The Power of the John Galt Line

At first, Rearden is a somewhat sullen character, all he cares about is his work and any sort of social life just straight up bores him. He basically ignores anyone’s comments from within his family or elsewhere and all he cares about is work. Yet, when he develops Rearden Steel he goes through a transformation, he goes from being almost indifferent to being extremely assertive. This change happens when the use of the Rearden Steel is challenged. To him, the Rearden Steel was his life’s work and deep down he knew that all he wanted was to be correct, and as soon as that is challenged, he made sure that he could show his life accomplishment. He went so far as to seemingly drag Dagny down with him as he spiraled downward into the series of actions he had to take to prove himself. Because Rearden could not allow his life’s work to go to waste, he made absolutely sure his metal would be implemented, and the only person he knew would make that happen was Dagny. Yet Dagny had a similar agenda in that she felt she needed to be right and the only way for her to prove that was in the creation of a line made out of Rearden Steel. The culmination of these desires resulted in the fall of Dagny from her position in Taggart Transcontinental railroad and the creation of the John Galt line. This line not only represented the mocking of those who stand in the way of capitalistic progress, it also created an identity and a reason for the line “Who is John Galt.” John Galt, I feel represents the eventual destructor or creator of this world that is being created. The line represents the amazing success that can be achieved without government regulation and the fact that it is so successful seems like it is being personified as a power that cannot be stopped, and will either create a new world under its control, or destroy the world when it fails to gain such power.