Rearden is Killing Dagny’s Independence (Meagan Adler)

     After this week’s reading, I started to develop mixed feelings about Dagny and Rearden’s relationship; although part of me wants Dagny to be able to have an outlet where she feels safe expressing her emotions, another part of me dislikes the consequences that come with her ability to do so.  I feel like Rearden changes Dagny’s character for the worst, for when she is around him we no longer see her as the strong revolutionary woman we know she can be, but rather a dependent conventional girl.  Her relationship makes her feel like she needs Rearden to a point where she becomes vulnerable.  Symbolically, I believe that Rearden kills Dagny’s independence.  Rand describes Dagny’s pendant as it stood “in between her breasts, like a sparkling drop of blood” (pg.341) and also describes the flowers Rearden gives her as “the color of blood” (pg.342); in my opinion, both of these references to blood when describing the materialistic gifts Rearden gives Dagny depict him metaphorically killing her independence.  Rearden also gave Dagny a cape of blue fox that “swallowed her from the curve of her chin to the tops of her sandals” (pg. 343); I think that this is symbolic of Rearden trapping Dagny and forcing her to surrender her independence.  Dagny also experiences, what Rearden explicitly states as her “‘first moment of weakness’” (pg.346) when she is with him; I do not like this side of Dagny, for it shows that she is submissive and letting Rearden have power over her.  She furthermore exposes her dependence on him when she asks, “‘Do you still need proof that I’m always waiting for you?’” (pg. 348);  this directly shows her subordinate position in the relationship.  A particularly powerful description for me is when Rand says, “their bodies were two currents, rising upward together, each to a single point” (pg. 351); this describes them as two currents joined together and united, no longer individuals.  Lastly, as the relationship progresses, Dagny becomes “delicately childlike” (pg. 394), which denotes her loss of strength as she becomes too dependent on Rearden.  Overall, although I think it is healthy for Dagny to have someone to love, her unbalanced relationship with Rearden, where she becomes a subordinate, ultimately destroys her unconventional principles which I admire her for.