The question that has been looming across the entire novel of “Who is John Galt” has finally been answered this week. And Rand’s reply to this question proves to be most satisfying to her reader. I found it quite interesting that the true protagonist of the novel has been behind the scenes for the first two thirds of the novel. As a result, it created a legendary like characteristic to his character as if he were a folkloric entity and also creates an automatic level of respect.
Through chapters seven and eight Ayn Rand lays her philosophy flat and center which proves to be quite fascinating. It is not a matter of whether I agree with it or not; but the fact that it possesses the first hopeful sign of the entire novel. Through Galt’s presence, he flips his world upside down as society snaps out of the looter’s trance and go through the beginning stages of possible change which I am quite hopeful about.
I respect Galt for the guts that it took to stand in front of a world and state the fact that they are being manipulated and extorted. Furthermore, in the end, I do regard his philosophies on life with the highest amount of admiration. He implies that man is not a thinker automatically; however, he is not sinful be nature. Man chooses between irrationality and rationality, and between good and evil. Through his philosophies every being on the planet would have political freedom in order to pursue values that make their lives unique and meaningful. With such limited time that man has on this planet, I admire Galt’s willingness to throw away economic worries out of the picture and put human need and desire front and center. Galt’s ideal political system resembles laissez-faire capitalism as it is the only possible system that could understand man’s need for liberty that would protect the rights of people to user their minds freely and independently. Galt implies that without the mind, people are nothing. It is their means of survival and serves as their only purpose in life. The essence of Galt’s philosophy is that the mind is the source of well being for all of man kind, and therefore, it must be free.
Galt believes individualism and the freedom of each and every soul on the planet as they are precious works of art. I believe that if this society is to truly transform, he is the only entity that has the drive, passion, and capability to make it happen.
I too agree that Galt’s speech is captivating, as it is almost as if he is preaching his own religion, which revolves around the idea of placing personal independent values above collective manipulated values. In my opinion, Galt represents Jesus, for he is the epitome of clarity and a godlike figure for people who understand that existence depends on the freedom of the mind. I agree with Ari’s analysis of the speech in which Galt states that without the mind, people are nothing, for he directly states this when he says that “to be or not to be” is “to think or not to think” (pg.926). I also like how Ari uses art as a comparison to Galt’s beliefs on individualism, for each free mind paints strokes on a blank canvas; this idea furthermore implies that those with the free mind are interconnected through their beliefs that personal values should dominate societal values. I too respect Galt, for I feel like he gave the speech to persuade Dagny to join his world as we realize when he verbally wonders if she hears him; this shows that Galt needs Dagny to complete his own identity and is almost willing to sacrifice his own life because it is incomplete without her. Galt’s speech ultimately summarizes the purpose of Atlas Shrugged, as it is almost as if Ayn Rand is directly speaking her thoughts. Furthermore, does Ayn Rand see herself as John Galt?
ReplyDelete- Meagan Adler