The Closure of the Rio Norte

In this week’s reaction, I would like to take a break from expressing my frustrations about the repetitiveness of the novel. Instead, I will focus on one of the major events in the novel that I believe serves of great importance. The closure of the Rio Norte Line is, in my opinion, one of the most symbolic occurrences in the novel thus far. As part of the previously mentioned repetitiveness of the novel, Ayn Rand continuously portrays her political views through the novel’s characters and events. In the readings before this week’s, the representation of political corruption and an economic depression was evident. However, in comparison to what we learned this week, Ayn Rand gives the audience an even larger viewpoint on the crises that have formed. In this reaction, I will focus on the closure of the Rio Norte Line because I believe that it tells the reader the most about the government that is being conveyed in the novel. As shown throughout the novel, the government provides the smaller companies with benefits to help them grow. Meanwhile, people like Dagny suffer because even when they are taking away from their business (closing a railway), the government asks for some sort of funds. Instances such as these in Atlas Shrugged allow Ayn Rand to demonstrate the corruption of socialist governments and how they destroy society. To be honest, I still do not find the novel to be extremely interesting nor entertaining. However, I did enjoy the analysis that was necessary for this week’s reading.