Politically, therefore, what they require and demand is freedom. Whether it is a destructive business scheme proclaimed as moral, the potential collapse of the economy, or a personal life filled with pain, the heroes seek to face the facts and understand. Atlas Shrugged showcases both relationships. Reason and freedom are corollaries, Ayn Rand holds, as are faith and force. Thus in Atlas a code of rational self-interest emerges as a Morality of Life and the conventional code of selflessness and self-sacrifice emerges as a Morality of Death. Self-sacrifice, by contrast, is shown to lead to just the sort of cruelty, exploitation and injustice traditionally associated with “selfishness.” In their dealings with others, they seek to gain by trade, with the result being a profound benevolence toward other such self-interested characters. Rather, the heroes’ interests consist in highly admirable values and virtues: unflinching honesty, independent judgment, personal achievement. But readers come to see that the interests of the rational characters don’t consist of robbery, exploitation, crass materialism or cold-heartedness. The heroes of Atlas Shrugged are condemned for their selfishness, while the villains tout their selflessness and the moral duty to sacrifice. One of the most prominent is the notion that selfishness is evil and self-sacrifice is good. Will Hank and Dagny succeed in saving the country - and will they discover the answer to the question “Who is John Galt?”Ītlas Shrugged challenges many conventional notions about good and evil: that sex is a low, animal desire that money is the root of evil that man is sinful by nature.
What is happening to the world? Why does it seem to be in a state of decay? Can it be saved - and how?Ītlas Shrugged “is a mystery story, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder - and rebirth - of man’s spirit.”įollow along as industrialist Hank Rearden and railroad executive Dagny Taggart struggle to keep the country afloat and unravel the mysteries that confront them.ĭiscover why, at every turn, they are met with public opposition and new government roadblocks, taxes and controls - and with the disappearance of the nation’s most competent men and women. The remnants of a brilliant invention are left as scrap in an abandoned factory. A philosopher-turned-pirate is rumored to roam the seas.
All vanish without explanation and without trace.Ī copper magnate becomes a worthless playboy. The country’s top banker - a leading oil producer - a once-revered professor - an acclaimed composer - a distinguished judge.
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