Sunday, October 6, 2013

Where's the Old Dagny?

Dagny has let me down. I say this because she has completely changed since the beginning of Atlas Shrugged. She was a strong and independent woman who relied on no one and allowed no ones opinions to sway her from her own. It was so refreshing while it lasted but as the novel progressed her independent spirit began to slip away. Now she is entirely boy crazy. She was previously in love with Rearden but now she is head over heels for a man who stalked her for the past ten years and is technically responsible for all the problems Taggart Transcontinental has been facing throughout the first two parts of Atlas Shrugged. It is just odd to witness her behave this way. Also, she offered herself as a maid to John Galt. Are you serious Dagny? I literally felt like throwing my book when I read that passage because it was disturbing to see a woman who was so confident and proud offer to be someone’s maid. The old Dagny, I presume, would have wanted to work on something more productive and exciting, such as in a factory or alongside the intellectuals who are in the valley, but instead has now chosen to cook, clean and wait on John’s hands and feet. I was so excited when I began reading about this beautiful, determined and independent woman, but now she has let me down. That old version of Dagny has seemed to have disappeared and has been replaced with this romanticized version. I also was expecting so much more from her. It is evident that the looters with their irrational laws are destroying the outside world yet she still has hope that they are reasonable enough to see the error of their ways. I am all for having hope, but it is evident that these looters are not rational since they keep making more and more laws and I assumed that Dagny was smart enough to realize that by this point but apparently I was wrong. It's as if she is purposely ignoring all the facts and simply going back to try and prove them wrong.  I just can no longer take her seriously anymore, which is really sad since she was one of my favorite characters and someone I really looked up to, so I hope for her sake she redeems herself in some way in the future. 

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree with your stance on Dagny here. It too had a huge desire to throw my book at a wall- I was getting really close to it. I hate that this book has turned into this! It's infuriating!
    I'm quiet sure that all (or most of us) want the old Dagny back. I surely do.

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