The Real HeroOne of the most well known idioms is "every man for himself". The literal meaning of this idiom is everyone should do what is best for themselves, without any reservations, or concerns for other people. The legendary character Robin Hood and the Ragnar Danneskjold, the pirate in Atlas Shrugged would have contrasting opinions on this commonly used idiom.
In Atlas Shrugged, Ragnar Danneskjold's views on morality contradict with those of Robin Hood. The background stories of Robin Hood and Ragnar Danneskjold are major influences of their contrasting views on morality.Ragnar Danneskjold is an intelligent philosopher, who chooses to live as a pirate. He steals from the looters ships and returns it to the people who produced it. He basically is stealing from the parasitic poor, and giving to the productive rich.
Robin Hood's views contradict with Danneskjold's. In the legend of Robin Hood, it is said that Robin fought against the looting rulers and returned the wealth to the people it was taken from. Usually, this is not what people remember, though. Most of the time, Robin Hood is just remembered as a hero who steals from the rich to provide for the poor.Robin Hood's actions have caused people believe that they do not have to produce, just want, and often they will have it handed to them. Ragnar is against people who do not work to produce their own wealth, while Robin Hood feels that they should he given the wealth of the rich, making them have contradictory views in morality.
While Ragnar Danneskjold and Robin Hood are both thieves, Ragnar disagrees with what Robin Hood is doing. In the novel, Ragnar says, he is after a man whom he wants to destroy. After being prompted who he was talking about by Hank Rearden, he replies with "Robin Hood".Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor while Ragnar "robs the thieving poor and gives to the productive rich" (Rand 532). Danneskjold disagrees that the poor should be able to rely on the rich to give them everything. He illustrates his view that a group who believe they deserve compensation, without any intentions of earning anything on their own, is robbing from the "productive rich" or those who work hard to earn what they have.
Ragnar Danneskjold believes that each man is responsible for himself and his own well being.Ragnar believes that a world where everyone is held accountable to provide for themselves, is a world where everyone will reach their full potential, instead of having to depend on other people to provide for them. In Atlas Shrugged, Ragnar believes that if people like Robin Hood are viewed as the heroes in the world, mankind will not survive. In the novel, Ragnar states, "Until men learn that of all human symbols, Robin Hood is the most immoral and the most contemptible, there will be no justice on earth and no way for mankind to survive" (Rand 533).Robin Hood is viewed highly by society, especially the looters. If he is no longer viewed as a hero, the poor, or looters would no longer have a symbol to look to, showing them it is socially acceptable to get hand-outs instead of attempting to earn their own riches.
As long as Robin Hood is idolized, the poor who do not work to support themselves are being fed the idea that the hardworking, or wealthy people are going to support them. According to Ragnar, Robin Hood is "not a champion of property, but as a champion of need, not as a defender of the robbed, but as a provider of the poor" (Rand 532).According to Robin Hood's view on morality, those who produce wealth owe it to those who do not. Robin Hood's views on morality would support that of altruism, or "the claim that morality consists in living for others or for society" (Rand 1075).
His ideas completely contradict those of Ragnar Danneskjold. In Atlas Shrugged, Ragnar's beliefs are based on Ayn Rand's theory of objectivism. Objectivism, she described, "is an integrated system of thought that defines the abstract principles by which a man must think and act if he is to live the life proper to man" (Rand 1074).She also went into more detail and explained that "man - every man - is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself" (Rand 1075).
This goes along with Ragnar's beliefs that the poor who do not work to support themselves should not get everything handed to them, and the rich should not have to give them their hard earned wealth.He believes that every man is for himself and should not have to rely on others to support them. Ragnar lives by the idiom "every man by himself" while Robin Hood opposes it. For the world to survive, people can not live by Robin Hood's idea of an ideal world.
If people were to live by it, the world would not be able to function properly. Man needs to be able to support himself and worry about his own self interest instead of relying on other to do it for him.
