Reverse Robin Hood

        When Ragnar Danneskjold steps out of the blue into Rearden's life, he offers him a bar of gold. Unlike the paper money that floats around through the hands of looters and collectors, this gold symbolizes concrete, unsharable, fixed wealth. Danneskjold explains that his every robbery and seizure of property has been an effort to restore to the rich what has been taken from them by the poor. 

        Rearden is appalled by such a notion, and refuses to accept the gold. He scolds Danneskjold and claims that this plan goes against his own principles as he will never accept money taken by force. Just as he signed the gift certificate on the basis of his moral premise, Rearden refuses the gold as a violation of his beliefs. Danneskjold responds by using a phrase often said by Francisco; he does not expect him to understand at this time. It is a phrase that almost treats Rearden like a child; it implies that he does not have the clarity to see the truth as of yet.

        What Danneskjold has been working for all this time, he explains, is to permanently erase the notion of Robin Hood as a hero. His goal is to return money to those who have earned it, who deserve it, and have been robbed of it. He hopes to erase the notion that "need" is an excuse for committing monstrosities, and that those in need do not have to work for their money. Danneskjold is saving for a future where the innovative will rebuild from the ashes of a world which the looters have destroyed.