As a novel, Atlas Shrugged is very intriguing, if not confusing at times. Ayn Rand tells the story of a successful business woman’s struggle to succeed in a world that is pitted against her. Rand cleverly develops all of the main characters and adds on to the plot little by little, creating an incredibly detailed representation of the world that Dagny Taggart lives in. There are so many incidents throughout the beginning of the novel that allude to later parts. Everything from the existence of Halley’s Fifth Concerto to the ever present question “Who is John Galt?” All of these mysteries remain unaddressed in the beginning of the novel. By keeping the answers to these questions hidden from the reader, Rand entices the reader to continue. Some of my favorite parts of the novel occur when Ayn Rand reveals the answers to these questions, many of which are given in the first chapter of part three, when she introduces John Galt and his utopian town hidden in the mountains.
Even though Atlas Shrugged was entertaining, the novel does have some down-sides. The plot of Atlas Shrugged is definitely challenging to follow. Without even discussing how much the book rambles on and repeats itself, there are several chapters where the events skip forward in time, sometimes skipping entire seasons. I found it aggravating to follow many of the specific details of the story because I was not very clear on the timeline of the novel. One example that I found confusing is the timeline in which Cherryl Brooks was involved in the story. It seemed to me as if everything from her encounter with James Taggart to her eventual suicide happened within the course of just 1 or 2 months. I’m sure that if I went back and made a timeline of the major events in the book I would be able to determine exactly how much time had actually passed. However, as a reader, the timeline was rather confusing.
The ending of the story was also very strange, I don’t see how many of the events after John Galt’s speech relate to the plot. Rand has already explained how horrible the government is and how incompetent all of the looters are. It is also obvious that the nation is destroying itself from the inside out, Rand did not need to have project X randomly explode and literally blow up half the nation. This concluding segment of the novel was also the most exciting portion to read; it seemed like something out of an action movie. In my opinion, though, it does not relate to the theme of the book, and it definitely does not make up for the previous 1000 pages of repetitive plot.
Atlas Shrugged was not meant as a work of fiction to entertain its readers, it was meant to explain and justify Ayn Rand’s personal political philosophy. I have no doubt that this is definitely true. I would have enjoyed the book so much more if it was just the story of Dagny Taggart without the ceaseless political commentary. I probably would have enjoyed the book more even if it was just the fifty page radio speech that John Galt addresses to the nation. It seems as if Rand attempted to combine a work of fiction meant to entertain with an anti-communist memorandum. Her novel functions just like propaganda; it provides a political philosophy with a relatable backdrop. While one might argue that not all propaganda is bad, I would argue that the propaganda present in Atlas Shrugged is. Rand doesn’t simply provide details about what her political ideals are, she enshrines them. She portrays them as certain truth and forces the reader to compare the benefits of her ideas with the absolutely dysfunctional world she creates. It is like the phrase “comparing apples and oranges.” The only difference is that instead of apples and oranges you have a utopia and a dystopia, it is obvious which choice any sane person would make; in other words, she forces you to choose her side even though neither is likely. It is interesting how Ayn Rand mentions several times in the novel the importance of individuality, logic, and reason. Yet, she does not even let the reader use individuality or logic or reason when deciding the validity of her book.
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