At the start of Part Two, the economic downfall of the country is evident. More and more heads of industry are disappearing as the government adopts increasingly more socialist policies. Nevertheless, the majority of people remain unaware of the drastic changes occurring. Instead, life goes on. The most notable event of the season is James Taggart's wedding to Cherryl Brooks.This sudden marriage raises many questions. What does James seek from marrying a low-born hero worshiper with no career prospects or connections? How can Cherryl be so innocent and blind?
The wedding is well attended by all of James' Washington men and other prominent business figures. Ironically, it is a lavish display of consumerism that seems to be opposed to James' beliefs of social responsibility. Amidst all the praise and congratulations afforded to James, Francisco D'Anconia makes a sudden appearance. He immediately launches into a lengthy moralistic speech on the virtue of money and the worthlessness of people who do not appreciate its value. He claims that "the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it" (p.412). I am curious as to what Rand intends to do with Francisco's character. In the duration of this wedding, it seems that Francisco has become a vehicle for inserting her own capitalist beliefs and ideals. The speech was over the top and clearly meant to arouse a reaction from the crowd. Francisco succeeds in doing so and ends his rant by thanking James for having all of his men invest in his company, which he plans to let fail.
So far, Ayn Rand has been less than subtle in exploring her themes. She is doing little more than staging a chess game in which she plays against herself. It is easy to get her point across when there is little weight given to the opposing argument. As a result, her characters resemble caricatures of what someone with her political leanings would describe for the sake of supporting her own argument.
No comments:
Post a Comment