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In "We the Living," Kira's journey reflects the tension between Objectivist ideals and personal sacrifice. As a student engineer under Communism, Kira initially refuses help from Leo, valuing independence and honesty. However, her relationships with Leo and Andrei spiral into a web of lies, as Kira sacrifices her happiness for the sake of others. Torn between her desires and the weight of her decisions, she grapples with the consequences of her duality. Ultimately, Kira’s struggle reveals the complexities of love, duty, and self-identity in a repressive society.
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We the Living How Kira Changes
Kira’s Change • Objectivist • Refusing help from Leo on the ship • Not caring about material things (food, clothes, scenery, etc.) • Student engineer/ doing what she wants • Honest to herself & others • Non-Objectivist • Accepting help from Andrei ($ and job) • Altering a dress to impress Leo/ asking Andrei if he likes her dress • Sacrificing herself for Leo • Lying to Andrei (“I love you”) and Leo (source of money & relationship with Andrei)
Plot Triangle Climax: Character makes the problem worse/ Kira tells Andrei “I love you” Rising Action: Character has to deal with the problem/ Kira has to deal with trying to be happy while living under Communism Falling Action: Character has to deal with the worsened problem/ What will Kira do? Resolution: Character either solves the problem or does not solve the problem/ Will Kira solve the problem? Exposition: Introduces characters and situation
What will Kira do? • Kira has a worsened problem: She lies to both Andrei and Leo but makes things much more complicated by telling Andrei she loves him and then lying to both men about the money and her relationships with them both. • She seems to realize that she’s lost her way/ she’s lost Objectivist ideals: • “‘Song of Broken Glass’ […] it’s something I liked… long ago… when I was a child… Andrei, did you ever feel as if something had been promised to you in your childhood, and you look at yourself and you think ‘I didn’t know, then, that this is what would happen to me’– and it’s strange, and funny, and a little sad?” (288). • At the end of our last reading section, she seems to hint that she wants Andrei to know the truth: • “Andrei, you shouldn’t talk like that. I feel as if I were taking you away from your own life, from everything that has been your life” (289). • “Andrei, when you told me you loved me, for the first time, you were hungry. I wanted to satisfy that hunger […] and that’s all” (290).
What will Kira do? She’s unhappy carrying out all of these lies. She’s unhappy sacrificing herself for Leo’s happiness. How will she make things right? Many people call Rand’s philosophy “naïve”– and argue that one cannot simply do what makes one happy in the adult world with real responsibilities– that it doesn’t work in “real life.” Kira seems to show us that living any other way than that which makes the individual happy leads to unhappiness shown as Kira lies to those around her and, most importantly, herself.