Although she personally
hated surprises, Ayn Rand admired O. Henry for his plot twists. Atlas
Shrugged is too easily perceived as a linear girl-finds-boy story: Dagny
Taggart’s lifelong goal is to find a man she can look up to; and she finds John
Galt. Having found him, she
abandons him, breaks down and betrays him, then rescues him in a shoot-out
against soldiers of the United States government. Her true quest was not just for a man but for her highest
ideal, the embodiment of her virtues.
In that, Atlas Shrugged is a
novel of self-discovery.
More than any of the
heroes, John Galt is a self-made man.
He has no family. He came from “somewhere in Ohio.” Before becoming an employee of Taggart
Transcontinental, he had been an employee of 20th Century Motor
Company. Francisco d’Anconia, of
course, represents a long, aristocratic line. While her own family tree does not have such deep roots, it
does run at least three, perhaps four generations. Hank Rearden – also a self-made man – runs an industrial
empire, as does Dagny. Like Dagny, Rearden has a family of questionable
merit. However, even in the
Valley, where Galt runs the generator plant, he has a single, part-time
employee who has other interests of his own. Galt is a loner.
During the strike, he hides in plain sight, his laboratory behind a door
in his tenement apartment. Unlike
D’Anconia and Rearden, Galt is completely outside of Dagny’s personal
experience. Therefore, she must
seek him, not knowing exactly what (whom) she is looking for.
It is a multi-dimensional
irony that Dagny Taggart is searching for the inventor of the motor, the “destroyer”
who is removing the men of ability, and also anyone who can bring to working
life the model of the motor she possesses. Although Quentin Daniels does reverse-engineer the device,
he does not understand its theory of operation. When Galt writes a key equation on Daniels’ blackboard, it
is not the answer, but an indication of the direction in which the answer
lies. The inventor of the motor is
the destroyer and is the only one who truly can create this prime mover.
The depth of meaning in
Dagny’s parallel pursuits is contrasted with her brother’s demise. Dagny is serially monogamous. She has
two affairs. The first with Francisco D’Anconia began as a teenager. D’Anconia
leaves her, and does so without an acceptable explanation, specifically refusing
to explain himself. She lives
alone until about twelve years later when she begins her affair with Hank Rearden. James Taggart apparently engages in a
series of meaningless nights with just about any woman. We glean this only in one scene with
socialite Betty Pope. At the top
of his career - as the stage is set for his political downfall - he picks up a
store clerk, Cheryl Brooks. That
they have nothing in common is obvious. She has the true character of a true
millionaire. She never flinches from facts. James is just a rich lout; and whatever might be in his head
is probably marked with stop signs and warning lights. The full meaning of those many
differences becomes apparent as we view the tragedy of Cheryl Brooks. And it is
a Greek tragedy. Like Oedipus, she
is a good person, brought down through no fault of her own, as a consequence of
seeking the truth to a mystery.
Dagny’s executive
assistant, Eddie Willers, grew up with her, as his father had been an employee
of hers. He admires Dagny.
Professionally, his job is to deflect demands that would waste her time. Only near the end, when he
accidentally discovers her affair with Hank Rearden, does he realize that he
loves her and always has. (Fans of
Atlas Shrugged suggest that in an
alternate alternate world, Willers marries Brooks.) That sudden understanding
is less than the shock when he later realizes that he has actually described to
John Galt how Dagny looks when she is asleep. Willers knows Dagny with an intimacy most commonly reserved
for a spouse.
Today, millions of political conservatives understand Atlas Shrugged as a denunciation of
socialism. (In The Romantic Manifesto Rand explained some of the nuances that necessarily bind the artist to the audience. Neither knows the intentions of the other. Each brings themselves to the work.) Dagny’s quest is on a different metaphysical plane entirely. Rand’s egoism is not
merely that of a suburban homeowner insisting on the political property rights
that allow a fence between his rose bushes and those of his neighbor. Although Rand abandoned Nietzsche early in life, late in life she titled her tribute to the U.S. Space Program, "Apollo and Dionysius." Dagny Taggart gives no more metaphysical meaning to the Washington gang than she does to snowstorms and floods. One of her discoveries is
that unlike natural disasters, the Washington gang actually is out to destroy
her: it is personal. Nonetheless, Dagny never intends to save the world or defeat the looters. Her goals serve her own needs.
Dagny’s quest for the ideal
man reveals a conflict between her values. It has nothing to do with the
people actually in her world. It
is an open question. She always
had held the railroad as the embodiment of her virtues. In one early scene, as a child, she
stands with Eddie looking down the infinity of parallel tracks. In answer to
his question, “What is the best within us?” She replies, “I don’t know.” Eddie
says that they will have to find out.
She stands looking at the track.
Ultimately, she is forced to choose between her railroad and the man she
loves. The first time, she opts for the railroad, believing that if she can
save it, she can have both. She
chooses to leave Galt’s Gulch.
After Galt’s Speech, Eddie
Willers identifies the speaker as a worker for Taggart Transcontinental whom
Eddie has known casually for years, “Johnny something…” Dagny finds his name in the personnel
roster and goes to his apartment.
She has been followed by government agents who arrest Galt. Her betrayal was not intentional. It
was nevertheless material. When the striking industrialists rally to rescue
Galt, Dagny is with them. In the
ensuing battle, she is the only one who takes a life, shooting a soldier who
was paralyzed by fear. She trades
the life of a non-entity to redeem the life of the person most valuable to her, the living generator who embodies her deepest virtues and highest aspirations.
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