FReeper Book Club: Atlas Shrugged, The Chain

A Publius Essay | 24 January 2009 | Publius

[Publius]

Part I: Non-Contradiction
Chapter II: The Chain

Synopsis

Hank Rearden watches the first “heat” of steel for Rearden Metal poured at his mill. Then he walks home, fingering a chain of Rearden Metal in his pocket.

At home he is greeted by his mother, his wife Lillian, his brother Philip and his friend Paul Larkin. The group makes fun of the fact that his mind is back at the steel mill and complains that all he cares about is money. Lillian, in a catty way, asks Hank to set aside December 10 for a party for their wedding anniversary.. Hank tries to tell them about the big event at the mill, but they don’t care. He gives Lillian the chain, a bracelet, which is the very first thing made from that heat of Rearden Metal, while his mother makes fun of him. (The bracelet is to become a major plot point.)

Larkin takes Hank aside and tells him what a fine product he has but hints that there might be trouble. Hank has a bad press, is only interested in his steel and mills, and doesn’t care about public opinion. Larkin hints that there may be a problem with Hank’s lobbyist in DC but doesn’t go into detail. (This is Wesley Mouch, but he is not identified by name.)

Philip Rearden says he is spending his time raising money for the Friends of Global Progress, and he is upset that rich people have no social conscience. Hank tells Philip to go down to the mill tomorrow and pick up a check for ten thousand dollars. Philip barely thanks him and actually reproaches him for not truly caring about the underprivileged. Hank says he doesn’t care and was only giving the money to Philip to make him happy. Philip says that he has no selfish interest in the money – but he wants the money in cash so that Hank Rearden’s tainted name cannot be attached to it.

Larkin tells Hank that he shouldn’t have given the money to Philip, and Lillian sees the act as a display of Hank’s vanity. She likens the bracelet of Rearden Metal to a chain of bondage.

Hank Rearden’s Living Hell

The first chapter gives the reader a view into the lives of Dagny, Jim, Eddie and Taggart Transcontinental, while the purpose of the second chapter is to introduce Hank Rearden, his mill, his history and the nest of vipers he calls a family. One searches in vain for redeeming qualities, and one wishes that Hank had thrown the whole lot out on the street before the first page. The parasites who live off his wealth have no respect for the man who keeps them in food and gives them a roof over their heads. A highly successful man is an object of pity and contempt precisely because of his success.

The Real Life Rearden Steel Plant

In my youth, I recall a family outing to Pennsbury Manor, the ancestral home of William Penn and family near Morrisville, PA. Along the way, near the Pennsylvania Railroad’s (now Amtrak’s) Northeast Corridor rail line, I recall a large steel mill owned by US Steel. I don’t know if it’s still in operation, but its position with respect to Philadelphia is close to where Hank Rearden’s steel mill is located in the book.

Some Discussion Topics

1. It’s Rearden Steel, Rearden Metal, Rearden Ore, Rearden Coal and Rearden Limestone. Like all the heroic characters in the book, Hank Rearden puts his brand on everything that matters. Even Lillian Rearden makes it plain that she is Rearden’s Wife, and that is to become a major plot point. Lillian’s remark about the bracelet being a chain, the symbol of the family’s bondage to Hank, is rather egregious. Is this just another case of familiarity breeding contempt, or is there something more pernicious at work here?
2. The comments on the passenger train as it passes Rearden Steel are revealing. A professor of economics: “Of what importance is an individual in the titanic collective achievements of our industrial age?” A journalist sitting next to him: “Hank Rearden is the kind of man who sticks his name on everything he touches. You may from this, form your own opinion of Hank Rearden.” That these carping critics produce nothing is barely worth mentioning. But let’s connect these two people to their counterparts today. Does the use of the word “collective” give you chills?
3. Paul Larkin: “Why ask useless questions? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who is John Galt?” These words have been uttered by a bum, Pop Harper and Owen Kellogg. Larkin is now the fourth. (Kellogg is to play a surprising role later in the story, but we’ll keep that quiet for a moment.) Let’s connect Larkin with the others who have said the magic phrase.
4. Philip’s ingratitude and his general attitude of superiority (a major plot point) is dumbfounding considering that Philip “neither sows nor reaps, but Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed as one of these.” What is the source of Philip Rearden’s attitude of superiority, and to what does it connect in today’s world?

Next: The Top and the Bottom

[WV Mountain Mama]

I vote for “The Road to Serfdom”. Only because that is the next one on my list...

Please add me to your ping list. Thanks.

[Radix]

So it has been a couple of days since your post.

I truly appreciate your assessment of the Reardon Steel chain that Hank gave to Lillian. I simply missed the potential of all the when I first read the book last year. You really nailed it for me. I am often slow on such things. Thanks for posting.

Admittedly I rushed through the book because I suppose that I felt somehow denied that I had not read the thing 20 or 30 years ago. Bad me.

I'll be reading it again soon.

I think that your post concerning the issue is profound.

Thanks again.

[Publius]

Ping to Chapter 2.

[Clock King]

Something for later, because this is a fascinating discussion, is how would the relationship between Hank and his wife had changed if they had a child? I wonder how it would have affected Hank’s decisions near the end. As much as I love Atlas Shrugged and many of Rand’s other works, she never brings children into the mix, possibly because she never had any of her own and could not describe this relationship from a personal viewpoint. Children do change your world perspective. People love their children unconditionally regardless of how they turn out, and will sacrifice for them without hesitation.

[MtnClimber]

Kind of like hank Rearden’s family and the professors in the train. Hatred toward success.

[Billthedrill]

Absolutely. Hold that thought. I want to write on it now but I promised no spoilers... :-(

[ml/nj]

I’m thinking of an interleaved reading of the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers in chronological order.

Should you not be aware, these are included in chronological order, along with other letters, papers and documents, in Library of America's two volume set Debate on the Constitution.

Also, when I did a Google search I found a LOA page, http://www.loa.org/debate/ , with a teaser offer for this set and a 1600 page collection of ThJ's papers &c. IMHO, this is a great offer even if we never have any organized discussion of these volumes here.

ML/NJ

[woodnboats]

In addition, an .rtf version of AS is available on the bookz chat channel. A little rough in the editing, but certainly readable. I’m using that with uBook on my laptop and my HPC’s, since I can’t find my hard copy right now.

If anyone wants it, ping me.

Now, regarding the bracelet, which is indeed a chain, it is a metaphor for Hank’s life. He presents it to his wife, mistakenly believing she will appreciate it, and understand what it cost him to make it. I think AR refers to the chain in the chapter title in order to connect the bracelet to the chains which instead bind Hank to and by his family and the world.

I’ve read AS about ten times, starting in 1957, when I was 14. I was planning to read it again, as soon as I finish P. J. O’Rourke’s treatise on Wealth of Nations. The events of this past fall moved it to the top of may list.

[ml/nj]

He presents it to his wife, mistakenly believing she will appreciate it, and understand what it cost him to make it.

I don't think he expects her to understand anything. It is a pure token of love.

ML/NJ

[Publius]

Ping to Chapter 2.

[woodnboats]

Again, I think it’s more than his love, it’s his life, or at least the last ten years of it (This is my body, broken for you), and AR’s description of his demeanor when he is presenting it implies, to me at least, that he expected her to appreciate it for what it was, and was confused when she didn’t.

K

[Publius]

Ping to Chapter 2.

[TheThinker]

It occurs to me that Reardon’s wife and brother are cut from the same cloth as well as his mother. There is always something profoundly disturbing about the selfishness and jealousy that drives those surrounding Reardon. They despise Reardon for surpassing them or resent them for not paying them enough attention. The biggest slap in the face was when Philip didn’t want his organization to be associated with Reardon even though he was helping to fund it. They want Reardon to submit to their whims while simultaneously leaching off of his success. At the same time they derisively belittle his success to inflate their own importance and the appearance of moral superiority. The Left always gets a lot of mileage out of that one.

[FBD]

Please add me to the “Atlas Shrugged” ping list, thanks.

[FBD]

ping to the “Atlas Shrugged” book club!

[geologist]

Thank You.

[Flamenco Lady]

I’m still trying to catch up with all of you, but I’m getting there. Another day or two and I should be caught up with you, so I can participate in the current discussion.

[r-q-tek86]

Part I, Chapter III: The Top and the Bottom