Atlas Shrugged

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Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Russian-born writer and philosopher Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the USA, and Rand's last work of fiction before concentrating her writings exclusively on philosophy. Along with The Fountainhead, it is one of her two most famous novels, it is her tour de force, and many Objectivists hold it to be the greatest novel of all time. Its theme (as stated by Rand) is "the importance of the individual's reasoning mind in human life."

It is a highly philosophical and allegorical story that deals with themes of Rand's own Objectivism, though she was not yet known as a philosopher when it was written. Whether or not she had philosophical intentions, and to what extent or sense the novel is an allegory, are controversial subjects. It is also one of the longest novels ever written, totaling one-thousand pages or more (depending on edition of the publication).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

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Philosophy and writing

The theme of Atlas Shrugged is that independent, rational thought is the motor that powers the world.

But for some strange unknown reason, the individuals "of the mind" go on strike, thus no longer contributing problem-solving analysis, new ideas, inventions, medical breakthroughs, research, or inventions of any kind to the rest of the world, allowing a near-total collapse of a society they had not only been crucial in holding together, but which they had even had been forced to subsidize.

Like the Greek god Atlas, individuals rationally and circumspectly seeking their own long-term happiness hold the world on their shoulders.

But now they have chosen to 'shrug.' And shrug they do.

The previous peaceful cohesiveness of the world had required those individuals whose productive work comes from mental effort. They had always naturally created in direct disproportion to forceful interference by others. But given no alternative, they eventually start disappearing from the communities of looters and others seeking a free dependency on productive people.

In the world of Atlas Shrugged, society stagnated when independence and individual achievement started being punished for their accomplishments and socially demonized. Inversely, that society had previously been far more healthy and prosperous by allowing, encouraging, and rewarding self-reliance and individual achievement. Independence and personal happiness flourished to the extent that people were free, and that achievement was rewarded to the extent that individual ownership of private property was strictly respected. The hero, John Galt, lives a life of laissez-faire capitalism as the only society consistent with his beliefs.

Atlas Shrugged is an extremely political book. It portrays fascism, socialism and communism---any form of state intervention in societal affairs, as systemically, and therfore fatally, flawed.

However, Rand claimed that it is not a fundamentally political book, but that the politics portrayed in the novel are a result of her attempt to display her image of the ideal person and the individual mind's position and value in society.

The book is rooted in Objectivism, the philosophical system founded by Rand.

Rand argues that independence and individual achievement enable society to survive and thrive, and should be embraced. But this requires a "rational" moral code. She argues that, over time, coerced self-sacrifice causes any society to self-destruct.

She is similarly dismissive of faith beyond reason, in a god or higher being, or anything else as an authority over one's own mind. The book positions itself against religion specifically, often directly within the characters' dialogue.

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Setting

Exactly when Atlas Shrugged is meant to take place is kept deliberately vague. In section 152, the population of New York City is given as 7 million. The historical New York City reached 7 million people in the 1930s, which might place the novel sometime after that. There are many early 20th century technologies available, but the political situation is clearly different from actual history. One interpretation is that the novel takes place a hundred (or perhaps hundreds) of years in the future, implying that since the world lapsed into its socialistic morass, a global-wide stagnation has occurred in technological growth, population growth, and indeed growth of any kind; the wars, economic depressions, and other events of the 20th century would be a distant memory to all but scholars and academicians. This would be in line with Rand's ideas and commentary on other novels depicting utopian and dystopian societies. Furthermore, this is also in line with an excerpt from a 1964 interview with Playboy magazine in which Rand states "What we have today is not a capitalist society, but a mixed economy -- that is, a mixture of freedom and controls, which, by the presently dominant trend, is moving toward dictatorship. The action in Atlas Shrugged takes place at a time when society has reached the stage of dictatorship. When and if this happens, that will be the time to go on strike, but not until then," thus implying that her novel takes place at some point in the future. The concept of societal stagnation in the wake of collectivist systems is central to the plot of another of Rand's works, Anthem.

All countries outside the US have become, or become during the novel, "People's States". There are many examples of early 20th century technology in Atlas Shrugged, but no post-war advances such as nuclear weapons, helicopters, or computers. Jet planes are mentioned briefly as being a relatively new technology. Television is a novelty that has yet to assume any cultural significance, while radio broadcasts are prominent. Though Rand does not use in the book many of the technological innovations available while she was writing, she introduces some advanced, fictional inventions (e.g., sound-based weapons of mass destruction, torture devices, as well as power plants), although it could be argued the sound weapon was modeled after experimental German weapons developed during WWII.

Most of the action in Atlas Shrugged occurs in the United States. However, there are important events around the world, such as in the People's States of Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, and piracy at sea.

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Plot

A section by section analysis of Atlas Shrugged is available on Wikibooks.

The novel’s plot, split into three sections (though the story is coherent apart from these) is extremely complex. The first two sections, and to some extent the last, follow Dagny Taggart, a no-nonsense railroad executive, and her attempt to keep the company alive despite repeated encroachment by a society falling toward collectivism/altruism/statism. All throughout the novel people repeat a platitude Dagny greatly resents: Who is John Galt? It is a reflection of their helplessness, as the saying means ‘Don’t ask important questions, because they don’t have answers.’

The geniuses of the world seem to be disappearing, and the apparent decline of civilization is making it more and more difficult for her to sustain her life-long aspirations of running the trans-continental railroad, which has been in her family for several generations. She deals with other characters such as Hank Rearden, a self-made businessman of great integrity whose career is hindered by his false feelings of obligation towards his wife. Francisco d'Anconia, Dagny’s childhood friend, first love, and king of the copper industry, appears to have become a worthless playboy who is purposely destroying his business.

As the novel progresses: the myths about the real John Galt, as well as Francisco d'Anconia’s actions, increasingly become a reflection of the state of the culture, and seem to make more and more sense; and, Hank and Dagny begin to experience the futility of their attempts to survive in a society that hates them and those like them for their greatness.

During their plight, Dagny and Hank find the remnants of a motor that turns atmospheric energy into kinetic energy, an astounding feat; they also find evidence that the minds (the ‘Atlases’) of the world are disappearing because of one particular ‘destroyer’ taking them away. Dagny and Hank deal with the irrationalities and apparent contradictions of their atmosphere, and search for the creator of the motor as well as ‘the destroyer’ who is draining the world of its prime movers, in an effort to secure their ability to live rational lives.

All of this leads to an elaborate action-based explanation and eventual climax, presenting an understanding of all of the issues explored, and breaking everything down into one basic conflict. The final parts of the novel involve a speech by the story's true protagonist, and a resolution concerning the fate of society. The question 'Who is John Galt' is also answered.

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Social Concepts in Atlas Shrugged

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Sanction of the Victim

The Sanction of the Victim is defined as "the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the 'sin' of creating values."

The entire story of Atlas Shrugged can be seen as an answer to the question, what would happen if this sanction was revoked? When Atlas shrugs, relieving himself of the burden of carrying the world, he is revoking his sanction.

The concept is supposedly original in the thinking of Ayn Rand and is foundational to her moral theory. She holds that evil is a parasite on the good and can only exist if the good tolerates it. To quote from Galt's Speech: "Evil is impotent and has no power but that which we let it extort from us", and, "I saw that evil was impotent...and the only weapon of its triumph was the willingness of the good to serve it." Morality requires that we do not sanction our own victimhood, Rand claims. In adhering to this concept, Rand assigns virtue to the trait of selfishness.

Throughout Atlas Shrugged, numerous characters admit that there is something wrong with the world but they cannot put their finger on what it is. The concept they cannot grasp is the sanction of the victim. The first person to grasp the concept is John Galt, who vows to stop the motor of the world by getting the creators of the world to withhold their sanction.

We first glimpse the concept in section 121 when Hank Rearden feels he is duty-bound to support his family, despite their hostility towards him.

In section 146 the principle is stated explicitly by Dan Conway: "I suppose somebody's got to be sacrificed. If it turned out to be me, I have no right to complain."

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Social classes

Rand is sometimes called an elitist. This claim is probably accurate if we allow for the fact that Rand had her own standard of eliteness—throughout Atlas Shrugged, virtue is equated with creative ability. It is, however, worth noting that in Atlas Shrugged, there are no characters with creative ability which do not function as author surrogate characters (most notably Dagny Taggart), although some of the characters (Cherryl Brooks, Eddie Willers) which profess to support the Objectivist philosophy are not particularly creative and, in the case of the former, not successful in capitalism; conversely, all of the characters which disagree with the author are unintelligent and creatively bankrupt, and usually actively destructive. Compare to the real world, where scientists, inventors, artists and industrialists often have wildly varying and strongly conflicting desires and opinions.

Different social classes are represented among both the heroes and the villains of Atlas Shrugged. Among the heroes, John Galt and Hank Rearden are from working class backgrounds, while Dagny Taggart and Francisco d'Anconia are from wealthy families. Among the villains, Fred Kinnan is from a working class background, while James Taggart and Betty Pope are from wealthy families.

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Theory of Sex

In rejecting the traditional Christian altruistic moral code, Rand also rejects the sexual code that, in her view, is a logical implication of altruism.

Rand introduces a theory of sex in Atlas Shrugged which is purportedly implied by her broader ethical and psychological theories. Far from being a debasing animal instinct, sex is the highest celebration of our greatest values. Sex is a physical response to intellectual and spiritual values—a mechanism for giving concrete expression to values that could otherwise only be experienced in the abstract.

One is sexually attracted to those who embody one's values. Those who have base values will be attracted to baseness, to those who also have ignoble values. Those who lack any clear purpose will find sex devoid of meaning. People of high values will respond sexually to those who embody high values.

That our sexual desire is a response to the embodiment of our values in others is a radical and original theory.

Her sexual theory is illustrated in the contrasting relationships of Hank Rearden with Lillian Rearden and Dagny Taggart, and later with Dagny Taggart and John Galt.

Other important illustrations of this theory are found in:

Section 152 - recounts Dagny's relationship with Francisco d'Anconia.

Section 161 - recounts Hank and Lillian Rearden's courtship, and Lillian's attitude towards sex.

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Companies

The companies in Atlas Shrugged are generally divided into two groups: these that are operated by sympathetic characters are given the name of the owner, while companies operated by evil or incompetent characters are given generic names. Those who use their own names to name their companies become Strikers, with the minor exception of Mr. Ayers of the Ayers Music Publishing Company.

Hank Rearden's companies are all named after him; Wyatt Oil after Ellis Wyatt; and Taggart Transcontinental and d'Anconia Copper are named after their founders (and, being family-held, their present owners). Hammond Motors and Ayers Music Publishing are also presented as competent.

Orren Boyle named his government-dependent, influence-peddling company Associated Steel. The Phoenix-Durango railroad had also been insignificant, until it prospered accidentally, because of Ellis Wyatt's energy. A number of minor, but generically named, companies break contracts with Taggart Trancontinental, or otherwise let it down.

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Fictional technology

Because the book centers on industrial capitalism, Ayn Rand mentions many technologies throughout the book. In addition to normal technologies, the introduces several fictional inventions, including refractor rays (Gulch mirage), Rearden Metal, a sonic death ray ("Project X"), voice activated door locks (Gulch power station), motors powered by static electricity, palm-activated door locks (Galt's NY lab), shale-oil drilling, and a nerve-induction torture machine.

She also refers, however, to the "screech" of a traffic-signal, implying that it signals by moving flags on mechanical arms, which was already old-fashioned when the book was written.

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Project X

Project X is an invention of the scientists at the state science institute, requiring tons of Rearden Metal. Basically, it is a "death ray", and is capable of destroying anything. The scientists claim that the project will be used to preserve peace and squash rebellion. It is destroyed towards the end of the book, and emits a pulse of radiation that destroys everything in the surrounding area, including Cuffy Meigs and Dr. Stadler, as well as the Taggart Bridge.

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Rearden Metal

Rearden metal is a fictitious metal alloy invented by Hank Rearden. It is lighter than traditional steel but stronger, and is to steel what steel was to iron. It is described as greenish-blue. Among its ingredients are iron and copper.

Initially no one is willing to use Rearden metal because no one wants to stick his neck out and be the first to try it. Finally, Dagny Taggart places an order for Rearden Metal when she needs rails to rebuild the dying Rio Norte Line.

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Galt's Motor

John Galt invented a new type of electrical apparatus described in the book as a motor. However, it does not operate like a motor in the common use of the word today: it is capable of harnessing, transforming and applying energy in many ways other than mechanical. Galt's Motor was capable of jamming all radio receivers on Earth, and completely destroying the contents of Galt's booby-trapped laboratory without causing collateral structural damage.

Though Rand describes it as turning static electricity into useful mechanical work, its operation is more reminiscent of modern speculation about zero-point energy.

Dagny discovers a discarded prototype of the motor and it is superficially described in section Part 1, Chapter 9. Galt shows Dagny the motor and describes it in Part 3, Chapter 1.

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Film adaptation

Rights to the novel Atlas Shrugged were purchased by the Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2003 with the intent of producing a feature-length film. Company leader Howard Baldwin was quoted in September 2004 as saying "...everything is on track and [the movie] hasn’t been held up one bit... I assure you that this will be a big movie and it will get made." Two works of Rand's—The Fountainhead and We the Living—have been adapted into movies so far

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External links

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References and further reading

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Publications

  • Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; Signet; (September 1996) ISBN 0451191145
  • Atlas Shrugged (Cliffs Notes), Andrew Bernstein; Cliffs Notes; (June 5, 2000) ISBN 0764585568
  • The World of Atlas Shrugged, Robert Bidinotto/The Objectivist Center; HighBridge Company; (April 19, 2001) ISBN 156511471X
  • Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind (Twayne's Masterwork Studies, No. 174) Mimi Reisel Gladstein; Twayne Pub; (June 2000) ISBN 0805716386
  • The Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged, Nathaniel Branden; The Objectivist Center; (July 1999) ISBN 1577240332
  • Odysseus, Jesus, and Dagny, Susan McCloskey; The Objectivist Center; (August 1, 1998) ISBN 1577240251
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Foreign translations

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Reviews

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See also

Menenius Agrippade:Atlas wirft die Welt ab es:La Rebelion de Atlas he:מרד הנפילים sv:Och världen skälvde no:De som beveger verden zh:阿特拉斯摆脱重负

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