Original artwork, not a still
I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture.
— BioShock ‧ 2007
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line is the pitch for a utopia of pure self-interest, delivered with total conviction by a man whose city is already doomed. It works as the game's first and bitterest irony, since the player is about to see what 'the impossible' became. Its target is plain, since Ryan is modelled on Ayn Rand.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for BioShockShow the scene
BioShock (2007). Jack's plane has crashed into the Atlantic and he has swum to a lighthouse, where a bathysphere takes him down to the underwater city of Rapture. During the descent a screen rises and Andrew Ryan, Rapture's founder, introduces his city. He rejects the answers given by the man in Washington, the man in the Vatican and the man in Moscow, then delivers this line. Midway through the speech the screen slides away and Rapture appears. Ken Levine's game modelled Ryan on Ayn Rand and her Objectivism.
Sources (3)
- Welcome to Rapture (BioShock level), BioShock WikiWalkthroughReference checked
- Andrew Ryan, BioShock WikiIntroduction; Behind the ScenesReference checked
- BioShock, WikipediaLead; PlotReference checked
Context reviewed
