To what extent should we allow money to control our lives, if at all?

            Through the thoughts of Eddie Willers, Ayn Raynd reveals that bums asking for money has become commonplace, possibly suggesting that the country is in an economic crisis. Right from the beginning, Rand chooses to discuss the topic of money, but as the novel progresses she changes what she says about it.

            Through Eddie we see the representation of someone that wants more out of life than earning a living; money is not a driving force behind his actions. He wants to achieve the self-actualization that Maslow describes in his hierarchy of needs. Yet people like Eddie seem to be few, not only in Ayn Rand’s novel, but also in modern society. Most people seem to be Eddie’s opposite, Hank Rearden.

Despite what seems to be a successful career, Hank is significantly alone in life. Not only his mother, but his wife as well resent him because they have come second in life to his work. To Hank, money is a driving principle but not just because it is the means that allows him to survive. Through Hank, Rand presents a question to her readers; to what extent should we allow money to control our lives, if at all? Rand herself seems to be completely opposed to money driving any actions. Her opposition is seen clearly through Hank’s extreme level of loneliness despite his claim at happiness.

            Yet even if people were to attempt to dissociate themselves from money completely, it would not work. Money has cometo govern our lives in a substantial amount of time. With out it surviving becomes increasingly difficult.  The only aspect of money that we essentially control is how much we let it control us. Atlas Shrugged provides insight into the way people let money control them and the affect it has on their lives. 
- Talia Akerman