As the reader continues through the novel, it becomes even more evident that Rand is really emphasizing her point on Capitalism vs Communism. This is probably due to the fact that the novel was written during the Cold War. Also, the author was, at the time, trying to escape her captivity in her homeland, the Soviet Union. However, I digress. The author obviously includes her view of the socialist ideals that were present at the time in her story. A very prominent occasion were her true colors really stand out occurs on page 170 in the discussion between Hank Rearden and Dr. Potter from the State Science Institute. At this point in their discussion, Hank asks a very relevant question that Dr. Potter seems to try and dodge but cannot since Hank continues to ask the same question again and again. Even though Dr. Potter tries to answer with some "fluffed" response that could save his skin, Hank evidently cuts down all the smoke around the "scientist's" answer.
The question that Hank asked the "scientist" was whether the Rearden Metal had any possibilities of becoming physically unsound to build with. If not, then there was nothing to discuss according to Hank. However, Dr. Potter bypassed the question and tried answering with the fact that the metal could harm social welfare; it would cause the companies that do not produce as much steel to be unable to compete therefore, creating an "unbalanced economy". An idea such as this, providing equality in the competitive market, is undoubtedly the work of socialist ideology. The way that Hank cuts away at the idea is probably the way that the author, Ayn Rand, thinks about how she carries out her battle against communism.
No comments:
Post a Comment