When I began Atlas Shrugged I would have told anyone that it would make it to
the top of my list of “worst books I’ve ever read”. Perhaps this was due to the
simple fact that I felt defeated every time I saw the monumental amount of
pages I had left. However, after completing Ayn Rand’s novel, I have to admit;
she proved me wrong. If anything, Atlas Shrugged
would find itself on my list of “best novels”.
After
reading Atlas Shrugged, I would
classify Ayn Rand as someone who is highly intellectual. It makes me wonder how
she came up with all her ideas and different takes on life that I am able to
agree upon. I heard someone say that it took Rand two years just to write the
speech John Galt gives near the end of the novel. This is the epitome, to me,
of an epic speech from an all-knowing character that shows the devotion Rand
had. One reason this novel is so successful, I believe, is due to the fact that
Rand took time into writing it, and because of this, the detail and language is
perfect. Rand is able to describe scenes is words that convey emotions that I
didn’t know was possible through reading. Although sometimes her descriptions
can get a bit on the lengthy side, to say the least, it adds so much to the
novel that if it were taken away, the novel would lose some of its glory.
What
kept me intrigued throughout Atlas
Shrugged was the description and elaboration in the characters. Rand used
character description to her advantage. Every character that was presented in
the novel was illustrated in a specific manner. Rand gave her characters
elaborate back-stories, and that is what made them even more believable. I love
the fact that she did not think in the way that she was writing a novel and
that was the only time her characters would exist. Instead, she looked upon it
as that she was described a mere part of the characters lives. Finding the rest
of their lives relevant to the story is what made her descriptions so
successful and unique to any other author I have read.
Rand
gave me no choice but to become absorbed into the lives of her characters;
feeling empathy, anger, or compassion when the time was brought up. One
character I feel the most towards is Eddie Willers. I feel like Eddie is an
unfortunate soul. He was a man with great talents, both natural and sought
after, who wanted, in all of his power, to prove himself in his work. Eddie is
one of the many intellectual men who fell in love with Dagny throughout the
novel; however, he is one that never stood a chance. Dagny respected Eddie as a
noble worker, but she would never have feelings of love towards him. This was
the first of unfortunate events that made me feel bad for him. The other event
is, in a way, the lack of an event. When the country was crumbling down, the
society of those who lived and deserved to live in “Atlantis” were saved and
would have a future. I believe that Eddie Willers deserved to be in this new
world. Other characters saw that he was deserving of it too; however, he could
simply not abandon the railroad, which he had already seen Dagny leave. Eddie
took it as his job to save the railroads, even when Dagny realized it was
impossible. I feel as if he did this maybe to have a chance at proving what he
is capable of to Dagny. I believe, in his head, Eddie dreamed of a scenario where
if he saved the roads Dagny would come back to him and she, with all her
greatness, would owe him. However, he comes to a depressing realization that he
is not capable of the impossible. Eddie dies collapsed on the railroad, I
believe, symbolizing the fact that he has given his life to that of Taggart
Transcontinental.
In
summary, Atlas Shrugged is probably
the best novel I have ever read. Not only did it make me think outside the box,
but it also made me question the society in which and the way in which the characters were
living. The novel was almost too relatable in a gloomy way that I feel this
experience could be possible within the world.
Countless days of staying up late forcing my eyes against
their will to read the tiny font found on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and now it is all over.
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