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Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 6:30amSanction this postReply
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Greetings,

Finished "The Fountainhead" yesterday (finally). I can say that the experience was a rewarding one to a real degree. The ending was almost "biblical" in the sense that Roark experiences a resurrection of sorts (aquitted) and the familiar "reversal" theme was to be found in Roark getting the girl and success while his enemies get nada. In any event, I found it to be, at the least, a good read. At most, it got me to thinking about some things.

One of those things is to get a better handle on the term "second-hander." In Roark's courtroom speech, he alluded to this several times (as well as in other places in the book). Peter Keating seems to be the epitome of living a second-handed life. But Elsworth Toohey (gotta love the names Rand comes up with!) is, apparently, also a second-hander. And Gail Wynand flirts with being a second-hander.

All this to ask -- how would this group define the term "second-hander?" What constitutes living life second-handedly? What distinguishes a life lived "first-hand" from a life lived "second-hand?"

Further, are there degrees of "first" and "second" handedness? Can one be truly 100% a first-hander?

Looking forward to your replies ...

BKB


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Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 8:28amSanction this postReply
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Hi Brumley,

Congrats on finishing The Fountainhead. I'll give you my take on what makes first- and second-handers.

Second-handers are persons who rely on someone else's judgment or will when they could be relying on their own. First-handers are persons who judge or choose for themselves, if and when they are able.

Keating was clearly a second-hander because he relied on others' judgment and choices for what would make his life good. Wynand let the judgment of others control his newspaper, and so in this sense, he too was a second-hander (although he had many first-hand qualities). Toohey relied on the judgment of others for his political power, but he can also be seen another way. Instead of relying on others' judgment or will, Toohey demands that they rely on his. This is the flipside to my above definition of a second-hander. A master is just as much a second-hander as a slave. As Rand wrote: A leash is just a rope with a noose at both ends.

So to answer your question about degrees of second-handedness, the more that people rely on another's will(s) or judgment(s), the more second-hand they are. And yes, I think people can lead 100% first-hand lives. Why not?

I'd be curious to see if others have a different interpretation.

*

Jordan


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Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 7:04amSanction this postReply
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Jordon,

Thanks for your definitions of first & second handers. You wrote:

 Second-handers are persons who rely on someone else's judgment or will when they could be relying on their own. First-handers are persons who judge or choose for themselves, if and when they are able.
This is what I got from reading The Fountainhead. Also, I got the impression that a first hander follows his or her passion in life, while the second-hander stuffs his or her passion for what is "best for society" or what will make others happy, etc. E.g., Peter Keating did not marry Kate. Kate doesn't do what she wishes and ends up being a busy-body social worker. Wynand makes the Banner be whatever the mob wants vs. what he'd truly like it to be. And so on ...

Am I getting it?

BKB

PS > Found a second-hand (no pun intended ;-) copy of Atlas Shrugged and have started reading it. Appears she gets down to business a little more quickly (i.e., took a long time to reveal Toohey's socialism in Fountainhead but has already begun revealing that scheme in several passages in the first 50 pages.)


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Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 7:39amSanction this postReply
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I think your interpretation is a fair one.

Jordan


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