The Change in Dangy and Hank (Carlye Nealon)

As I read this week’s portion of Atlas Shrugged, I start to see changes in some of the main characters.  The changes that I saw were changes that I did not particularly want to see in these characters.  The two characters that I recognized the change the most in was Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart.  The change in Hank and Dagny comes from their new relationship together.  Things are getting serious between them.  At first, I liked them together because they both are similar characters and seemed lonely.  However, now their relationship is getting a little too obsessive.  They say all they want in life is each other.  In the beginning, all they both cared about was work, but now all they want is to be together.  Before this, Dagny used to be so confident and independent.  She was fine being alone and she could always count on herself to get whatever she needed done.  However, now all she thinks about is Hank and is not happy until he is with her at night.  While working, she thinks about him and what time she will see him that night, or how she misses him because he is out of town that day.  She needs to rely on him to make her happy and to make her feel more alive.  This shows how Dangy is weaker and not as strong as what we thought she was in the beginning of the story.  We see her first sign of weakness when she tells Hank, “Hank, I . . . I’d give up anything I’ve ever had in my life, except my being a . . . a luxury object of your amusement,” (page 346).  I still love Dangy as a character, but she is getting weaker as the story progresses.