A Bittersweet Ending

1,069 pages later and I finally reached the end of Atlas Shrugged. I have been provided with all the answers I have proposed and left with an ending that has left me pleased. I still cannot help but feel a pang of sadness because I simply fell in love with this book, and I hate it when books that I love come to an end; it sucks I wish they could keep going, but that is sadly impossible. The strangest part of it all was that I was never expecting anything in this massive book to ever intrigue me at all.

When first opening the pages, I was afraid that what would lie ahead would be dense and boring paragraphs that simply argued the impracticality of one philosophy over another, but I was proven wrong. One of the main aspects that I have taken away from Atlas Shrugged, which was an aspect that is seemingly difficult to ignore since Rand is not the subtlest person out there, was her philosophy. Though no where in the novel is it stated that it is called this but I did a little research and learned that is had a proper title; Objectivism. In Galt’s incredibly long speech, he outlines Objectivism, and at many times it sounded insanely redundant because it was not the first time we heard of these ideals since Rand uses her characters as mouthpieces and had them discussing it throughout the novel.

I am not someone who attempts to involve myself in politics but instead I simply observe what is going on. I am surprised that I find myself to agree with Rand’s philosophy way more than I ever thought I would. Her ideology is simple and can be summed up in a phrase; people should live for no one but themselves (which is very similar to the oath in the novel). Yes, this statement sound entirely egoistic, but it is true. As shown throughout the novel that those who simply allow themselves or put themselves out there for people who are not worthy of it always get burned. Before I would have believed that we needed to look out for others if we are powerful and have the ability to do so, but now I find that this simply would not work. Why do I feel this now? I am aware that the circumstances of the novel are entirely extreme but the fundamentals are logical. If we do just put the need of others before ourselves, our entire lives will revolve around fulfilling the needs of others and we will not live. Our minds will only be focused on others, and we would develop a sense of entitlement that would leave us entirely lost if those who we depended on left us, which is exactly what happened in the novel and look at the chaotic mess that followed as a result. In my opinion, in order to be successful in this world we must accept the fundamentals of Rand’s philosophy; live by reason, pursue our own happiness, be independent, work hard for your money and don’t let those who don’t deserve it take it away from you.

One of the other reasons I really enjoyed the novels were the characters. If the characters were any different than how they were presented this novel would not have been the same. Dagny is my all time favorite, and this is simply because she is a strong and independent woman, a woman that I admire and aspire to be. Though she upset me at one point with her hopelessly falling in love with several men, I knew this woman I admired was still there and the fact that she never gave up on her railroad is a admirable personality trait. I also fell in love with Hank; I loved watching him go through this metamorphosis where he changed from a confident man that did not mind being mooched off of by those who are inferior to him to eventually joining those in Atlantis and fully embracing their ideals. I felt for Francisco, as he had to give up the love of his life in order to join the strike, and at the end lose this love in order to fight for a world that Dagny deserved to be in rather than the one she is in now.

A character that must be discussed is John Galt. The mysterious John Galt was the one that was in the back of my head throughout the entire novel and now I find him to be one of the more important characters alongside Dagny. At first I was not impressed with him, and I was a little annoyed at him and Dangy’s relationship, but it was not long before I began to admire him just as I admired Dagny. The aspect of John Galt that I admire the most is his mind and the brilliance that lies within it. His character created a philosophy, was the leader of a strike, created a revolutionary motor, and ultimately saves the world.  Rand’s presentation of him is spot on; he is both physically beautiful and brilliant, overall she makes him sound like a superhero. He is the representation of the main theme of the novel, Objectivism, which is that the mind is the key that one can achieve prosperity and success in life.

To conclude, I am happy I read this novel and I believe that it left an everlasting impact on me. It changed my political perspective and allowed me to value the importance of the mind and of reason. It was also just a very good book to read, and good books are very hard to find nowadays.