Finally Done

       The day has come for the last post, the last reading, and the final annotations for Atlas Shrugged. I neither praise nor despise the novel. Despite its repetitive nature and its extreme lengthiness, Ayn Rand’s work undoubtedly grasped my attention week in, and week out.Though I am not much into politics, I found the philosophical ideas presented in this novel to be agreeable and intellectual. In addition, I found that although the novel was written a few decades ago, it continues to be relatable. Moreover, today’s audience can easily compare the struggles of the economic depression in the novel to the current recession.

One of the major ideas that comes to mind when thinking about Atlas Shrugged after having finished it is the tremendous fluidity of the novel. Ayn Rand uses two major forms of manipulation to get her message across to the reader. Firstly, the author makes use of every single character in the novel. There is not one character who is merely an “extra” and means nothing in relation to the text. In other words, all of the characters that are introduced to the audience serve of some purpose or meaning that assists Ayn Rand in portraying her beliefs. Moreover, several examples include the use of characters such as Dagny and Rearden to represent the hardworking class of America and the representation of the lower, dependent class through characters such as Phillip and Lillian Rearden. Together, these characters along with their respective companies allow Ayn Rand to create a microcosm of the society in which she was living in. To continue, she depicts her opinions by exemplifying the corruption that accompanies socialism along with the toll that an interference in government takes on large companies that, according to Ayn Rand, are the foundation of a stable economy. 

A second, more obvious and effective way that Rand communicates to her audience is through John Galt’s speech at the conclusion of the novel. Here, the author directly addresses the reader and essentially takes on the persona of John Galt herself by telling the audience what she believes through the use of his character. Likely the most important part of the novel, John Galt’s speech tells the audience everything there is to know about Ayn Rand’s point of view. I will not delve into the details of the speech as I (and many other classmates) have already done so in previous posts. However, the speech is one that lasts for many pages for a reason. Ayn Rand literally tells the reader everything she thinks in this “speech”. Moreover, I believe that if you were to read the other 1000 pages of the novel and skip John Galt’s speech, Atlas Shrugged would have been of absolutely no worth to you. Meanwhile, a reader can really grow to appreciate Ayn Rand’s impressions after finishing Galt’s speech. As simple as the novel seemed to have begun prior to reading John Galt’s speech, I now find it incredible to realize the impressive connectedness that such a lengthy novel has. Ayn Rand could not have started the novel in a better way than “Who is John Galt?”, because once we learn who John Galt is, we have learned the entire point of the novel. 

Overall, as much of a burden as Atlas Shrugged was, it likely made me think more than any other novel ever has. Furthermore, it is one of the few novels that I have read that is capable of creating so many arguments with just a few opinions set forth by the author. For instance, in looking through the blog posts throughout the weekly readings, it is evident that no two students ever completely agreed in their individual analyses. Not only did the novel create a sense of debate on the blog, but it also forced the students to formulate their own point of views, corresponding to that particular week’s reading. To conclude, no matter how much I did complain for the entire first quarter of the school year, I know for a fact that Atlas Shrugged is a novel that will shape my way of thinking for this year and for the rest of my life. I have already noticed several instances where I have incorporated the ideas that I have learned from the novel to scenarios outside of school. As in the post where I related the novel to the government shutdown, there are even more situations like these where concepts from the novel can easily be applied. Lastly, I am proud that I have finally completed the novel and I look forward to the shorter novels with normal margins and fonts for the rest of the year.