Rand's Reasoning for Detail and John Galt Implied Meaning

                Earlier this week I had the same mindset that some people in our class had. Like Calvino, Rand spends a lot of time on details and specifics. Many, including myself would argue that everything we have read so far, she could have said in less than 20 pages. However, the more I read, the more I think I understand why she does this. She spends a lot of time developing Dagny’s character as well her relationship with Francisco. Rand does this so us, as readers completely understand how Dagny is feeling, what she is thinking and the reasons behind her actions. Instead of saying that Francisco and Dagny once had a love affair, she lets the readers know everything that happened since they were kids. She explains how Dagny felt in specific times throughout her childhood. This gives the reader insight to how her character was built, how she knew what she wanted and why she isn’t interested in men. Dagny looked up to Francisco; saw him as someone she aspires to be. Not only did he help her grow up, he stole her heart. Dagny can’t look at other men, because no other man can challenge her intellectually like Francisco did, no one can make her feel like he did. All these little things build up to the intense argument they had at the end of chapter V, allowing us to comprehend everything that took place during that conversation.

                Throughout this reading, Rand makes Dagny’s character more feminine, showing that she can love and be interested in guys; she isn’t a man, but she is as intelligent and as hardworking as a man. Also, Rand reveals more clues to what the question “Who is John Galt” really means. In Chapter III, the old man states that no one knows the answer to the question and that is precisely why it is still asked. Don Conway also asks the question when he is giving up and has no response for how to fix his company. Even Francisco D’alconia asks the question at the end of chapter V when he doesn’t have an answer for Dagny. He can’t explain why he invested so much on the Sebastian lines and merely asks Dagny “Who is John Galt?”. This leads me to conclude that the phrase is used when a person has no answer for a question, therefore asks another question implying that the answer will never be found.