undermined. She has been lambasted for starting the I generation one which is fiercely independent and one who feels very strongly that one’s life is one’s own and it should be lived like that. No individual, entity, state or walks of life have the right to stifle that basic tenet of life and the single most zealously guarded possession that each of us possess, our right to live our lives according to our terms, untrammeled by any.
The beauty of Ayn’s works lie in the forceful yet very convincing way in which she puts forth her ideas, her themes are striking yet sublime, radical yet practical, gut- wrenching yet thought provoking. The same common strands of her work are distinctly visible in We The Living. The chord that connects all her works right from We the living to The Fountainhead to Atlas Shrugged is her insatiable desire to live and lead a life for her own herself. It is at once a philosophical and sociological question with much deeper connotations and far reaching ramifications for the way we all live our lives and our duties as a social being first and a human being later. Through all her books, We the living, inclusive she strongly and vehemently argues that we are a human being first and a social being only after that, something which questions the very basis of societal existence. I for one feel that each of us have our duties to ourselves first and then to any entity be it family, society or state in that order.
The Plot of We the living revolves around three strands of thoughts, personified by the central characters. Kira, who believes in my right to my life over anyone else, Leo, with a grayish touch to his character, who is willing to compromise on his principles as long as he is happy, whereby resulting in his stooping to levels of moral depravity and Andrei, who is at constant conflict, because his deeds don’t follow the voice of his inner conscience. The story is based in the erstwhile USSR, just after the Russian Revolution. It is a powerful and passionate saga of the struggle of each of these dramatis personae with themselves, amongst each other’s and against the state at the same time. I wont divulge the plot further, for it would rob the fun of experiencing it oneself as it unfolds.
Crème de la crème what makes this book a masterpiece is the way it has written and the brilliance of Ayn in capturing the pathos and strife of the people trying to come to terms with life under the Communist regime which did not afford the luxuries of living one’s life for one’s own betterment. Those were times when the concept of me, myself and I were obliterated by the sonorous cries of the Communion, and living for the cause of the state and the millions of depraved souls. It was a system which extolled mediocrity and reprimanded brilliance, those were times when no one was a free citizen in that sense of the term, rather each one was just a Comrade and nothing more then a cog in the giant Soviet wheel. These emotions have been captured with telling accuracy in the novel and it does make for compelling read. It lives you spell bounded as you are transformed into those times and life under such terms and conditions, by the end of the novel one doesn’t know who is right and who is wrong, but one does develop a detesting hatred for that way of life which says your life is nothing but a gift you have been given for not your cause but for the cause of the millions others
The letdowns of the book for me is Ayn’s shabby treatment of the leading lady, Kira. In all her works one thing, which comes across as an appalling feature, is the ignominious portrayal of the prima Donna. The heroine is shown willing to sleep and be consumed by anyone and everyone without having the slightest of shame and thought of her self-respect. Be it Dagny Taggart of Atlas Shrugged or Dominique Francon of The Fountainhead or Kira Argounova of We the Living, each of these ladies have a trait to fall into the abyss of self depravity when it comes to loving their men. They are willing to do anything and everything for the love of their lives, even if it means destroying themselves in the process, but then maybe that’s the highest form of love, who knows?
Recommended for all those discerning people who are interested in sociology, philosophy and history and especially for those who love to read something meaningful and thought provoking. It would make for compelling read for any student of life and anyone and everyone who loves to live, for it does extol the virtuous gift that all of us have been bestowed with and it is called life.
Not recommended for all those people who believe that living your life for your own cause is antithetical and one owns a responsibility to the society and state far greater then his own cause. They will find it loud, angry and very me centric, and by the end of it they wont know what they are reading and what is happening and where the novel is leading to.
Some Questions for those care to ponder. Does the individual come first or is it his duty to be consumed for the cause of others without caring for himself? In the novel whose character do you identify with most closely and why so? Do you think Andrei is correct in betraying his party for the love of Kira and is Kira correct in sticking with Leo when she knows he doesn’t love him, while Andrei does?