Thoughts

Obviously every single person in our class, and in others for that matter, hold their own personal opinions on Atlas Shrugged, where it is going, what Ayn Rand is trying to accomplish, etc. When I first starting reading the book, I did not exactly like it. The writing, of course, was beautiful and had a sense of lyricism, but the subject of the writing was foreign and sometimes difficult to understand. The predictability of the story and plot on the other hand, was practically nonexistent. I had no idea what the purpose of the novel was or how it was going to end, and, because I am not completely done with the book, I still do not. Now that I am getting closer and closer to the end of the book, I am finally understanding many aspects of it, and I love it. Atlas Shrugged is one of the best written books I have ever read, not only because of Rand's writing style, but also because of the classic 
love story that has been unfolding throughout its entirety. While most girls claim that Dagny is and always will be their favorite character, I fell in love with Francisco (like I've stated in previous posts). To me, even though Dagny is a hard worker, self-efficient, and a "go-getter" so to speak, I cannot help but think that her character is weakening as the story progresses. Now that she is in love with another man who shares many of the same dreams and aspirations as she does (the first being Hank Rearden), I feel like she is depending too much on another person. At the beginning of the novel she said that she found it hard to love people, where did that woman go? A few men pay attention to her and she goes all soft-hearted? I do not understand why. Rand made me fall out of love with Dagny, and it is a shame that she did, because I love what Dagny stands for, or at least what she used to stand for. Although I have grown to love the book as a whole, I still think that the subject matter is rather strange. The unpredictability, while there may be SOME predictable moments, is one of the most appealing aspects of the book to me. Now that I think about it, the only really predictable moments of the book revolved around Dagny and her lovers. Hank and Francisco were dead giveaways, but, on the other hand, Galt was extremely unpredictable. And do not even get me started on Galt. I do not like his character at all. I think he is egotistical and puts himself on a pedestal. What makes him so much better than everybody else? I cannot seem to think of too many things. What Dagny, and the rest of his followers, see in him I do not know.