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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.com24THE EDUCATION OF AYN RAND, 1905–1943jaw and thick features she knew she could never be counted amongthem. Frank, however, was movie-star handsome, with a slender build,an easy grace, and a striking visage. Her neighbors at the Studio Clubbegan to notice a new Ayn, one more relaxed, friendly, and social thanbefore. An incident the other girls found hilarious sheds some light onher priorities. “She apparently had terrible financial problems and owedmoney to the club,” recounted a fellow boarder. “Anyhow, a woman wasgoing to donate $50 to the neediest girl in the club, and Miss Williamspicked out Ayn. Ayn thanked them for the money and then went rightout and bought a set of black lingerie.” 31Rand’s financial problems were triggered by the advent of the talkies,which shook the movie industry to the core. In 1927 De Mille closed hisstudio, and with talking pictures now ascendant Rand could not findanother job in the industry. Unskilled and anonymous, she had to settlefor a series of odd jobs and temporary positions. She fell behind on herrent and started skipping meals. This was not the fate she had expectedwhen she disembarked in New York years earlier. Though she acceptedsmall loans from her family, she was unwilling to ask Frank for help, oreven to reveal the extent of her problems to him. On their dates she keptup appearances, never letting him see the despair that was beginning tosuffuse her life.Under the surface Rand’s unfulfilled ambitions ate away at her. Whenthe tabloids filled with the sensational case of William Hickman, a teenmurderer who mutilated his victim and boasted maniacally of his deedwhen caught, Rand was sympathetic rather than horrified. To her, Hickmanembodied the strong individual breaking free from the ordinary run ofhumanity. She imagined Hickman to be like herself, a sensitive individualruined by misunderstanding and neglect, writing in her diary, “If he hadany desires and ambitions—what was the way before him? A long, slow,soul-eating, heart-wrecking toil and struggle; the degrading, ignoble roadof silent pain and loud compromises.” 32 Glossing over his crime, Randfocused on his defiant refusal to express remorse or contrition.She began to plan “The Little Street,” a story with a protagonist, DannyRenahan, modeled after Hickman. It was the first of her stories to containan explicit abstract theme. She wanted to document and decry how societycrushed exceptional individuals. In a writing notebook she explainedher attraction to the scandal: “It is more exact to say that the model is not