| | 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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