10 Video Games You Didn't Know Were Based On Books
6. BioShock
Based on: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged is often referred to as the Bible for US Republicans, which is a little strange, given that a party so centred around Christianity might have the actual Bible as its Bible. However, Ayn Rand’s ideals are huge in the party as well, just as they are in the BioShock series.
No Gods, No Kings. Only Man is one of the most evocative slogans present throughout Rapture, and it's a statement which smacks of Rand’s core philosophy: Objectivism.
This is the thinking that society will flourish under selfish conditions. If each man takes care of himself, without the state intervening to help out those in need, things will work out. Society should rule itself. No Gods, No Kings.
In both Rapture and Columbia, objectivism has failed. Not only are Ryan and Comstock de facto gods themselves, but their own failure to follow their own philosophy is the very thing that brings their dream to its knees.
With Comstock, this is acted out quite literally as Booker, free of Comstock’s politics, is able to rise and conquer Columbia, but only through the antithesis of objectivism: self sacrifice.