“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).