Oh Ayn Rand, philosophical genius with a multitude of zealous followers. And “Atlas Shrugged,” your ultimate masterpiece, which I am certain you spent most of your life constructing. People either love it or hate it, but I decided that I would live through it and see for myself. I mean, if a book is 1,074 pages long and people actually read it, then it should be a significant read. Additionally, a lot of people that read the book enjoy it. This was the decision that I made in the beginning of August 2009.
Since then, Rand has punched me in the face. Repeatedly. Every time there is a 30-page monologue I cringe in anticipation. However, in spite of the rants about the greed of humanity and a blatant disregard for the environment, it was still a very compelling story. This book is about capitalism. And the rise of industry. And the strength of the human spirit. It has undying optimism about a world that we could achieve without corrupt politicians.
Of course, this reminded me scarily of Republican pleas for less government intervention in the economy. The characters of “Atlas Shrugged” would be cringing at Obama’s new health care bill, and other attempts to monitor big business. This is part of the reason that this book made me think long and hard about everything it proposed. In any case, this book is as relevant today as it was when it was first written in response to communism.
The setting is New York at the peak of its industrial strength. The main character, Dagney Taggart, exudes the kind of fine ‘20s industrial, feminist glamour that I always aspire to. Everything is seeped in the mechanical American Dream, where hard work always brings results. Hank Reardon is a symbol of an American Dream come true, while antagonistic politicians wish to bring him down. Those antagonists are the non-believers in the Puritan ideals that our country has tried to uphold since its independence. If hard work were not rewarded at all, we would simply end up becoming a very feudal society.
However, the characters of this book are not very fully developed. In the 1,074 pages, they never had any kind of significant development other than a distinct revelation at the very end. The main characters were ruled by reason, intelligence and pride. Their virtues were virtues that Rand herself idolized in humans, and stressed multiple times they are lacking these in her contemporary society. There are clear bad guys and clear good guys: the ones who change their values to adapt to the system and the ones who leave the system rather than change.
Do I really believe that our society is really so abhorrent that it encourages corruption without dissent? Of course not. There are protests every other day or so in this wonderful city that we live in. For health care or against health care, everyone wants to put in their two cents. We are not about to lie down completely and let our country go to ruin just yet. That is my personal optimism in the American spirit. This is the American spirit that was gone in Ayn Rand’s industrial society.
We stress every day to future generations that our individualism and our innovation is what makes every single human on this Earth worthy of attention. This is where the human potential lies in our eyes, and Rand takes it a step further. The sign of our own humanity is our ability to reason with our problems and create. I agree with that. I just did not need to have that fact forced upon me as though I were a baby reluctant to be fed. Rand crammed values down my throat with Dagney Taggart and that industrial railroad company of hers. It manipulated my emotions very successfully, and even though it was entirely too long, I enjoyed it. And it was definitely worth my year’s worth of reading. I feel so worldly now.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
