Society in Rapture

Rapture's Society was composed of people who choose to escape from the surface and live by Andrew Ryan's capitalist ideals. The city was home to some of the world's most brilliant, hard-working, and creative minds, who contributed to it's design and technological advances. Although many of those who were invited to the colony were renowned creaters, a large number of its populace were the ordinary working class who were tasked with the difficult job of building Rapture and keeping it functioning. These men and women were paid comparatively little and many found themselves without jobs once the city's construction was completed. This created a massive gap between the upper and lower class, which contributed to Rapture's downfall.

Freedom from Fear
Andrew Ryan had long been a critic of government interference in private business. He had escaped the Communist Revolution in Russia only to witness the nationalization of private assets during the Roosevelt administration in America. However, it was the production of Atomic bomb that finally prompted him to abandon society. Many who shared his hatred of government seizure or his fear of nuclear apocalypse followed him to the promised safety of Rapture.

Freedom from Judgement
Some citizens were seeking sanctuary from a different kind of persecution. In the underwater utopia, citizens were permitted to work, live, and behave without fear of judgement. Groups marginalized in American society such as women, homosexuals, and racial, or ethnic minorities were afforded equal treatment in Rapture. As for religious practice, Ryan advocated atheism in the workplace and religious freedom in the privacy of citizen's homes, as religion in Rapture was heavily criticized in public.

A Fresh Start
Still, others simply sought a fresh start. Rapture offered a chance to get ahead, to be number one; an individual could leave the critics, bad memories, or mediocrity behind and rise to the top of society.

The City's Location
The idea of living in a city under the ocean filled with many technological advancements appealed to numerous people. Sadly however the novelty of it quickly wore off, and the lack of sunlight and seperation from the rest of the world took it's tole on Rapture's inhabitants.

A New Society (1946-1958)
Before the Rapture Civil War and the "Fall of Rapture," the city had a normal population structure and setting similar to those in New York City or Chicago. Rapture was newly built with technological marvels and was infused with wealth and the enthusiasm of an active economy and new population. Most people lived the life of ordinary urban people, upper/middle/lower classes, with freedoms, stability and removal of the constraints of the surface world. Much of Rapture at this time could be looked at as a utopia. Within the population, cracks began to appear, because in Ryan's Rapture the poor were tossed aside, subject to unfortunate circumstances without many resources. Official social programs were banned by Ryan who saw them a parasitism (as stated in "A Man or a Parasite") upon the rest of society. He himself knew there would be some problems while Rapture settled into his philosophy. These problems were exacerbated with the introduction of ADAM, which brought society breaking disruptions and opportunities for one who brutally sought ultimate power. Though several major economic "adjustments" were weathered, recurring class tensions began to push Rapture to the brink of collapse.

Civil War (1958-1960)
Ryan's social structure in Rapture can be looked upon with amazement at its naivety or its brilliance. Anyone could get rich by earning it, but this ignored the fact that not everyone was capable of doing so. Many who did not get rich were the victims of hard circumstances, which drove many into poverty. Ryan's free market policies caused many businesses to flourish, but the competition also caused many to go out of business. Some industries, like that of construction or the building of the railroad, suddenly ceased and caused general economic distress. Unemployment forced many to live in slums such as Apollo Square and Pauper's Drop. An 'out for power' schemer and crook named Frank Fontaine saw this split as a opportunity to overthrow Ryan and take over Rapture for himself. He accumulated wealth using a combination of business savvy, criminal thuggery, and illegal smuggling (importing contraband goods from the surface to Rapture). This wealth allowed him to takeover various companies and then to start and drive forward his most valuable business: the ADAM Industry. He cultivated communities of the poor with charities to gain influence and support among these "have-nots." In reality, Fontaine didn't care at all about the people, he just wanted the manpower they could give him. By 1958, Fontaine had become a dangerous rival to Ryan. After a long thwarted effort to shut down the smuggling operation, a large fire fight led by Sullivan between Ryan's men and Fontaine's army of thugs and Splicers occurred in Port Neptune. The result was Frank Fontaine's apparent (but faked) death. Following this, Ryan had Rapture seize Fontaine's assets. Many people became disillusioned with Ryan after this act. This allowed Fontaine, in the form of his new alias Atlas, to instigate a rebellion amongst Rapture's poor and to lead Splicers against Ryan, his supporters, and the rest of the city. This effectively was a civil war which required brutal and freedom-restricting countermeasures on both sides, which would eventually destroy Ryan's Rapture. Because of the disruptions to society, large numbers of the population spliced with ADAM to defend themselves. The excessive use of ADAM, as a side-effect, drove more of the population insane, and was accompanied by hideous physical deformities.

Post-Civil War (1960)
By the beginning of 1960 and the end of the civil war, Rapture's inhabitants were either people trying to survive; defending what they had left, or ADAM-crazed Splicers. Ryan had neutralized Atlas and taken control of many of the Splicers using a pheromone system, and had all but won the war. By this time, Rapture was in a severe state of disrepair, held together by Ryan alone. In an effort to regain Rapture, Atlas put his plan involving using Jack to assasinate Ryan into motion.

After Effects of the Civil War (1960-1968)
After deaths of both Ryan and Fontaine, Jack became the leader of Rapture for an undetermined amount of time. After Jack's departure from Rapture, Sofia Lamb seized power in the crumbling city. Lamb used her influence of the Rapture Family to bend the will of many citizens of Rapture. Thanks to Lamb's therapy sessions, many splicers regained some of the sanity, and were able to form a tight knit communty. At the end of BioShock 2, the fate of Rapture's inhabitants is unknown.