The interpretations of Henry Ford's image in U. Sinclair's novel ‘The flivver king’ and Ayn Rand's novel ‘Atlas shrugged’

The article provides a comparative analysis of Ayn Rand’s and Upton Sinclair’s novels Atlas Shrugged (1957) and The Flivver King (1937). It aims to show the specific features of Henry Ford’s image interpretation in the novels, taking into account that this image is considerable for the model of businessman peculiar to the American collective consciousness. The main character in both novels is an inventor and businessman, this image being controversial in American literature, which determined the scope of the research. Sinclair describes the real inventor and enterpriser Henry Ford, whereas Ayn Rand’s heroes are fictional characters, although created under the inspiration of the legendary inventor of the automobile engine. The study revealed discrepancy in the understanding of Ford’s hero by Rand. In particular, for businessmen she offers the philosophy of objectivism forming the practical thinker and the philosophical businessman as an alternative to socialism. The comparative analysis of the novels reveals such similarities as the motifs of invention and distrust of inventors and also the identical start of the heroes-entrepreneurs’ careers. As for the differences in the authors’ views, they understand the 'American dream' in different ways (a sarcastic understanding in Sinclair’s novel and an idealistic one in Rand’s) and, as a consequence, they show different attitude to the laissez-faire. This difference is obvious when we analyze the relationships between worker and master in both texts: in Sinclair’s text master and worker are opposed to one another, while Rand describes them as companions. Thus, neither of the authors describes real Henry Ford and both interpretations are only the author’s ones. The following methods were used for the analysis: systemic-holistic, biographical, comparative.