Bioshock - A Literary Analysis 

If only my literature classes were half as engaging as this...

Fact: Ken Levine stated in a commentary for The Bioshock Collection that the final boss was a decision made by 2K and NOT Irrational and as such, even he states that the ending was a mistake and moral choice system were never intended to be in the game.

Why does this dude not have way more subscribers.

When it comes to the Little Sisters, I think it actually fits in with the story, specifically with Ryan's view of choice. He believes that men make choices, but in the end those choices end up making the man. So the moral system of choice is the only time Jack is allowed to have free will, so in those moments he is a 'man' rather than a 'slave'. And, just like Ryan said, Jack having a choice in how he treats the Little Sisters ultimately forms what sort of person he is, reflected in the ending. So, in the end, Jack truly becomes a 'man' because of the one choice he was able to make throughout the story, the one time he was allowed to exercise his free will. That's just my take on it though. Personally, I was never really bothered by the moral system.

I absolutely LOVE this analysis to bits! Here's some small interesting facts that you forgot to include as well, though: * Andrew Ryan was Jewish, which actually was a huge part of his fear for the war. * When Brigid Tenenbaum 'participated' in Nazi Germany experiments she was still a child. (She was also Jewish and has Autism, so most of her participation was so she would stay alive.) * While it's never stated explicitly, the fact that Sander Cohen is gay is made very clear in subtext (it was widely believed he had sexual relations with his proteges/you later find out all his proteges are male when send out to kill them/etc.) and the Audio Diary about his ears is most likely about internalized homophobia. * I could go on, but these were the most interesting things I missed!

So in depth and well produced. Absolutely love it

This is the best analysis of a game I have ever seen.

I really hate to be pedantic, but we DO hear Jack's voice as a child when he's being experimented on by Suchong.

I can’t play FPS games because they give me “motion sickness” so this video has been the closest thing I’ve heard to experiencing this game. Thanks for your hard work on this.

As for Bioshock being art under Rand's definition: It would qualify, as she did consider science fiction to be art (in fact, she was a Trekkie). Some of her stories are borderline-science fiction (Anthem was even titled "A short science fiction novel") However, she didn't much like abstraction in art. You can think of it like: A sculpture of a dragon is art, but a cube of granite with "Dragon" drawn on it in sharpie is not.

Man, I truly miss this class. I just replayed the remastered version of this game and was blown away by Andrew Ryan. Back when this game premiered I was too young to truly understand his character and now I can't get enough.

one of the greatest regrets of my life is that I had the Bioshock 1 twist ruined for me (via Google images of all things) and I wish I knew what it felt like in that moment when the rug is pulled out from under your feet. great analysis and fantastic work!

I am so happy I stumbled on this brilliant analysis. It was so in depth and did the game's story and philosophy justice, exploring every nook and cranny of this fantastic game. I've been a fan of Bioshock for quite awhile and this literary analysis was a joy to listen to. Keep up the great work!

This was a fantastic analysis. It's a pretty long video, but its treatment of the material, as well the crucial ideas and sources from which it draws, is so well done and goes into so much depth that it was absolutely worth watching all the way to the end. I have a lot of respect for your project here. I'll be recommending this to friends of mine!

This was absolutely amazing. I've never seen a better review of a product, from games to movies to books, and the fact that the review was on my favorite game made it even more pleasing. Thank you for the lesson, and have a good day.

This is my favourite analysis of my favourite game. This is great! Keep doing this, you're awesome!

Finished Bioshock 1 just today and am so happy I found this channel explaining some of the plotholes i had about bioshock since i couldn't manage to find all voice tapes. Instantly subbed, great work and an hour very well spent!

Awesome presentation! Thanks for all the effort you put into these!

It is absolutely criminal how underrated this channel is. Captivating and wonderfully written analysis! Kudos, dude. :)

OMG that tie. I want one! Subscribed!

I really enjoyed this. It's pretty neat that we can still find new interpretations and even have our eyes opened to things we might have missed in a game when we view it through the lens of someone else, even years after playing for the first time. I'll have to catch up on the rest of your work as time allows, as I'm a first-time viewer, but now that I know about you, I'm subscribed. Many thanks for your time and effort on this; it really shows.

so cool! glad I found your channel in this search!!

Calvin & Hobbes put it well when describing why philosophies based on Selfishness don't work: "I didn't mean EVERYONE, you dolt, just ME!" It's all well and good to say we should fend for ourselves and the needy are parasites, until someone else decides it's YOU who's in their way, and until it's YOU who suddenly needs help.

Thank you so much for this analysis! Adding to my favorites. This really made my day. Thank you.

This was an awesome analysis of the first game in my favorite game saga. I'm so glad I found your channel! Would you kindly analyze Bioshock Infinite? I feel like you could get a good 2+ hours out of that!

To play devil's advocate, Bioshock could be argued to be pro-Objectivist, as harvesting the little sisters would qualify as "parasitism" (you're taking what they produced at their expense). Saving the little sisters is mutually beneficial for both Jack and the Little Sister (which is more in line with objectivism-you don't have to do harm to help yourself). Likewise, he frees the Little Sisters from a life of altruistic service to Rapture and the Adam Industry so that they are no longer slaves, and free to seek out what they want from life.

Fantastic and intelligent analysis. I would definitely like more of this calibre and the long length is a pro not a con imo :) thank you for all your effort.

Speaking of Literature (Bioshock spoilers below): I just realized that, as Andrew Ryan's son, technically Jack's full name would be Jack Ryan. Like Jack Ryan, the CIA agent in Tom Clancy's books who made his debut in 1987. Like Jack Ryan, the spy? ...well played, Bioshock. Well played!

This deserves WAY more views. Some great analysis, a helpful overview of objectivism, and just a generally well-presented discussion of Bioshock. I love this game, and I'm now a total fan of your channel. Keep it up!

Just before the final battle, when Jack's transformation is complete, he becomes part of a experiment to test if the objective to induce him to turn himself in a Big Daddy was done right. I think he really was turned in a Big Daddy and the ending is only part of the mind control applied to make him defend the little sisters in Rapture until death. In my interpretation he never left Rapture and all the happy ending is just the final lie used to consolidate his paternal love and make him act as a Big Daddy. During all the game he only kills splicers and the only real person he kills is your father, who represents is own principles and at the end he kills Atlas (thinking that is killing Fontaine), who represents his own ideals and objectives, turning himself irreversibly into a slave.

Holy crap, dude. Great job! You clearly put a lot of work into this. You won my subscription.

Top quality content right here, can't wait to watch your other videos. Subscribed.

Fantastic video and analysis. Very, very well thought out and artfully discussed. Subbed and will be looking at your other content. Great job!

Very informative and well put together! Nicely done!

Just want to say your content is very refreshing. With guys like Mathew Matossis, Joseph Anderson, and, Mauler, it’s nice to see these games broken down in the least biased way you can. I find you to be up there with them and I think it’d be great to see you do one of these longer analysis on something like Bloodborne. Anyway, hope your able to keep the content going. Makes work go a little faster, and I can tell you enjoy doing this. Cheers!

It legitimately surprises me how this profile only has ~6,000 subscribers - so much effort and time is put into these videos and they are always a joy to watch and really do a fantastic job of teaching a lot about everything behind games and the media around such content. I feel as though a collaboration between this channel and another known as Extra Credits (a very similar, but much more bite-sized premise to this channel) would create an awesome video. Also, I realized that in the beginning of this video, you mention about teaching (I believe?) what sounded like a gaming class in high school similar to this channel? If you could elaborate on this that would be much appreciated.

i just finished the game and came here for a in depth analysis and that i was delivered , well done sir i have subbed and look forward to seeing more breakdown as videogame are art and deserve to be dissected and discussed.

I love bioshock and I love you for making a sophisticated video explaining the game.

Only seen about half hour and I gotta say, very well put presentation and narrative summary man

this was absolutely incredible. bravo.

Its good to see this great analysis get more views. Bioshock is tied for my favorite series, and I revisit your analysis occasionally.

The real plot twist is that Sander Cohen is a hilariously-competent genius with precognitive powers. Calling it now: if there's ever a Bioshock 4, he'll be revealed as the mastermind behind everything.

On Cohen, I don't know if anyone else noticed this but for me every single time I play the bit where he sends Splicers after you in the Foye, and plays classical music the bangs of the shotgun and even the pumping action afterwards always lined up perfectly with the music.

Just found your channel off the end of video youtube links for the philosophy of system shock. There is a remake of System shock is coming out so I went on a bit of a binge watching of vids relating to it and urs struck my interest. Just telling you how I came across your channel. Bioshock is just one of those games which is an experience. I hope your channel grows cause the content is very good.

Waw..this is my first video of yours that I've seen, Loved it. cant wait to see more~

Nicely done! I've watched other videos and even read some academic papers on this and your video I think has the most elaborative and clear treatment of the Objectivist roots (even if you disclaimed your rendering of it!). I didn't check, but if you haven't done another video tying this game, Infinite, and Burial at Sea you definitely should. Plot-wise, it's amazing how Levin brings us full circle!!

I'd love for you to do similar videos for Bioshock 2 and Infinite! This was great!

Oh please god would you kindly do Dark Souls!!

One of, if not THE, best explanations of this game as not just a piece of software, but also a piece of learning and immersion that has defined this game. Excellent. Although one thing, would you mind doing a video on the book, I know it's a book and you do games, that was developed as a prequel to Bioshock 1 and 2, Bioshock: Rapture.

Absolutely fantastic video!!

Sir, you made an amazing video, and I can only hope to make a video analysis that comes close to this level of quality and intellect. I'm so happy more people are making these connections. What's funny is that I just took a college course on music history and culture, and one day my professor spent the whole class time lecturing us about the musical anachronisms in Bioshock Infinate as a way to prepare for his presentation at some music theory conference. It was awesome. I've never seen the class so involved. Anyway, great video. And I look forward to witnessing a his channel grow. (Btw, I'm working on a literary analysis in the Mass Effect Trilogy. I hope you tackle that series too. Wish me luck!)

That was actually really interesting, thanks a bunch for the informative video!

This was very well done and your passion for the game and the medium inspiring. Do you think you'll ever do an analysis of Infinite and compare the big ideas of the games and how they delve into and show the pros and cons of the opposing viewpoints?

1:03:09 "altruism is rewarded" (paraphrasing) But isn't this in some ways saying and essentially conceding to the idea that objectivism, or at the very least selfishness, is the driving force of altruism. In Bioshock, being "altruistic" after all reaps you higher rewards. This essentially turns altruism from being a selfless act into more of an investment. "I will have access to less 'money' now, but I will have more later than if I'd not invested it into 'helping' ". In the financial world, while buying stocks of a company is giving said company more money to work with, you don't buy stocks out selflessness or altruism because you want to help Apple or BP, you buy stocks because you plan on reaping larger dividends than your initial investment (aka "sacrifice" of money). And while not all acts of altruism will result in a net positive monetary gain, you do always get something out of being altruistic. Always. That gain changes from person to person and situation to situation, but there is always a personal gain involved into an altruistic "investment". This can be positive reputation (or a negative reputation and ostracisation ‎by society if you refuse to do so) if you do it with witnesses present. It can be an increase in self-worth or self-esteem. It might give you a sense of moral superiority. It might please your supernatural deity. You might do it because you think it will help the world (something you and potentially your offspring are and will be a part of). It might simply make you happy. But all of those reasons are for your own, essentially selfish reasons. If altruism would not be for your own gain, then it should not matter to you what someone does with the results of your sacrifice. If you give 20 dollars to someone in need and they literally burn the money in front of your eyes, and you get upset about that, then you deny them their own free will to do with said gift however the please, at which point you have to concede that you gave them to money for one of the aforementioned reasons. In conclusion, even charity and altruism could fit into a objectivist model, if one agrees to the theory that even selfless acts are purely a form of investment that are expected to reap some type of benefit for you, even if said benefit is purely satisfaction with yourself. Also: 22:16 Black kitty! 24:13 Tricolour kitty!

This is absolutely phenomenal

very impressed with this, Subbed. Keep it up!

Thank you for this video. My love for this piece of art that is the bioshock franchise is obsessive. Tattoos, books, Quotes Stuck up on my wall beside my bed so it’s the first thing I see in the morning. These games have possessed my mind since I first played them and I’m nothing but grateful. If Bioshock isn’t proof that video games can be works of art, Then i don’t want anything to do with art.

Great series. It is really encouraging to see more people recognising video games as yet another form of art and really putting all their heart and effort into making such analisis properly. I loved the video. Keep up the good work. Ever thought of doing videos on games like Kotor 2, Planescape: Torment, Dark Souls, or any of Final Fantasies?

Dammed. Super impressed. Fantastic analysis. *Subscribing furiously*

Superb analysis, expertly presented by a likeable fella. Truly wonderful stuff.

Yes. Thank you for this. BioShock deserves a dissection and analysis like the one you have provided. I am glad you do what you do. Please keep it up. I now understand more now why this gem is such a gem. obviously you could not encompass all of what this game was trying to do, but honestly who the hell could? You did an exceptional job anyways thank you. p.s. nice song at the end, eve though personally I liked " Beyond the Sea"

This is the first video of your series I ever watched. Can't remember how I found it but immediately after watching it I wanted see more of your work. As a fan of the BioShock series I thought this literary analysis was PERFECT. It even answered a question I had for a long time about that stupid "Wild Bunny" poem. Until now I thought it was just another example of how unhinged Cohen was (as if he needed one). This video also introduced me to Miracle of Sound, so bonus points! Now, would you kindly do an analysis on BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite?

I find that the game doesn't trash objectivisim, because Ryan doesn't follow one of the most basic rules of objectivist principles. Ryan prohibited free trade. Doing that, he created a market for smuggling. If Ryan had simply opened trade, I don't believe the problems Ryan faced with people like Fontaine would have come up.

Wow. This is one of the most interesting video I have seen in a long time. I rarely watch videos this long in one go, but this one I did. Also doing a literary analysis on Dark Souls seems like a good idea to me.

What I found interesting is that "World of Tomorrow" pretty much is the movie version but basically choose the bad ending. Speaking of movies. One often hears the phrase "The 'Citizen Kane' of gaming has yet to come". I think it has been here for quite a while now. Well Orson Wells classic was not considered that masterpiece in its time, either.

THIS ONLY HAS 4,000 SUMODD VIEWS?! That's a gosh darn shame!! I'd been waiting for this kind of break down so for long and appreciate this extensive analytical effort SO MUCH!!! OFF TO THE SUBSCRIBERS LIST WITH ME!!

SERIOUSLY RU-vid ? This video has 1659 views, few comments and 76 likes ?! Damn, I can't believe it, that's must be unrewarding for the awesome guy behind this video, I mean, look at the work in put into this hour long video ! Dude, you're awesome and from now I'll be a faithful subscriber !

I think that Bioshock (Bioshock 1 and 2) shows the merits and shortcomings of Objectivism and altruism, as the 'villains' of the story have understandable reasons to believe what they believe and they're not entirely bad (except Frank Fontaine/Atlas, he definitely had evil intentions). Both of their stubborn beliefs in their ideals led to their respective downfalls and demises, even if Ryan believed he had triumphed in the end.

Im a Bioshock fan so while browsing through Bioshock videos I found this one and Im so glad I did. The video was so great I immediately subscribed to you and began browsing through your other videos and it's so great to find someone else who appreciates video games as an art form and speaks about it the way you do. If this class was offered at my school I would be the first to sign up but unfortunately it isn't.

how the fuck do you only have 10k subscribers? this is really well done man, good job and of course i subbed

I think the Cohen level wasn't just made to explore artistic freedom in Rapture. It also showed that Jack,after losing radio contact with Atlas needed instructions to go about his existence,thus doing Cohen his bidding. Though it's likely you're basically playing the part to continue getting through to Andrew Ryan. anyway, you did an awesome job sir,and have earned another subscriber.

the good ending still gets to me, it's short but still makes me tear up.

Gold! I've also always been a huge fan of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Definitely checking out your SotC video next. I think those two games are my top 2.

Beautiful analysis, I can never get enough from the rich worlds and narratives surrounding the Bioshock franchise. Do you have intentions of analyzing Bioshock Infinite? (and it's DLC, which should likely be a video of its own!) Again, amazing work :)

My all time favourite game thanks for this ❤️

Great presentation! !

Excelent review for a spectacular game.

Fantastic video! You've earned yourself a sub

52:45 the black or white right or wrong choice, could also reflect the theme of objectivism. "A person that doesn't care about anything except trying to win."

I love that tie!

Ooh You've got the Bioshock 2 special edition. That was my favourite special edition for a long time, it's still the classiest, other SEs have come with LPs but none of them are this soundtrack. I've got that poster framed on the wall next to me right now.

You just got a subscriber my man!

Charity is not immoral from the objectivist perspective. Forced charity is.

HS! why did I took so long to find this? Why RU-vid, why? Great content, I already shared with all my social circle.

I would actually love to see a follow up episode about Bioshock Infinite and how the Burial at Sea DLC ties into all this.

So at 42:30 let me make sure I have this right… the deal is ‘Give us the girl, and wipe away the debt’?! Wow… chills man, chills.

I really liked this analysis and the speaker and OMG THERE"S A CAT @ 22:15 !!

bioshock is truly a game that should be considered as great literature. it does what any good book does and that is to engage the reader and for the reader to immerse himself in the story and once done come away enriched by the experience. great job on the vid... subbed.

For some reason those little cue cards that separate chapters on this presentation and show a pic of rapture with the bubbly music, reminds me of assassins creed 2. Idk why but every time I hear it I immediately think of ezio.

Bioshock Infinite! DO IT NOW!!!

This was brilliant... loved ever second of it. PS: ADAM and EVE syringes have an apple on them. :P

Few connections to add: Ayn Rand's the fountainhead supports the right to destroy things you've made if others have come and added their own things to it. This is similar to the creator of rapture trying to destroy it by, among other things, destroying the trees. Also, the twist works on another level. It says a philosophy primarily based on free will is doomed because those may think they live under free will, but are actually being controlled by ideology, habit (our expectations for gaming leading us to follow Atlas' directions), and nature/nurture (in this case, a childhood of mind control).

I heard that Miracle of Sound song at the start. good choice.

I love this format. are you going to cover bioshock infinite as well?

@15:40 You make a mistake here. Charity is not morally wrong according to Objectivism. "My views on charity are very simple. I do not consider it a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty. There is nothing wrong in helping other people, if and when they are worthy of the help and you can afford to help them. I regard charity as a marginal issue. What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue." -A.R.

I really quite enjoyed this. Will have a closer gander at your channel. Must ask though, have you ever considered taking a look at Frictional Games SOMA? It's one of my favourite games, and one of the most gripping and thought provoking narratives I've yet to experience (much like Bioshock), but I feel like there has not been nearly as much talk about it as I'd argue that it deserves (much unlike Bioshock). Other than that, great video.

On a slightly unrelated note, my other complaint with Infinite's story is that the villain wasn't as rounded this time. Andrew Ryan started out a reasonably ok guy (if a bit of an idealogue) who turned to evil when his dreams of utopia began to fall apart. By contrast, Comstock is little more than a Klansman. When you arrive, the evils and racism going on in Columbia aren't (to my knowledge) Comstock being driven to madness by an extant threat to his dreams, grasping at straws for any hope to save it. They were what he was planning from the start.

ahh the Bioshock series. Bioshock Infinite is most likely my favorite video game in terms of music, taking a second to only Minecraft. And I definitely agree with you on the violence. It's a very amazing series, but not the most family-friendly.

This was great! Are you going to do analysis of the other games of the franchise?

I was unsure if I should play the game or watch an analysis, I got my answer 2 minutes in. Thanks guess I'll watch your video some other time