A Journey Ends

We've done it. It's been a long, hard trip, but it's finally over. The longest book that I'm sure any of us have had to read and annotate in school (so far...). And I for one have been loving it since we began the first part, and the first chapter. All of the plot twists, the plights, the dialogue, and the motifs really put everything that we live in today into perspective.

This novel really puts our current society into perspective with what our society can become. We get to read about the fall of humanity both socially and economically. This fall occurs not because of some outside force or factor, but from our own mistakes. We made the policies such as the Equalization of Opportunity Act and Directive 10-289 that, like an engine that is run too hard, it tore the country apart. We have no one else to blame but ourselves, and yet, the bureaucrats and businessmen in Atlas Shrugged continue to place blame on others, eventually finding a scapegoat that can take the blame for them. We today sit here, thinking about how China, Russia, Iraq, Iran, etc. can destroy us either economically, politically, militarily, or any combination of the three. But according the events displayed in Atlas Shrugged, we are the greatest danger to ourselves. We are our own greatest enemy. It's hard to fully understand this concept, but it's easy to overestimate its true danger to life as we know it. I love how Ayn Rand brought forth this fear in a dystopian society doomed to eternal damnation.

I also thoroughly enjoyed how Ayn Rand presented her ideals. She used characters from all walks of life, of all genders, of all ideals to show how f*cked up this dystopian society is. Even in the bureaucrats that she describes, you have the weasels, the brutes, the clueless, even the mad businessmen and bureaucrats are used to portray the "organized" government as a savage entity. Rand even goes as far as introducing us to people of completely separate ideals, such as (believe it or not) the married couple known as Mrs. Lillian Rearden and Mr. Henry Rearden. These are two totally different people when it comes to ideals, morality, even the value of simple things. Conversely, Rand provides people who are perfect matches to each other, even if they seem to be different individuals. Francisco D'Anconia, Dagny Taggart, and Henry Rearden are all perfect examples of how similar these characters can be.

Another thing that I enjoyed about Atlas Shrugged is the mix of old technology with new innovations. We find street lights that screech (similar to older traffic lights with signs that say "Stop" and "Go"), older coal driven locomotives, and while we also find trains capable of over a hundred miles per hour on steep grades and sharp curves, a whole new alloy three times stronger than steel, and large digital calendars in cities. This society is truly reminiscent of a steampunk world, where a blend of old and new technology makes for some interesting inventions and some interesting ideas. To be honest, I just love technology (not necessarily new technology, but old and new just the same). To see how these anachronistic inventions co-mingle with futuristic creations is just awesome.

Finally, Rand's use of metaphors and allusions (to other entities within Atlas Shrugged) is very interesting to analyze. Rand used the Taggart Transcontinental as a physical manifestation of the economy. This train is shown to us at the beginning as a prestigious train that suffers only from track disrepair; the economy works in the beginning, but shows signs of wear. It, however, is left unchecked and is never repaired, causing delay after delay until finally the track causes one of the worst rail disasters in history. Similarly, the economy gets worse and worse until finally it takes the disaster known as Directive 10-289. People try to install hope in the train system, but when the train becomes stuck in Arizona, all hope is lost. Rand draws the parallel between this event and the crash of the economy through the torture of Galt and the explosion of Project X. These associations between the intangible and the tangible is simply amazing to read about.

Overall, I really liked following the main characters throughout their plights in the sinking ship known as "America". It was really interesting how these characters tried to bring the country back to life, but failed in the end when America's greatest asset was put down. It reminds me of the same plight of Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984 (which is my favorite novel). But then again, it reminds me of the same triumph that Guy Montag experienced in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (my second favorite novel). In fact, the conclusion of both novels ends in the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction and a drive to rebuild and regenerate the broken, corrupt, decimated world.