Posted on 02/07/2009 11:11:19 AM PST by Publius
The ongoing theme suggests that if you put your name on something, you stand behind it and are accountable. By "nationalizing" the name, you don't have the same passion or drive to keep it thriving. The fact that Dagny questions the owner about his product, shows he does not stand behind the quality. Dagny does stand for Quality and her questioning leaves him defensive, thus his projection back on her "impolite question".
Rand is expert at using metaphors and symbols, something she may have picked up from Edgar Allen Poe. So far, we’ve seen a rotted out tree, a bar on the upper floor of a skyscraper that is decked out like a cellar, and now a precision machine rusting away on the property of the United Locomotive Works. Of what significance is this symbol? How does it relate to its predecessors?
The world is topsy turvy and without a core value. There are a few that understand that the value of providing goods and services does benefit the masses. The opposite is happening with those "rulers" who altruism truly hides their greed and lust for power. But it is those "rulers" who have no soul or value.
Dagny’s walk through Manhattan to her apartment reads like a tour of one of the circles of Dante’s hell. It opens a window onto the society of America’s greatest city and its influence over the rest of the country. Let’s take those four images apart and see what makes them tick.
The radio playing the concert, "They were a long screech without shape, as of cloth and flesh being torn at random This one stuck out to me as again a soulless melody reflecting upon a society that will accept anything in the culture. Much like today's movies, music etc.
We are developing a body count. Richard Halley disappeared eight years ago. Owen Kellogg left the railroad to vanish in Chapter 1. Now McNamara, the Cleveland rail contractor, has gone out of business and disappeared. Let’s build a list and watch it grow.
Each new disappearance leaves a vacuum to those that want power.
Woody Allen once said, “Sex without love is a meaningless experience – but as meaningless experiences go, it’s one of the best.” Why can’t Jim Taggart enjoy his meaningless experience?
There is no soul, thus, even the mechanics of sex cannot be satisfying.
The threat of the railroad’s Mexican property being nationalized was foremost in Dagny’s mind, which is why she left the railroad’s worst assets available for the looters to confiscate. Orren Boyle insisted it would never happen and Jim bought those excuses. When nationalization occurred, Jim took credit for Dagny’s quick thinking, then delegated the blame for his own failures to two fall guys who were summarily fired. Is this any different from what happens today in the offices of America’s largest corporations? What does this say about the current state of American business?
The people that run the best companies take responsibility for every decision, as with Dagny. Companies and in turn, Government that shirk that responsibility to others continue into a spiral blame game that never solves anything. The credit crunch we are in right now has a start and an exact blame. Has the Government taken that responsibility? Who do they blame? Also, who do the companies that were affected, who do they blame? Again we are in a spiral, with only pointing fingers with no solution. Only more of exactly the same thing that will continue the spiral.
Dan Conway echoes Jim Taggart’s statement that it’s not right to buck the will of the majority. In his case, however, Conway is the victim of that will. Examine the holes in Conway’s logic when he gives in. Later we will hear the expression “the sanction of the victim”, but it doesn’t hurt to introduce the concept now. Dan Conway is the sixth person to say, “Who is John Galt?” Contrast his use of the expression to his five predecessors.
To go along with the majority means never having to take a stand for right or wrong. He is the victim because he gave up the will to prove right or wrong. With each other utterance of "Who is John Galt?", I felt as if they knew something that would get Dagny on the right track. With Dan Conway, I felt defeat.
We’ve seen Dagny interact with Owen Kellogg, Eddie Willers and Jim Taggart. But her interaction with Dan Conway is different; we see her emotions on display. Her interaction with Hank Rearden is of a different order of magnitude entirely; they are of like mind and joust not just as competitors, but as friends. What do we learn about Dagny? ”All that lunacy is temporary. It can’t last. It’s demented, so it has to defeat itself.” Hank believes that he, Dagny and other like minded people will save the country from itself. But just how long can such lunacy last? What is the fatal flaw in their argument?
They believe they are not alone and there are many who are working and toiling like they are...so far, there has not been that type of person displayed in this cast of characters. I loved the line Dagny said to Hank, "Certainly. I'm not a fool. I don't think you're in business for my convenience." Would the world be a different place if every worker understood that line?
I’m at a loss to know what the heck you are talking about. Where in my statement did I indicate that I thought such laziness was OK. I am simply trying to say that I have run across such behavior(as you did in your post) and then linking that to the rusted engine in the book. I’m sorry that I didn’t make that clear.
I love Free Republic. I am learning so much and discovering so much wonderful insight from this discussion. I keep adding to books I now need to explore. Thanks for your comments.
I think that the point of these (Atlas Shrugged) threads is precisely about the symbolism.
Is that "straight" enough?
Let's not dismiss Ellis Wyatt so quickly. He fits the Dagny-Hank molde and plays an important role later.
Great, does that mean I shouldn’t participate anymore? Are you now the ruler of the universe that decides who can take part? Go back to your crayon box.
Curiously, one of the Subjects that came up was the work of a particular writer, one Eugene Ionesco. Curious because the man wrote in French, and I was in an English Program.
In that particular Class, I learned for the very first time that writers do not always mean what they seem to be saying. That is sort of what opened my eyes to an entire world of literature that before I had not even imagined existed.
I offended you? You want to lash out at me? Get in line.
By the way, regarding the crayon box. I got kicked out of Kindergarten because I couldn't scribble.
Somewhere along the way since I got my crayons taken from me, I learned a bit about how to figure out that it is not the Dime that Eddie Willers dispensed to the the bum on page one that made it worth noting.
There is no shortage of bums.
We might get to dwell on page two tomorrow.
True enough about Nietzsche and Aristotle. I find it ironic that she railed so loud and long against Plato and yet at the heart of her philosophy is a blatant, latent Platonism. Her unremitting defense of a pure form of her philosophy gives rise to this assertion. As Thomas Sowell indicated as much in his book Conflict of Visions.
I finished reading the book in record time because I’d read a spoiler and knew where the story was leading, and I wanted to get to that point. But, although I find Rand’s writing style beautiful in some ways, it’s torturous in others. ;-)
But, this book is so relevant to our times. All the real-life characters of today are present, in one form or another, in this story, such as inefficient workers, as you pointed out. Things get worse as the story continues.
You may have noticed my essays on railroad history and other issues with each chapter. As we meet other characters, I'll be drawing parallels with real life people. In other situations where there is sufficient ambiguity, I'll be posing this as a discussion topic asking the readers to draw their own parallels.
True, our society today is much more child-centered than in the past. This book was written in the ‘50’s, which may have been the beginning of our child-centered times, but Rand herself grew up in an earlier time.
I didn’t expect soft cuddliness nor even tenderness in this story. What surprised me was the lack of expectation of children. But, I’ll wait for the next chapter to comment further because that’s where I begin to differ with some of what Rand puts forth. Next Saturday!
I just stumbled on your book club thread. I tried to buy Atlas Shrugged at the book store, last week and they were sold out, the lady in line in front of me was buying Fountain Head and a book of Rand essays. I guess that article in the WSJ spurred a renewed interest in Rand.
People instinctively understand that we're living through it. That was why I decided to start the book club.
Your post reminds me of you telling of the railroads and the featherbedding, I remember the news that that made. Doesn’t seem any different than today’s “job bank” for the autoworkers.
Our library’s e-book copies of AS and Fountainhead have a waiting list...for electronic downloads!! Idon’t know what the print copy situation is.
Maybe there is still hope, if enough people start reading and thinking about the consequences of what the government is doing.
I’m sure that the delay in passing the stimulus package, and the reduction in the total reflects increasing communication to Senators and Representatives, ala the defeat of Hillarycare in the ‘90’s.
Obama may not walk on water, after all.
Kirk
I’ve seen them several times in Barnes & Noble. Not large numbers of them, but they were on the shelves. I bought my copy of AS through Amazon (and a copy of Anthem at B&N).
I was going to order the book from Amazon, but they said it could take up to two weeks, or more. I was sure that the book store would have it in by now. They said that it was on order.
The mention of lack of children made me think about something else. Is there any mention of any type of recreational activity throughout any of the book? Any ‘bread and circuses’?
Even when Dagny discovers a truth, even there, the only joy is in working - with the exception of listening to music. There just seems to be a overlay of dreariness throughout the entire book.
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