Philip Kaifer Reaction #6

In the beginning of part two of Atlas Shrugged, many details about the characters’ lives and society as a whole begin to come together. The relationship between Dagny and Rearden grows after Ellis Wyatt disappears and as Rearden begins to reject Lillian; they are the only two serious business people left in the novel after Ted disappears and Ken Danagger’s personality changes. Though Lillian does not realize who her husband is having an affair with, she does guess that he is after James Taggart’s wedding reception with Cherryl Brooks. The affair is now out in the open on his part and he feels freer for it. As for James marrying Cherryl, he is making a social play in order to act like he is pro-communist in order to gain support as well as immunity from the government’s economic policing; in other words, he is trying to gain the support of Wesley Mouch, Rearden’s ex-lobbyist and director of economic planning in the government.

To me, the idea that all of these different people are connected so closely seems contrived by Ayn Rand, and it delivers a message that seems counterproductive to her anti-socialist, pro-individualism idealism. If all of these people are so closely related, by love and hate, then all of their actions directly have an effect on one another. They do not seem like individuals at all. The one person I notice who is confusing to me is Francisco, how can he be such an irresponsible businessman and yet a very important economic figure, why is he out to get all of the people who are in business with him, are his shareholder the moochers? I know that James Taggart and his gang of friend own large amounts of stock in Francisco’s Copper company, but why is Francisco so eager to destroy what is left of the economy?

It seems like all the competition of wills between socialist and capitalist idealism could be responsible for these negative economic effects, such as the oil shortage in the winter. Either that or the state science institution is deliberately sabotaging private businessmen and recruiting some of them to their cause, as they tried and failed to do to Rearden. Who is John Galt? When will he appear? In all honesty, I am very unsure of how this story is developing, the comparison between the Greek titan Atlas and Hank Rearden does not make sense to me. There is nobody to play the role of Zeus and the fate of the country doesn’t seem to be in Rearden’s control. I have so many questions about how the story progressing and I look forward to finding the answers in the remaining chapters of the novel.