The novel opens with what seems to be the everyday man, Eddie Willers. Here we have a man
who seems to be haunted by his pasted and uneasy in the present, foreshadowing
all of the hardship and destruction that will come. Eddie does not seem to be
aware why he keeps thinking of the tree back at the Taggart Estate, but it
gives the readers clues to what the future holds. The tree struck by lightning,
that he remembers so vividly could be a representation of society, Taggart Transcontinental,
or even the entire American system of government, dead on the inside, even
before the tree is struck by the lightning.
While this
potential link created by the tree serves as a great tool for presenting the
reader to the world Ayn Rand has dropped us into, Eddie eyes are a powerful
tool of one perspective on this world. The reader is able to see Eddie talk to
the lowest of the low and the highest of the high, from the bum to James (Jim).
He believes that he sees New York in a state of decay with eminent doom, but
pushes the thoughts aside. This unique viewpoint in the novel shows the reader
that people are instilled with this idea that things will go on, and anything that
contradicts that is wrong. This leaves the reader with plenty of questions for
the rest of the novel: How will the relationship between Dagny and James play
out? What is the fate of Taggart Transcontinental? Is Hank Rearden the model
man that all should strive for, or does he represent something else?
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