Society has transformed from a government controlled organized system into what is close to being an anarchy. "Forget it. Don't you see that there isn't any law left?" (pg 599) This leads to not only fear for the public, but also fear for the elite who thought they would be the only ones to rise up in this expanding chaos. Eddie Willers's conversation with his cafeteria room buddy explains how this economic breakdown has changed everything.
Nobody ever wants to experience fear, pain our guilt, but now even those who were once robotic are expressing panic. "You know, I never thought you cared whether you saw me or not, me or anybody, you seemed so complete in yourself, and that's why I liked to talk to you, because I felt that you always understood, but nothing could hurt you - and it made me feel free..." (page 600) Those who were once at the top of the industry are now searching for some form of hope, Willers attempts to find it in this mysterious figure and Dagny chases after a motor that could change the world. Everyone needs reassurance, even those who reassure. Sadly, with all the great minds quitting and loosing faith, it seems that Dagny is the only one fighting for something that has no hope. "He said that he won't give anything produced by his mind to a world that regards him as a slave." What I think needs to be realized, and Dagny has already realized this, is that everyone is a slave; especially those who work for love. As cruel or idiotic as mankind is, you have to look beyond that and understand that if the great minds just stand by and watch the world crumble, what will be left?
Dagny is the only real hero so far. Her fuel is run by her power, strength and love for what she does unlike Frisco who just quit and found the easy way out; however what might be the easiest, isn't always right. "The whole world is going to pieces, she's still fighting to save it-" When worse comes to worse, those who've tried and have failed will desert what they love or put the blame upon themselves; but if you truly love something, is it right to abandon it? Dagny seems to be the only one strong enough to conquer the world in order to fight for what she loves and I believe that her struggles will come through in the end.
All of these hardships are also making Dagny more human. With exposure to frustration and pain, she is starting to feel more emotion whereas she did not in the beginning of the story. "To me, she was not a person and not... not a woman. She was the railroad." She first started off as an entity who's sole purpose was to serve the railroad and nothing else. Now she is feeling fear, love and guilt and is slowly becoming more humane. This makes one wonder whether all of these problems are actually benefitting Dagny and expanding her horizons. "She thought of what a difference one month had made... their cheerful grins boasting that they knew who she was - had now looked at her stonily, turning away, their faces wary and closed. She had wanted to cry to them in apology..." (page 602) Dagny understands the toll that this breakdown has done to her men and now instead of being a machine who only dispersed orders and took responsibility, she is feeling pain and sorrow for what she knows others are going through.
Perhaps it is because I am further along in the book, that I disagree with you. Dagny is not the hero but the victim and Francisco is not the one who took that easy way out. Francisco path was painful, maybe more so then Dagny. Francisco had to rid himself of his greatest joy, his ancestor's company. He had to abandon his one love, Dagny. His moral ideals compelled him to stop letting others suck his virtues out of him. He did not want to suffer any longer under there claws and their rules. He wanted to live by his own moral code.
ReplyDeleteDagny is unwilling to give up, because she still believes she has a chance. She still believes that it is possible to save the world and the Taggart Transcontinental system. She is fighting against herself and the harder she struggles against them, the tighter the noose around her neck becomes. Dagny is slowly being destroyed by the people around her and she is letting them do it. In fact, she aiding them in her destruction.The world is a toxic place and until Dagny comes to understand this, there will be no justice.
I do agree with you in one aspect, that in this world of Atlas Shrugged, there are no rules. There are people in charge that make rules that are impossible to live by and impossible to enforce. They just hope that the right people break the rules, so that they may manipulate and black mail them. People who are capable of living in that world are either incapable of thinking or have a severely deluded sense of reality. Dagny will soon learn that it will be impossible to run her railroad, and she too will go the way of Francisco.