1,069 pages
later and what have I gained from reading this book? Well, except for seriously
strengthening my reading skills, the confidence in my political views have been
reassured. I do not think it is a surprise to say that Rand would have been a
strong Republican advocate. I happen to agree with her completely on each of
the political subjects that were mentioned throughout the novel. Truthfully,
and this is hard to admit, I feel like a radical Republican after finishing the
book. I normally don’t like to think of myself as one but I can’t help but
rationalize with the innovative characters.
What I find
to be most frustrating is that in today’s society the innovators would be
viewed as conservative, close-minded, snobs who could careless about the betterment
of the less fortunat. However, realistically these “conservatives” are truly
progressive in their working methods and thoughts. This can be proven in Galt’s
speech, where he concludes that people need to fail in order to succeed. In
other words, society can’t always extend a helping hand out to the less
fortunate, they need to learn from their mistakes in order to gain success. The
idea of socialism and welfare completely destroy the purpose of motivation;
without motivation there is no progression. To conclude this idea, motivation
and progression go hand in hand, and to say that Republican’s or the
“innovators” are conservative, as they would be viewed in today’s society, is
complete blasphemy.
Aside from
my radical political views, I must analyze one character that represents
religion more than any other, John Galt. I think it is safe to say that Rand
intentionally created this character to symbolize Jesus. There are numerous occurrences
that prove this theory. First off, Galt is everywhere. He is always watching
over Dagny and protects her in any chance that he gets. He acts like a Godly
figure when he constantly advises Hank and Dagny to leave society before it
becomes too chaotic, which is unbelievably similar to the story of Noah’s arc.
God warns Noah that he plans on flooding the earth in order to remove all
beings of sin. John Galt is also tortured similarly to the way Jesus was. The
looters try to gain Galt’s help but he refuses, similarly to the way Jesus
refused to give up even when he was whipped, beaten and killed by the Romans. In
Christianity, Jesus is supposed to have a second coming where he returns to
Earth and saves his followers. Again, the parallels are too obvious. Galt, in
the form of Jesus, comes back to the “real world” and takes Hank and Dagny with
him since they are the only ones that seem to have a head on their shoulders. After
the believers are rescued, the rest are left to parish just like they are in
the Bible. To sum up Galt’s Christ like ways, he was tortured, he had a second
coming, and he warned the innovators of the dismal future.
Dagny, on the other hand, is a savior herself.
At first, I admired Dagny for her persistent ways of overcoming women
stereotypes. I look at her situation much differently now, it goes beyond
defeating the stereotypes. Dagny is genuinely a good person, with good
intentions, in hopes of improving the economy. She really does not have any bad
intentions, unlike her brother, Lillian, the looters, or pretty much anyone
else. She is a hero. Dagny gave her best effort to save the nation before it
went to hell, but unfortunately fate was not in her control. Originally, I
thought her romantic life was a little unrealistic but now reanalyzing it, I
think she deserves to have some kind of happiness. Maybe this was Rand’s way of
lightening up the novel in an appropriate way.
Other than
my analysis of the novel and its characters, I have come to realize how
powerful this book really is. I think the economic relevance is astonishingly similar,
almost as if Rand is here to write about the current political issues. My only
complaint now, after reading the 1,069 page book is I truly think it is
unnecessarily long. There are endless moments of detail and description that
really didn’t need to be included in the book. Honestly, I will remember Atlas
Shrugged as a challenge, an adventure, and an eye opener.
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