When Hank Rearden commences his walk out from his mills late at night, he encounters an unknown, tall, blond figure. The first thing this stranger does is tell him about how he's followed Rearden around for 12 years, and how he is returning him the money that the looters have taken from him. The nameless man hands Rearden a solid block of metal, which is when Rearden finally beings to question who this man is and what is his purpose. Once the stranger introduces himself as Ragnar Danneskjold, Rearden drops the gold out of his hands that was just handed to him and demands explanations.
After Danneskjold finishes giving Rearden his whole explanation about how he only means to help give back to Rearden what all those looters are taking from him, almost like a reverse Robin Hood, Rearden is still hesitant and tells Danneskjold that he does not want his help. This part of the novel reminded me of Meursault, from the stranger. Just like Meursault who kept receiving help he did not want from all those around him, Rearden told the man that he did not need help from him and wished to never see him again.
After reading the whole scene between Rearden and Danneskjold, I realized that Hank acted completely different than Meursault. Hank opposed to Danneskjolds views because he merely saw him as a criminal, and that was something that he stated he was strongly against. He told Danneskjold how he would not only deny his money and help, but if he was near a phone he would even call the cops to turn him in. Coincidentally, a cop did appear and claimed to have spotted Danneskjold, so he questioned Rearden about it to see if Rearden had seen him anywhere. To my surprise, despite everything Rearden said about Danneskjold, Rearden did not turn him in. Rearden also defended him and claimed that Danneskjold was his new "body guard" when the cop asked who the man next to him was.
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