A Journey Ends

We've done it. It's been a long, hard trip, but it's finally over. The longest book that I'm sure any of us have had to read and annotate in school (so far...). And I for one have been loving it since we began the first part, and the first chapter. All of the plot twists, the plights, the dialogue, and the motifs really put everything that we live in today into perspective.

This novel really puts our current society into perspective with what our society can become. We get to read about the fall of humanity both socially and economically. This fall occurs not because of some outside force or factor, but from our own mistakes. We made the policies such as the Equalization of Opportunity Act and Directive 10-289 that, like an engine that is run too hard, it tore the country apart. We have no one else to blame but ourselves, and yet, the bureaucrats and businessmen in Atlas Shrugged continue to place blame on others, eventually finding a scapegoat that can take the blame for them. We today sit here, thinking about how China, Russia, Iraq, Iran, etc. can destroy us either economically, politically, militarily, or any combination of the three. But according the events displayed in Atlas Shrugged, we are the greatest danger to ourselves. We are our own greatest enemy. It's hard to fully understand this concept, but it's easy to overestimate its true danger to life as we know it. I love how Ayn Rand brought forth this fear in a dystopian society doomed to eternal damnation.

I also thoroughly enjoyed how Ayn Rand presented her ideals. She used characters from all walks of life, of all genders, of all ideals to show how f*cked up this dystopian society is. Even in the bureaucrats that she describes, you have the weasels, the brutes, the clueless, even the mad businessmen and bureaucrats are used to portray the "organized" government as a savage entity. Rand even goes as far as introducing us to people of completely separate ideals, such as (believe it or not) the married couple known as Mrs. Lillian Rearden and Mr. Henry Rearden. These are two totally different people when it comes to ideals, morality, even the value of simple things. Conversely, Rand provides people who are perfect matches to each other, even if they seem to be different individuals. Francisco D'Anconia, Dagny Taggart, and Henry Rearden are all perfect examples of how similar these characters can be.

Another thing that I enjoyed about Atlas Shrugged is the mix of old technology with new innovations. We find street lights that screech (similar to older traffic lights with signs that say "Stop" and "Go"), older coal driven locomotives, and while we also find trains capable of over a hundred miles per hour on steep grades and sharp curves, a whole new alloy three times stronger than steel, and large digital calendars in cities. This society is truly reminiscent of a steampunk world, where a blend of old and new technology makes for some interesting inventions and some interesting ideas. To be honest, I just love technology (not necessarily new technology, but old and new just the same). To see how these anachronistic inventions co-mingle with futuristic creations is just awesome.

Finally, Rand's use of metaphors and allusions (to other entities within Atlas Shrugged) is very interesting to analyze. Rand used the Taggart Transcontinental as a physical manifestation of the economy. This train is shown to us at the beginning as a prestigious train that suffers only from track disrepair; the economy works in the beginning, but shows signs of wear. It, however, is left unchecked and is never repaired, causing delay after delay until finally the track causes one of the worst rail disasters in history. Similarly, the economy gets worse and worse until finally it takes the disaster known as Directive 10-289. People try to install hope in the train system, but when the train becomes stuck in Arizona, all hope is lost. Rand draws the parallel between this event and the crash of the economy through the torture of Galt and the explosion of Project X. These associations between the intangible and the tangible is simply amazing to read about.

Overall, I really liked following the main characters throughout their plights in the sinking ship known as "America". It was really interesting how these characters tried to bring the country back to life, but failed in the end when America's greatest asset was put down. It reminds me of the same plight of Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984 (which is my favorite novel). But then again, it reminds me of the same triumph that Guy Montag experienced in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (my second favorite novel). In fact, the conclusion of both novels ends in the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction and a drive to rebuild and regenerate the broken, corrupt, decimated world.

FINALLY

At the beginning, I’m not going to lie, I had a panic attack when I saw what book we had to read and I wanted to drop out of AP English. Today, I feel so relieved that I’m finally done. I cannot believe I am actually saying that I finished Atlas Shrugged. I’m so happy/proud of myself and of the entire class for finishing it!!!

The beginning of the novel bored me, but then as I started reaching around page 200 the book got increasingly interesting and now I can say I loved the story. I feel like this is a novel that once you read it, you have to read it again, because there are so many underlying messages and foreshadows throughout the book that you forget by the time you reach the end since the book is so incredibly long.

In my very first blog post, I mentioned that I was a fan of Ayn Rand and her philosophies. In my final blog post, my admiration for her has definitely increased and become stronger. The only other book I had read of Ayn Rand’s was Anthem, in seventh grade, so my memories of her style of writing were very vague. Atlas Shrugged, although very demanding to read, is written in a way that is effectively easy to understand. Even though there is confusion with all of the millions of characters (which is why I think the book should be read more than once), she creates each character to serve the purpose of the story. There are no unnecessary characters in her writing. Her style of writing is very direct; everything goes from one scene to another with ease and I never found myself “lost” for lack of a better word. Yes, I was confused when everybody was disappearing and things of the similar, but I never found myself not understanding what I was reading. She presents everything very clearly, and I really admire her style of writing.

My favorite character was Dagny, throughout the entire novel. The reason why I always loved Dagny was because she was extremely independent and always did what she wanted to do. I really admire that. I admire how Ayn Rand created Dagny’s female independent and defiant character in that time period, to the point where there were moments in which Dagny specifically said “I’m the man” (368). Although she does sometimes get influenced by her lovers (of which she technically had three in this novel…) she always does what she thinks is right. I think the reason why practically every important male character falls in love with Dagny is because of this independence, relentless determination, and confidence that she has. I think Dagny is truly an admirable character. I also really liked Hank and his relationship with Dagny. I feel like on the inside he was always very sensitive, he was just closed to everybody because nobody took the time to appreciate him – everyone just went against him for loving his “business” too much. So, when he finally meets somebody who is like him in some way (Dagny), he falls in love with her and slowly tries to show this to her. An example that really stuck out to me was when he took her out to dinner or when he gave her the ruby necklace and tells her that he likes giving her things not because he wants her to have them, but because he knows she does not need them and he wants her to have them from him. I thought that was really sweet and I like how Dagny pulls out this side of him. She also does this from Francisco though. Francisco also admits that he loves Dagny. Everybody is in love with Dagny! But, it is understandable how Dagny chooses John Galt as her ultimate lover. I like John Galt and his intelligence, but I feel like their relationship went a little too fast.

My least favorite characters were Jim and Lillian. They were the characters that all throughout the novel I just wanted to take them out of the scene because their whininess. They annoyed me – especially when they tried to bring everybody else down because they were too lazy to do anything to help themselves. I really believe in the way of living that if you want something, you have to go out there and get it yourself because nobody is going to do it for you, and these two characters constantly acted contrary to my belief so they got me really annoyed.

I liked the ending. I did not love it, but I liked it. I hate how Eddie was not be able to be saved. I feel like he was such a nice asset to the story, always helping Dagny the second she needed him and whenever he was there she felt a little subconsciously relieved because she knew he could count on him. So, having Eddie be left stranded to figure out how to survive alone was kind of a downer. Also, having Dagny, Hank, Francisco, John Galt, and all his little clan survive and reach Atlantis was a good thing – but what happens from then on? They are just going to rebuild society on their own entirely? It seems a little unrealistic, but I like how the people who really gave their all in the regular world were able to save themselves and be rewarded in Atlantis. I like how the story ends with John drawing a dollar sign symbol in the air, I feel like that was really symbolic. As I was looking back in the story I reread the part where Hugh Akston had given Dagny a cigarette with a dollar sign on it, and this dollar sign kept popping up multiple times in the book, so I thought that was a good addition to the ending.

Overall, throughout all the action in the book, all the foreshadowing and hidden messages, all the characters, and all the rising action till the final reaching of Atlantis and the state of being in that utopia, I really liked the book. Once again, in the beginning I hated it and thought I was never going to get through it, but now that I am finally done I am saying that I enjoyed the book. Also, my final blog post has just as many words as there are pages in the novel.

THE END

            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.

 -Morgan Mills 

Our Greatest Gift- My FINAL Entry!

     In the journey that is Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand suggests that man has the potential to achieve the unreachable if they are able to self actualize and use their mind to manipulate their surroundings. Although considered repetitious and mundane at times, what kept me intrigued about Atlas Shrugged was the unique psychological state of mind that all of Rand’s characters possessed. The unemotional, detached, miserable human beings defied their innate instincts and fought against nature in order to live in a world that man hand crafted. This paradox and struggle between becoming socially and economically ‘accepted’ versus using the mind to pursue and gain self worth was intertwined between the lines all throughout the novel. It created deep levels of frustration and anger in me. This occurred several times when I believed that Dagny was on the verge of a break through and was willing to change her perceptions of her world and her own life; however, I was made a fool when each and every time she regressed back to society’s norm of what it means to be a human being.
    Essentially, society became a large hierarchical high school. The looters’ represented the top tiered popular kids willing to take out anyone that was in their way, and the men who employed their minds and imaginations were outcasts and at the bottom of the tier as if they were the schools’ nerds. Rand is very clear, however, that because society followed the devilish ways of the looters’ game people became antisocial meaning that they possessed no consciousness nor did they feel guilt. In fact, all feelings were suppressed as the manipulation of people became the number one priority for every single citizen willing to climb up the economic ladder that existed in this made up world. I found it quite intriguing that Rand illustrated through her text the fact that the consequences that manifest through a society that neglects to use its’ collective mind are innumerable. Among them includes the human need to achieve perfectionism; however, the side affects of this behavior created by the looters resulted in a wide spread epidemic of fear.
    Throughout the novel Rand critiques the industrialized and the ‘progressive’ world. She in a sense pokes fun at the fact that one of the only goals that her characters posses is to achieve perfectionism, and yet they can never achieve it. Because they abandon their roots, or their minds, their journeys to perpetually strive for perfectionism is hindered as their ability to progress is halted. The cancer that pushes them to achieve perfectionism slaughters the idea of balance and the core value of what it means to be human. In a way, people detached themselves into two different entities. People that possess the ability to know oneself and feel emotion, and the people that move in the world without a mind or a conscience. I constantly wanted Rand’s characters to join forces with their true selves, as I had empathy for their worthless lives.
    Furthermore, I believe the apocalyptic setting that Rand depicts throughout the novel to be a house of terror. Fear takes over several hundred of the pages that Rand’s audience reads. It is this denominator that all her characters exhibit. This is the source of every single conflict that manifests throughout the novel. Fear of the unknown, fear of financial security, and fear of social power are among a few of the fears that exist in each of the characters. Dismay and anxiety are a crucial catalysts in the diversion from nature and love. Rand defines her characters by how they define fear, how they are able to either conquer it or let it consume them, and how they are able to compensate for it.
    However, Rand’s main objective through her description of fright is to compare different types of fear side by side. She focuses on the uneasiness of standing still versus the angst of change. She mentions how people cannot stand to be in the present moment. For example, when Dagny panics when her train stops moving, she is terrified to see her perspective of the world halts in a sudden moment. However, on the other hand, Rand also describes fear of change through James when he begs for stability and falls to his knees at the idea of uncontrolled change.
    Rand illustrates that “man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons,and to make weapons - a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and we have comes from a single attribute of man -the function of his reasoning mind.” Rand worships the mind and believes it to be an all knowing, self sacrificing entity. She even hints at the fact that the independence of the mind is God-like. She bows down to its presence and believes it to be the most valuable and holy tool of this universe. She makes a powerful statement that a true man of the mind, like John Galt, will experience the most intense emotional bonds to individuals around him because he is a man of the mind. It is the interconnection between emotional capability, and the capabilities of the mind that Rand pleads to her reader will make society as a whole complete and most importantly the reader themselves self actualized.

DONE

I AM DONE! Sadly I have never felt so accomplished in my life. This book has become my favorite book I have ever read. The last chapter was so cool, because all the main characters came together and worked as an amazing team. Reading that last page was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do because I wanted to rush it just so I could finish, but I wanted to read every single word. I am actually really sad that it is over because Atlas Shrugged really became a part of my life. My answer to everything was always “Sorry I can’t I have to read Atlas”. I became so attached to all of the characters and I could relate to them in my own ways. I could even see a little bit of myself in my least favorite character, James. I could relate to all of his struggles. But the person that I am really going to miss the most is Dagny. I felt like Dagny had become my girl. I felt like I knew everything about her and I was always rooting for her to win. She is also awesome because all of the men in this novel were in love with her, except for her brother. All of them either felt admiration or true love for her. Playing her in either a movie or a play would be such an honor because she is just such a dynamic character. Everything about her is so different from most characters in novels. She has so many different sides to her.

            The actual romantic love story in this novel is what kept me going. I wanted to see what would happen between Dagny and Hank. When that finally happened I was so happy. I could not care less about Lillian’s feelings because she was just really annoying. That may make me seem like a bad person, but she was just awful to Hank and he just wanted to some loving! I loved it when Dagny did not let Lillian get to her and she admitted to the affair on the broadcast, but then I got sad when she was talking about him in the past tense. I could tell that because she had met Galt she was over Hank. I felt like I was breaking up with someone when they ended their relationship. That is how sad I was, which is really lame of me. I did not like when Dagny was Francisco. That relationship was old news to me and I thought it should have been kept as just a teenage fling. The scene between Dagny and Galt was one of the steamiest in the whole novel. The scenes between her and Hank were steamy, but this one was even crazier. Ayn Rand is good at writing these scenes because she does them classily and they do not make me uncomfortable when I read them. Another person who was in love with her but nothing happened between them was Eddie Willers. I felt bad for him because he was the only man that she did not pay any attention to.

            From the beginning to the end of the novel, so many characters were introduced. There were so many, but Rand wrote it so well that I did not forget any of them. I still remember the character that was on his way to the political rally in San Francisco when the comet went through the tunnel and exploded. I also felt like I knew a lot about the characters and I knew the personalities of each of them. Cherryl was one character that grew a lot throughout the novel. When we first met her she was just a young poor woman that was trying to make her way in the world. James treated her horribly and so she began to stand up for herself, but it proved too much to handle. Strangely, I feel like I am going to miss them.

            The valley was such a majestic place to me. I feel like it was the perfect place to live. Everyone was happy and everyone was doing what he or she wanted to do. No one was forced to do an awful job and no one was forced to share his or her findings with anyone.

            Rand talked a lot about selfishness and in a way that I had never thought before. I feel as though what she said was right. I feel like now I will put my thoughts before everyone else. If I want to accomplish something I will try as hard as I can to accomplish it.           

            This book truly was life changing and just as Galt says, “It’s the beginning” (1061).

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. 

Final Thoughts (Priya Dhairyawan)

After completing the novel, I am happy that it is done, which is not to say that I did not enjoy the story, but rather that I am glad to have been provided with answers for so many issues within the scope of the story. One of the major issues that was bothering me from the beginning of the book was the repetition of the phrase “Who is John Galt?”. The phrase was repeated by so many individuals that I could not help but wonder why it was so important. The unfolding of John Galt’s character helped ease my annoyance with the question. His impact on the economy became further revealed as the story progressed, so my understanding of the importance of “Who is John Galt?” began to improve. One other thing that I had wondered about from the beginning of the story was who Dagny would end up with. Initially, I had expected her and Hank to get married, despite his marriage to Lillian. However, I thought they were truly in love. They were both devoted to their work and both craved success. Plus, they seemed to be in love. Even now, I still wish their situation would have remained the same so that they would have stayed together. Looking back at Dagny’s character at the start of the novel, I never would have expected her to be with someone like John Galt. Even though he is probably in love with Dagny, I still find it difficult to overlook the fact that he was watching her for so long without her knowledge. I would have rather seen her with Francisco, if not Hank, than with John Galt; John Galt was one of my least favorite characters.

                Looking back at the situations that take place in the story, I cannot help but notice how much Dagny in particular has changed. She started off as my favorite character; she was independent, driven, hard-working, and careless about the opinions of others. As the novel reached its conclusion, her personality transformed completely. Now she seems submissive, when she was extremely strong-willed at the start of the story. One thing that I admired about her was her defiance of what was expected. Dagny fought her way to the top of her family’s company when she was constantly told that women had no place in executive positions. I respected her greatly at this point, not only because she was working towards a top position, but because she was standing up for what she believed in. After all that has happened in the story, I cannot help but think that she does not feel this way anymore. She seems to be controlled by John Galt now, whether or not it was part of his intentions. Dagny has completely transformed who she is as a person after meeting Galt, and all for the worse. I find it difficult to consider her a respectable woman now, when I had so much admiration for her in the beginning.

                One other thing that had bothered me for a while was that I had no idea what was happening to all of the workers who were quitting and disappearing. This was also annoying for me because it was happening far too often to be considered normal. I was so confused as to why only the best workers were quitting. But now, after reaching the conclusion, it has become clearer. John Galt’s influence on the economy should be perceived as a positive power, but I see it in a more negative manner. If all of the best workers had remained at their jobs, rather than go running to John Galt, would the economy truly be doomed? It is evident that many individuals, and the best ones at that, quit their work because of the dooming economy, but if they had all stayed and had a bit more faith, wouldn’t the economy slowly improve? I cannot help but blame John Galt for this. It may be my bias against him, but he was the one who was influencing others to leave their work and come to him for help. I think this strategy would leave a positive effect only for those who left, while the individuals who were hopeful and stayed at work were left to suffer.

                Despite some of my issues with the story, I actually did enjoy it. Ayn Rand was able to develop a compelling story that kept my attention for the most part. Of course there were parts that seemed to drag, but that was bound to happen in a book is so long. I think Rand’s methods at developing characters were something that I found particularly intriguing. Her ability to completely transform characters from the beginning of the story to the end was impressive. Overall, I am glad that I was able to witness the story that is Atlas Shrugged.

The way in which specific characters progress throughout the novel

            Many of the characters changed in personality throughout the novel. Dagny is definitely my favorite character, and changed the most in my opinion. She began as a woman who was the exact opposite of the traditional woman. She was an industrialist, was dedicated to her work and loved what she did. Nothing could get in her way. Many people believe that she would never be with a man. While with Francisco, it was evident he loved her until the very end when he proclaimed it in “Atlantis”. She lost interest in trying to keep up with him and never expressed true love for him. I thought what people were saying in the novel could be true. She was much to into her work to be able to manage a relationship. We then found out about the attraction she had for Hank and vice versa. It turned out that Hank fell head over heels in love with Dagny, but she only found pleasure in him and she wanted him. He made her happy and they shared he same political ideals, but again she never really loved him. This was a step up in her love life from Francisco, but it proved people to still be correct. She did always have the image of the perfect person and all her dreams were answered when she met the one and only, John Galt. I did not expect this. Other parts in the novel were predictable, but this part caught me by surprise. I did not think she would ever find John or the he was even alive. He does show to be somewhat of a creepy person, but it finally shows the true side of her emotions. Everyone who said she resembled a man was wrong. She slowly came about this process though. Hank helped her with this because she could work, but she was able to cry from pain like a woman with him. She also realizes some qualities of a traditional woman with John because she expresses that she likes to cook for him because it gives him a sensual pleasure that she provided. She also feels jealousy with him, which I thought was a huge step in her love life. Other than changing in this aspect, she changed as an industrialist. She began as a woman who loved her work and making a profit. Although her passion stayed with her, the looters changed her opinion. I never thought she would quit the first time, and then when she returned and everything would change she was a different type of person. She was trying to fight the system, but Washington was already in charge of the lines and transportation means. This helped her make her decision to return to “Atlantis” much faster than I thought she would.

            Dagny is not the only character to change. Hank Rearden changed drastically. He and Dagny were very similar at the beginning due to his passion for his work and creating his own metal. He was convinced it would work and with the help of Dagny, they proved that to the population. His moral code changed at one point, when they told him to sign the Gift Certificate and he did. He would have never done that if his morals had not changed. He also had Dagny at risk because their relationship could be exposed and his family needed financial support. With so much going on, he did what I never expected him to do. He later realized what he had done and wanted to improve himself. The first step in this process was to profess his love to Dagny, as if Dagny did not know already. I must say that Hank was somewhat of a predictable character until he changed his moral code due to the Washington.

            Overall, I really enjoyed the novel. I think the criticism that Rand has on the government is true and I loved how she expresses her thoughts through the ideas of John Galt, as well as in the characters. It was brilliant. There were a lot of repetitive ideas, which looking at now were important to the novel as a whole. I did think it was interesting that it went from something that really could happen to something more unrealistic with a hidden city of industrialists. I understand that Rand did this to make a point on the government and their attack on the industrialists, but I thought this and the inventions that were created in the novel were not as realistic as the beginning of the novel.

Mindless Self-Indulgance

It is done. It's all over- the dark deed you have requested is done, sir- it's over! It's the end! The finish line! We have reached the state of achievement, it's just like Ayn Rand would have wanted. We can all go home now. Home to our families that love us for the sake of loving us... which is evil. Home to the computers we use to learn about things that interest us simply for the enjoyment of learning... which is evil. Home to our books that are not instructional or written by Ayn Rand... which is evil.

See all of those little comments were rooted with valid arguments except for the last one. You see what I did with the last one? Rand never says you can't enjoy a book or a song as art, in fact she encourages the pursuit of enjoyment. Granted, she believes enjoyment can only happen in a few ways, but regardless. Rand does describe the enjoyment Dagny gets from music as this motivational objectivist state but the point is she allows Dagny to sit and listen to this music and enjoy it as a product. I assume this sort of idea translates well to works of literature, unless of course Rand is an extreme hypocrite... I'm just going to not pursue that train of thought, my time is limited. Anyway, what I did there- with the third comment- is take some of the ideas Rand presents, oversimplified them, and then mocked them. Sound familiar? It should. I think we can all agree that Rand wrote this book to get her ideas out there. With this in mind, of course she had a bias coming in to this, of course she wanted to paint scenarios where objectivism could show off its positive points-  but she disregarded any opposition, any disagreeing party in the book is made to sound stupid or evil. By the end of the book Jim Taggart went from being that great guy that just wanted to do right but wasn't ready for the world of business, to a purposefully evil asshole who freaks out when he thinks that people are going to start demanding to be happy. Until the last few chapters, Rand had allowed those Washington types to be ignorant people with good intentions, but suddenly they were smart enough to know the consequences of their actions- IT WAS ALL A PLAN! And Galt told everyone the truth! How did he know!? I get that its Rand's universe, I do, but in creating the universe she created the only time I felt Big Brother was in control was when the disappearances started up. So for me, personally, John Galt was the only Big Brother in the book, the government was just a bunch of idiots trying to do a little bit of good. Maybe I'm alone here, but I saw no transition from "government is stupid and therefore evil" to "government is purposefully evil" before Galt's speech.

You know what was weird? That scene with the kid named Tony after he got shot, the one that sounded like an after school special- and how about when Jim just collapsed because of the RAW POWER OF OBJECTIVISM. I had to mention these scenes simply because they were hilarious to me and this is my last chance to talk about Atlas Shrugged. Oh that's a weird feeling. It just hit me- this is it. We really are done. The book DOES have an end!

Speaking of which, what kind of 'farewell' post would this be without talk of the ending? I think it was appropriate, I feel like it had to end that way, and I think after the big speech Rand kind of allowed for the narrative to take over a bit more, which I am pretty happy about. A part of me wanted to see them fail, and I rationalized the possibility of it with the idea that in a world devoid of objectivist thinking, maybe Rand would argue there would be no way for them to succeed. Then I realized there is ALWAYS a way for objectivists, and there's the fact that Galt's speech led to one guy literally punching a woman in the face for telling her child to give away her toys. Which was hilarious.

While I do want to talk more about the ending I feel like this is not the place nor the time; I said on Sunday that I would talk about the ending more today but this post is supposed to be about the book in general, and I am quite sure I have already hit the required amount of words, but a minimum never stopped me before. I think that despite my long posts there is one thought I have yet to convey on this book, and that is that I do not disagree with a lot of Randian philosophy. Some of her ideas are great, in fact my favorite part of the book is probably Galt's speech because there are some really cool ideas presented in there. But those ideas are presented throughout the book, so why do I choose Galt's speech? Because that is the only part of the book where Rand has made a decision between narrative and message. In those 50 or so pages, Rand is talking straight philosophy with the reader, and I loved it. I disagreed with a good amount of it like the idea that learning something that you do not plan to use practically is a waste of time- I disagree with that, but I still greatly enjoyed it. I think the biggest reason as to why I enjoyed it so much is because that is basically the only time in the book where I felt Ayn Rand was being straight with me- there was a little bit of bullshit but for the most part it was just her telling us what she believes in and giving a few coherent arguments. No straw men, very few metaphors (and the ones that were there made sense), just Rand's ideas. So I do not disagree with objectivism, necessarily, I simply disagree with the way Rand has presented it. I think some of her ideas are flawed, I think she gives objective definitions for things that are clearly subjective matters, I think she makes the same mistake Freud did and assumes that she is the norm and everyone is secretly just like her, but more than anything I think that if she had released the John Galt speech (or something like it) instead of the Bible she published there would be many more objectivists running around today. After reading the Galt speech I realized that some of her ideas that I previously disagreed with because of the disingenuous way in which they were presented were actually quite interesting, and in some cases the speech changed my mind. On these things I was convinced because that part of the philosophy made sense to me, and it was presented in a clear way that everyone could understand. 

But who the fuck is convinced by the scenes between Rearden and whatever punching bag happens to be in his office? Who fails to see through the ridiculous scenes presented when only one side is presenting an argument? Who is convinced by this? I recall with a chuckle of the time when the State Science Institute published that work on how nobody should rely on logic or something to that effect and  Stadler to Ferris: "The feeblest imbecile should be able to see the glaring contradictions in ever one of your statements." to which Ferris replies: "Let us put it this way, Dr. Stadler. The man who doesn't see that, deserves to believe all my statements." (page 321). In the same way, I believe that any idiot should be able to see through the bullshit scenarios Rand presents her arguments with, but I feel like Rand would say that any idiot who cannot see that deserves to subscribe blindly to her ideas. Not to say her ideas are those of an imbecile, but rather they were constructed for the ignorant masses who just look for ideas to latch on to, as Rand describes. I think that the Galt speech was constructed not only to get her message across, but to convince those who she knew would not be stupid enough to just be convinced by her "narrative". Or maybe I am giving her too much credit. Maybe she actually believed this would convince people, but somehow I doubt that tomorrow I will be attending class with a bunch of objectivists.

I think I have rambled enough, it is time for celebration! We're done! We are free! And in some cruel irony the government shutdown is expected to end tonight, which is pretty hilarious. Now Ayn Rand would not want us to waste all the material in this book, so the question remains: What do we do with it? Do we turn off all our heating and burn the book for warmth? That fire would probably last two months or so. Do we rip out all the pages and make wings with them? Maybe Rand would just want us to use it as a paperweight in an office. I would suggest passing the book on to someone who may want to learn about objectivism but given that they have not yet been enlightened, that would be giving away something of great value to the less fortunate, which Rand would condemn. 

No. I know what to do. I'm going to go beat a communist to death with it. It's what Rand would have wanted.