economic relevance

            Throughout the novel, I have noticed a parallel between the current economic conflicts and Atlas Shrugged’s. The government in Atlas is corrupt and intentionally damages the progress of both small and large businesses. Why do they do this? The answer is simple, power. The governments, both currently and in the novel, thrive to control and restrain American citizens from becoming financially prosperous. The more fear they can install in the lives of ignorant, uneducated people, the stronger they become. The governments strive on micromanaging every aspect of life, to the point where we question, what are our rights? In Atlas Shrugged, the government essentially tells Hank Rearden to hand over the Rearden Metal Empire, or he will later face serious consequences. In today’s economy, the Democratic Party is fundamentally doing the same thing. In reference to the new Obamacare program, the government is forcing Americans to buy health care, and if not they are penalized by paying an additional tax. Constitutionally speaking, the government is not permitted to make you give away anything, like in Hank Rearden’s case, nor are they allowed to make you purchase anything. Overall, both scenarios are similar in their unjust way of forcing citizens to go against their will. Ayn Rand makes it clear that she is disgusted with the government, and I believe if she were still alive today she would be highly disappointed.

-morgan mills

Brilliant Industrialists No More (Monica Rodriguez)

This weeks reading of Atlas shrugged left me shaking with exasperation. I, as well as many of my other classmates, have been terribly frustrated with the looters in the parts of the book leading up to this section. I am certain that that is what Rand intended when she wrote about such polar characters, using extremes to make the reader see clearly what she perceives as right or wrong. Up to this point I have, for lack of a better word, rotted for Dagny and those like her to defeat these looters, whom I perceived as being in the wrong. After this week’s reading, I no longer know which side I am rooting for.  To be honest, I no longer like any of the characters in this novel. I simply do not understand them. What I liked about the industrialists was their ambition and their pride in their success. In their new community these industrialists, who where once powerful people with jobs that showed off their skill sets, work normal, boring jobs, and are okay with it. They live happily knowing that they living their motto of living for themselves. However the are not living for themselves, they are living for an ideal and are willing to give up everything they once where for that ideal. It frustrates me to read about the few redeeming characters in this novel giving themselves up wholly to the words of John Galt. I think they have gone too far to the extreme and can only hope that further reading will show this cult-like community coming to an end.  

The Anti-villain

Certain events in both movies and in real life detail a scenario where a person or group in distress turns to someone or something they hate; a villain. This coincides with the phrase "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". This usually happens when all other means of solving the problem fail, and the last resort is to turn to the greatest villain for aid. This phenomena is clearly exhibited in Dagny's view of John Galt. The society portrayed in John Galt was taught to view him as the epitome of despair, a person to refer to when the answer should be "I don't know". Then we meet the businessmen of this society, scoundrels such as Wesley Mouch and Jim Taggart, two men who seem so oblivious to the economic meltdown around them that they almost seem like a greater evil to the world than John Galt is purported to be. As a result, Dagny feels the need to befriend John Galt, to carry on his word and his legacy. She does this by naming her line the John Galt Line after Galt, putting to shame the phrase "Who is John Galt", even painting him as a martyr by calling themselves (Hank, herself, and the train operators on the first train to run on the John Galt Line). She's become best friends with the worst enemy. Some people would even say that even she, the noble Dagny, is as desperate as the homeless that roam the streets of New York. But, John Galt is humanity's last hope for survival both economically and physically.

Hank Rearden: Objectivist Badass (And Other Commentary)

I want to start by saying how unreasonably content I am with myself over the fact that I have finally reached the Ayn Rand Institute informational card in my book. Every time I opened the book I would feel the weight of that card and now I have finally reached it, and I have realized it is more difficult to remove than I thought it would be. I suppose this is somewhat relevant, given it is in the book, but it might be a good idea to move on.

If you read all my posts you may see a certain trend, particularly recently. I think my last few posts have briefly mentioned one idea just enough to warrant some sort of expectation that said idea would be the main topic of at least one post. Hank Rearden is a badass. There is no debating this. For any other character I might be angry that they refuse to defend themselves int he way Hank did in court, but Hank Readen does not lose. Beyond this point in the reading Rearden's life is falling apart. Everything is failing and everything is terrible and why can't the world just leave objectivists alone! Despite his circumstantial failures I find it difficult to NOT see him failing gracefully, or rather with badassery. I would largely attribute this to the fact that Rand has made it so that none of the objectivists ever fail of their own accord. If Dagny or Hank ever fail it is because of government intervention or some other straw man Rand has created. I think the reason I favor Hank over Dagny is not because he has a penis and is thus more relatable to me, but rather because Hank is constantly being a badass, a state Dagny is only in when bossing her incompetent brother around. I really liked Dagny for quite some time, and still do, but while Dagny is out changing the world Hank is destroying anyone in his way of helping her, and the way in which he does this is... well... you know.

While that may very well be a nice place to end this I find good reason to continue, as I once more have the urge to compliment Ayn Rand. Hopefully I am not alone on this one but I think she has done a spectacular job of really making the reader feel that this is a crumbling economy (and because this is Rand, society). When some sort of economic obstacle comes up, the oil shortage for example, I do not have think to to myself  "Oh, right, economic issues are happening" that feeling has been present since the decline started and every related event since has only intensified the crisis for me.

Now because it just feels wrong to end this with complimenting Ayn Rand, I do have one (I swear it's just one) more complaint about the last reading. After all of the bullshit conflicts Rand has created, the "Anti-dog-eat-dog" Rule, purposefully stupid characters like Potter, and essentially bring up straw man arguments, Rand has outdone herself here. When a directive is enacted that essentially says "Thou shalt not make progress of any kind" because the government thinks if nothing changes it cannot get worse and that is all that matters.... I think after the first 900 pages (if we're using a rational font size) she just got tired and gave up, because it does not feel like she is even trying anymore.

Dagny in Wonderland (Rachael Marks)

     Oh Ayn Rand... what... I cannot even... This book has gotten to a special level of abnormality that I really did not at all expect it to. It feels like a fairytale. Every word that I read caused me to think "what the hell is this?". Seriously! What the hell! I do not know how to describe what I am feeling right now. It is like Disney took over for part three of the book. I half expected to find houses made of gingerbread and little talking animals running around the place.
     Let me begin my comparisons with "Alice in Wonderland". Our heroine, Dagny Taggart, has fallen through a hole "in the sky" after chasing John Galt, as Alice chased the rabitt. And why does Dagny know how to fly a plane? I would allow a car chase, but a plane chase? A PLANE CHASE! Is this really happening. Dagny has broken the realistic scale already! She's an expert pilot! When was Rand going to tell us that? When does Dagny even have time to practice this, when did she even learn this? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!
     I just do not know how to comprehend what Rand has done here. REFRACTOR RAYS! WHAT! And then its a whole reunion of Rand's special characters. I just... I just... WHAT! When did this book become like this. This is not the book I have been reading. What is going on! NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE!
     I do not know what was going on with Ayn Rand when she decided that this was the explination for everything. She must have been experiencing a weird stage in her life. How could... I just... WHAT IS THIS! This is how I expect "Star Wars" to be now- but is Ayn Rand a sell out like George Lucas? NO! She wrote this herself! I cannot believe I have been reading this book when everything I was excited about lead up to this!
     I do not know how Ayn Rand will redeem herself, but I really hope she does. There is a lot more to this book, and I hope that it is not just full of "la la land". This is ridiculous.

What.

      Forgive my informal post this week, but I feel it is necessary, for Ayn Rand has caused me to briefly disregard all the thoughts, opinions, and questions accumulated from Parts I and II by completely throwing me off in Part III- on purpose, I presume. To put it poetically, Part II transitions into Part III with Dagny crashing right into the arms of the answer to the great question. Honestly, I find it hard to believe any of us doubted his existence by the 50^th time his name was mentioned. I think by bringing me back to the question “Who is John Galt?” more times than I could stomach was Rand’s method of making me believe he was real before I had written proof; now I know John Gault is tangible, handsome, and flawless, with “a face that bore no mark of pain or fear or guilt”- Dagny’s personal messiah (I am so sick of his name now that, for my own sake,  I will appropriately rename him in my blog posts). So, Mr. Perfect carries Dagny into an absolute utopia where she finds every single character that disappeared without any trace, and they could not be happier to see her. Dagny is confused, everyone finds it adorable, and she accepts all she sees to be true; I am confused, and at this point I’m convinced Dagny is dead, dreaming, or doped up on a medically-unsafe dosage of morphine in a hospital bed. Mr. Perfect then answers every annoying “dead-end” question encountered back in the real world, one by one, with every stop they make in this utopia: those mysterious alien dollar sign cigarettes, Halley’s 5^th concerto, the creator of the impossible engine- answered. To add to my personally amusing theory of this all being in Dagny’s comatose imagination, Mr. Perfect is also in love with her- shocking! I respect Dagny, but with this random switch of romantic feelings,  it has been revealed to me that Rand was not kidding when she described Dagny’s relationship with Rearden as purely animalistic, so I cannot help but feel Dagny is a bit of a strumpet (if she really is comatose, maybe I’ll forgive her). Dagny is now in a perfect world, home to the strikers of the dystopia she once knew, that I suppose I will have to accept as real if I want to make any sense of what is left of the novel.

      So what is the point of my rant? I cannot say I have one. I am merely venting my emotions from this week’s reading, and I have no formal way of writing it down. I am amused and confused, but I like it. 

The Rebellion

The further I read into Atlas Shrugged and the more intense the economy declines, the more policies that the Wesley Mouch passes, and the further the American people sink into poverty the more I keep questioning why it has only been the “brains” of the country that have risen up and rebelled. The past history of the United States has shown that we have rebelled against much smaller offenses. We are currently considering going to war with a nation who, although committed a crime against humanity, committed no actual crime against the United States. There are also the examples of the Korean and Vietnam War. There was enough public support, at least in the beginning, to give up the lives of fellow Americans as well their own, and yet in Atlas Shrugged as their children die of starvation and freeze during the winter, the country remains dormant. It is this part of the novel that seems most unrealistic. One could argue that these rebellions such as the American Revolution and the Civil War where actually supported by higher leaders and governments and that these leaders actually manipulated the people into rising up or fighting and that in Atlas Shrugged, without the government’s support and pressure of sending the citizens to war, a revolution from the common people could never happen.  Yet I still believe that the “American spirit” that rises up every time the government attempts to pass a policy, would have fought back years ago. This is one of my biggest challenges with reading this Atlas Shrugged. Too often I try to relate Rand’s arguments and opinions it back to how America actually looked then and how it looks today, which are in the end incompatible. 

Thank you, John Galt

This week, in reading more of Atlas Shrugged than any other week, I found that there was finally progress in evading the monotony that I have been complaining about in nearly every entry. Perhaps this is because the idea of being a couple of weeks from finishing the novel excites me, but I think we are finally seeing some exciting and entertaining scenes. In my opinion, the catalyst responsible for the improvement of Ayn Rand’s work is the character of John Galt. That’s right, we have finally met John Galt, and it was about time. 

The introduction of John Galt allows the audience to formulate a new perspective that better reflects the setting of the novel. Galt is a character whose personality exhibits one that has been clearly affected by an economic depression. Interestingly enough, although John Galt is one of the more educated people in the novel, he is the leader of a strike in the workforce and does not take advantage of his talents and abilities. On the other hand, we have Dagny who is passionate about creating success for her business. Furthermore, the relationship that builds between Dagny and Galt is what I found the most amusing in the reading. Regardless of their contradicting views, the two characters have an ongoing affair during which Dagny still refuses to join Galt’s efforts. In one way or another, I believe that Rand is trying to reference both casual sex and, more importantly, the stubbornness between both sides in the novel. 

I will live for the sake of other men and women, and most definitely ask them to do the same. (Zane Mandell)

This week’s reading was truly eye opening in that we have finally yet John Galt. I will leave discussing him specifically for a future reading but today I would like to discuss a motto. This motto has already been discussed in previous posts and surely will be discussed in others. The motto I am referring to of course is the one that says never to live for anyone and never to have anyone live for you. Doesn’t this sound so romantic and prophetic? It is something that I have found in great contrast to everything that Rand has written. I believe that she did this on purpose to capture the reader and truly seal the deal and convince the reader that what she is saying is true.

In fact this motto that is spoken by the people of the valley is the tenant of Capitalism. I think it needs to be reworded in this case for a better understand. This motto is essentially: “Every man for himself.” Now that is not as romantic or prophetic as Rand has put it, but they are truly the same. This is consistent with everything that Rand has done up until this point in the lengthy novel. This hidden, secret valley seems to be this breath of fresh air from the novel. This place seems to be perfect, the ideal that Rand strives for with her ideology. But think about it logically, should every human have to survive on his or her own? Is this the best form of society as Rand suggests? The idea itself is the complete opposite of society. Having everyone act independently is lawlessness, it is anarchy. Not so romantic and prophetic when you look at this in a different light.

John Galt is Introduced into the Picture

Last week I ended my blog wondering if John Galt would ever show up in the story. This week, I begin finally knowing much more about the novel since these few chapters were so revealing. John Galt finally does show up in the novel, he is a real person and he is actually the person that Dagny has always wanted to meet and wanted to love. I don't exactly remember if I predicted in one of my previous blogs that I thought something like this was going to happen, but I did suspect it a little that all of these people that were thought to have disappeared are actually all living in this little Utopia where they all work for themselves, nobody borrows anything, and pay for things in gold. I think Dagny is constantly changing and I don't think it's to the best of her health because she is switching around beginning a love triangle with Francisco, Hank, and John Galt now. She realizes that she is actually in love with John Galt and he is the one that she has been searching for. Galt has actually been closely watching Dagny for some time now. He even knows her past with Francisco just by guessing it. Once Dagny returns, Hank knows that he has lost her to someone else. Dagny is threatened by Lillian to go on the radio show and say that the railroads are safe, or else she will tell everyone that she had an affair with Hank. Dagny, on the other hand, being as brave as she is, does the radio show and tells everyone herself that she had an affair with Hank. That is just another example of Dagny's fierce and defying character. I admire that about her and I am curious to know what is going to happen to her now with John Galt.

This John Galt Fellow

In this week’s reading many of the mysteries that have unraveled throughout the progression of the novel are finally solved, along with many of the questions past readings have prompted. The famous John Galt is revealed to be all the things he was suspected to be: the destroyer and the inventor of the incredulous motor, along with the founder of the legendary Atlantis. When Dagny first meets Galt he is described as “a face without pain or guilt or fear”…sound familiar? This is the same exact description that Eddie used to describe the track worker earlier in the novel. It’s now clear that Galt has been living close to Dagny and Eddie and has technically been in their presence for most of the story; he was there all along, right under their noses. The fact that Galt has been watching Dagny practically every day for quite some time, is a bit unsettling, but Dagny apparently finds it charming because she comes to realize that Galt is the love of her life. Plot twist? I did not see that coming at all, in fact, I was hoping that her and Francisco would end up together (Francisco will always remain one of my favorite characters of Atlas Shrugged). Nonetheless, it makes me happy that Dagny finally got the answers she was looking for, along with the love she desperately needed. The only thing that concerns me is that the community she is now part of is strictly made up of egoists, meaning that all members of Atlantis are focused on themselves and finding their own happiness through their own talents and what not. I just hope that Galt proves to be the man Dagny (and I) wants him to be and doesn’t end up exploiting or using her for his own personal agenda.

John Galt

     The mysterious question that has appeared throughout the novel has finally been answered. Rand tied John Galt into many different aspects of the book. Quite frankly, I was surprised. I did not think that Dagny would ever find him, much less fall in love with him. I thought she would end up with Francisco. Rearden went through a scare when he thought she was dead. He professes his love to her and he knows she is not truly in love with him. He was surprised a I was when she told him that is it John Galt who is her true love. Rand wrote the way she tells him brilliantly. Dagny chuckles and says the famous question, “Who is John Galt?” 

     All of this occurred after Dagny was forced to do the radio broadcast. I can honestly say that I despise Jim Taggart and Lillian. These two characters always allowed me to question them, but as the story progressed Jim was part of the looters and Lillian was a selfish, materialistic woman who would ruin Dagny and her husband because she is not happy. I get it, the fact that her husband cheated on her is terrible, but she could have dealt with it in a different way. I guess I am just judging her. Who knows the acceptable manner for someone to act in that situation? I did not think she should have blackmailed Dagny into that situation though. I found it admirable that Dagny came clean.

"... I will never life for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

I really enjoyed this weeks reading, mainly because it was refreshing to read about Galt's Gulch or as Dagny calls it, Atlantis, and how different it is from the outer world. When I read the first two thirds of the novel, I always visualized it as a dark and dreary place, which is completely opposite of bright and beautiful green valley that Rand described in the final part of the novel. It is obvious that these two different worlds were designed by Rand to be polar opposites; the outer world representing a socialist government that Rand ultimately wants us to realize does not work, and Atlantis representing a purely capitalist government where everyone works for nothing more than their own self-interest.  

Another reason I really enjoyed this weeks reading was because Rand finally decided in the last part of the novel to introduce John Galt. Why Rand waited until the third part to introduce him I don't know, but I am glad she did because now I am finally getting the answers to some questions I proposed throughout the reading. In one of my previous posts I wondering whether John Galt was the “destroyer” and now it is obvious that he is as he is the mastermind behind the entire strike and philosophy that the occupants of Atlantis uphold which is summed up in oath, “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never life for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” (671) This oath is their philosophy summed up in a phrase demonstrates the self-interest based philosophy that Rand believes should be followed, which is why she makes it the oath that needs to be recited and believes by those who want to enter Atlantis and powerful enough to open one of the building’s door. Overall, this weeks reading has allowed me to better understand the message that Rand is attempting to portray to her readers in Atlas Shrugged and leaves me excited to find out what is in the future for Atlantis and the outer world, and if Dagny decides to go back and fight the looters or join the strike.  

vacation

A lot has happened in this weeks reading of Atlas Shrugged. Dagny and Hank decide to go on a vacation together because they just want to get away from everything and all the problems they have to face in the city. While on their vacation, they still feel like they cannot get away from their work so they go to look for other mills that they can use. I loved that Dagny was all for it because Hank’s wife would not have wanted to do that. They have met each other’s matching and I am so happy that they are “together”. One scene that made me feel really uncomfortable was when they were talking to those poor people and the people were not answering their questions directly and were just staring at their car. It made me feel uncomfortable because they characters felt uncomfortable. When they found the motor it got me excited because I felt like they were onto something, but then they realized that it was going to be almost impossible to find the inventor. I felt bad for the both of them when they were called out for being married due to the way they were looking at each other. They should just be together and Hank should divorce his wife because he is clearly not happy with her. Even when he comes back to his wife, he feels guilty when he is almost intimate with her. He knows he should be with Dagny, so why is he not? Also Dagny found Hugh Akston. I hope he returns. 

Commentary on the Portrayal of Galt and his Society

This reading has sufficiently blown my mind, and quelled my suspicions. As the disappearances of industry leaders were becoming more and more frequent, I knew there had to be someone bringing them somewhere. The cigarettes seemed like a sort of invitation to join this society and the way that everybody spoke before disappearing sounded like they had been convinced to join a separate society. With this, it is easy to conclude that John Galt is representative of the Jesus of Randism. Galt represents what it truly means to be a hardcore capitalist. I had a feeling that all these disappearances had some sort of message that the people were trying to send to the government, they were not just leaving for no reason. Yet it is interesting that Galt is portraying himself and his actions from a completely innocent point of view. He keeps saying that they did not destroy the world by leaving, Galt blames it entirely on the actions of the looters and the government. Yet it is pretty clear that the world went to shit because all the industry leaders left. I would believe Galt if he were in public contact with the government or some other organization in order to communicate his message, yet he seems hell-bent on keeping his little society a secret to those who are not worthy of its awesomeness. Yet because of this secrecy, the message Galt is trying to send is not being received, the government is running rampant, taking the disappearances as a message that their methods are succeeding in quelling the selfishness that they find in society. Therefore, personally, I find that Galt is representative of the destruction of the nation, not the government, because Galt’s perception of his society and strike seem almost childish. As soon as he could not perfect his motor and benefit for himself, he retaliated and decided to through one of the biggest hissy-fits in the world. He basically said, if I cannot have success, then no one can, and so the secret society of aristocrats commanded by John Galt in the city of Atlantis was born. Personally, I feel that Galt's underlying selfishness will destroy not only the world outside of his society, but the entire concept of humanity.

Our Strive Towards Perfectionism

    Rand this week consistently critiqued the industrialized world and the values that it is associated with. When reading in between the lines her audience perceives a world that is reaching towards perfectionism but can never achieve it. Yet, there is a paradox that is to perpetually strive for perfection suggests that one may not be at peace which hinders their ability to progress. When one attempts to reach perfection they are compensating for an inadequacy that they believe to be true about themselves. When forcefully making themselves thrust forward, Dagny and her society impinge on the very progress that they seek.  The industrialized culture is constantly driven toward excellence as the world is “supposed to do the best we can” at everything and anything. However, if the world world is consistently valuing performance more than tranquility or the ability to be present, society is slaughtering the idea of balance and the core value of what it means to be human.
    It is ironic that when one is truly present they may grow further and actually come closer to the intangible concept of perfectionism. The misery that has taken control of Dagny’s society cannot be cured as culture has taken the wrong path towards exterior perfectionism and cannot reroute their GPS’s to internal perfectionism.
    Rand further develops her hopeless, gloomy society and suggests that their fait has been set and they will no longer progress and therefore will never be able to come close to perfectionism. All that will be left will be a life of pain, doubt, and a yearning for something that people can never and will never achieve.

Unsettlement (Priya Dhairyawan)

        This week’s reading left me feeling rather confused. For one, I do not know what to think about the community that John Galt has created. I understand that it is somewhat important for those who live there to consider solely themselves, but I think that it is detrimental for the village as a whole to not care about others. It makes sense that each person should put himself or herself first, as this would allow everyone to succeed or fail based only on his or her actions; however, it would be more beneficial, in my opinion, for them to help each other, therefore creating a more stable environment for the whole village. I do, however, like the motivation to succeed that the village encourages. In what seems like a different world, no one helps one another, so individuals are forced to work harder. This aspect of the community demonstrates a type of society that is advancing forward. One other thing that left me confused was the fact that John Galt is somehow in love with Dagny, and she is in love with him as well. It seems odd to me that the two, who have just met, are in love with each other. A large number of men have been in love with Dagny, and she has loved many of them also; so why is John Galt different? I think he has resolved many of Dagny’s problems. She was searching for the destroyer, and now she has found him. She wondered why the best workers were quitting, and now she knows why and where they went. John Galt acts as a resolver in tying up all of the loose ends of Dagny’s concerns. 

The New World in the Valley (Carlye Nealon)

       I was so confused at the beginning of part 3 because I was not sure if Dagny was dead, dreaming, or if it was actually a different world that she fell into.  However, even though I was confused I liked reading it because it was different from the rest of the book.  Atlas Shrugged was started to get boring towards the end of part 2 because the same things kept happening over and over again.  Part 3 was something different and new and it was fun to read.  I did not want to stop reading because I wanted to know about the world in the valley and why everyone was there.  I liked the world in the valley.  Everything was clear and it seemed like an ideal world that was created for all the great men or women that deserved it.  It was a world where everyone had clarity because they were not worried about the work and the looters that they had to deal with in the outside world.  They knew what they wanted to do in this new world.  People inside the valley loved it.  For example, Ellis Wyatt says, "While I was in hell - yes, I'm on earth now," (page 662).  Wyatt is saying that the outside world was hell and now he finally feels like he is actually living in this new world.  In the valley, we also finally meet John Galt.  Throughout the whole book we kept hearing the question, "Who is John Galt," over and over again by different people.  We now learn who this man really is.  Galt was everything that Dagny was searching for.  She thought she was searching for three different people, but all three of them ending up being John Galt.  Galt is the inventor of the motor who Dagny was searching for for a while, the destroyer, who Dagny wanted to catch, and the man that she was searching for who would be perfect for her.

“Nothing but a pile of gray fur” (Meagan Adler)

            In this week’s reading, I was particularly intrigued by the way Rand contrasted the “power of clarity” (pg. 718), exemplified through the Christ-like figure, Galt, in Galt’s Gulch with the filter of distortion, or the “realm of a child’s nightmare” (pg. 755), exemplified through the destructive and tangible Project X in the socialist world.  As we see Atlantis “with a child’s excitement” (pg.719), as does Dagny, we are distinctly exposed to the clarity in Galt’s world.  As John Galt says, one must enter Atlantis, “naked and alone, with no rags from the falsehoods of centuries with the purest clarity of mind” (745); this suggests that one must enter this world as a baby.  It is as a reborn baby that one simultaneously is able to experience this clarity with the knowledge of their personal development.  Furthermore, I see John Galt as Jesus, for he is the epitome of this clarity.  He has the experience, lacks the judgment and sees through a transparent lens as opposed to through an opaque “fog” (pg.763), as people see through in the socialist world.  As Galt flies out of the valley, Dagny sees a “long silver cross” (pg.747) fading away, also suggesting Galt’s role as Jesus in Atlantis.  As she sees the cross drift into the sky, she sees herself abandoning the clarity of the valley.  We see the distinction between the clarity of Galt’s Gulch and the filter of distortion in the socialist world as we see Dr. Stadler find pleasure in watching a kid that looks like a “ball of white fur” when he watches Project X being introduced to the society; he longs for the simple clarity this kid sees through, that is blocked by the filter of distortion implemented by the government.  Project X destroys this clarity as we see when Stadler again tries looking for the kid and finds “nothing but a pile of gray fur” (pg.755).  I particularly like how Rand changes the color of the fur from a white innocence to a gray distortion.  I think that one of the most powerful moments of this week’s reading is when Dagny is deciding whether or not to join Galt’s world and looks at the “clouds…outlined by a thin thread of flame…like the map of a railroad traced in white fire on the sky” (pg.736).  I think it is at this moment that we realize that she has made her decision to abandon the clarity and return back to the opaque filter of distortion in the socialist world.  She chooses to “remain a scab” (pg.690) to protect society from the self-destructive people, such as Dr.Ferris who have a “deep cut of bitterness in the corner of the mouth” (pg. 759) that bleeds like “a spurt of blood from a sudden crack in wound that had almost closed” (pg.759).