Dagny's Decision to Leave Atlantis

Camille Kelleher

From the accumulation of all of the pages I have read, the moment when Dagny lets me down is when she decides to leave Atlantis. She has finally found a place where she can reach her full potential without having to carry anyone else’s burdens. This idea of selfishness is what governs Atlantis, individuals are allowed to reason and justify their own actions without weighing anyone else’s desires. I initially found this idea hard to accept, and still do, especially when Dagny leaves Rearden in the “other world” without contact for a month and falls in love with John Galt. In my annotations, I have used many words to describe how this was such a disrespectful move on Dagny’s part.

Both John Galt and Francisco know that Dagny will not survive in the “other world” for much longer given how quickly that world is destroying itself. This is especially clear when Project X is demonstrated to government officials and elite intellectuals. John Galt’s feelings toward Dagny’s decision are beautifully summed up on page 745. He describes the last experience that Dagny has to suffer before she returns to Atlantis. She has to realize that the ability to be intransigent to others is what leads her to success. Her assumption that she has to control society and make it reach her ideas and values she has set for it stems out of her stubborn attitude and her steadfast leadership qualities. In the following pages, I think Rand will make us endure the destruction of Dagny’s goals and watch her grow (not wither) into Atlantis’ ideals and lifestyles.