Final Reaction

In my thirteen years at Gulliver I have been given a plethora of novels to read, and my final opinions of those novels have been varied. Only a handful of the literary works have had a positive effect on my life and even fewer have changed my thought process, but Atlas Shrugged is the only book that has ever made me reanalyze my perceptive on life. Atlas Shrugged hits upon so many different topics and point of views, which I had never considered before. Ayn Rand spoke about topics that range from politics to sex; all of which were are controversial, and a woman with so firm and grounded convictions must have been controversial as well. It is incredible and surprising how relevant the things she wrote about still are half a century later. I could find connections in my own life and in our current government on almost every page.  Through the 1,079 page classic, I felt frustration, excitement, anger, relief, confusion, happiness, and hope; and through this literary adventure my opinions on economy, politics, sex and love have been reconsidered, reanalyzed and in some cases completely changed.

In the realm of politics I have often considered myself illiterate. I have always put my good faith in the leaders of our country, assuming that they would make the right decision for the country and its people. Since I am not yet a tax payer and my life has never really felt directly influenced by the government until fairly recently, I have neither sought out a reason to complain nor contemplated the structures and fundamental policies of our government. My parents are both registered Independents and topics like the policies on Medicare and income taxes do not come up too often. My only knowledge of such things come from the little my parents spoke of it and the lecturing of my social science teachers and social studies text books who all seemed to preach about the perfection of our leaders. I am and have always been able to read between the lines, especially after discussing outrageous laws and avoidable conflict turning into war, but I chose not to let it bother me. Through Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand showed me the type of people that are given the chance to run our country, if we allow them access to Washington. She depicted them through outrageous characters such as Wesley Mouch and Jim Taggart. They seemed to be greatly hyperbolized but as I looked honestly at our government and the people who make decisions, I’ve realized that these “exaggerated” characters are not too far off from some real life politicians and bureaucrats.

Ayn Rand believes in a Lassie Faire economic system. That implies a completely free market with absolutely no rules or regulations on the market place. I am studying economics this year, and we have examined both the free market system and centralized planned economy. In theory and in practice the free market system is far superior to the centralized planned economy which cannot properly predict changes in demand and supply. I am not as extreme as Ayn Rand. She believes, or so she implies in her novel, that government is only in place to provide protection and regulate a justice system. In my opinion the government needs more power than that. There needs to be taxes to fund the military and to build things like highways and bridges between state lines. I believe that certain types of regulation in the market places provide safety and prosperity, but Ayn Rand did show me that extensive regulation can lead to the removal of rights, like property, and lead to the failure of the economy as a whole.

Francisco D’anconia’s speech about sex was inspiring to me. I never considered that your sexual partner could reflect how you feel about yourself? Ayn Rand explained that physical pleasure is an extension of mental capacity and pleasure. Those who are the happiest with their lives and their own personage are the people who understand the power and pleasure that sex provides. A man, who claims to love his beautiful and virtuous wife but sleeps with an immoral prostitute, is just as low and disgusting as the people he sleeps with. I also found it interesting that Ayn Rand claims that you earn the love you receive. In her novel Dagny is a symbol, to John Galt, of everything he wishes the world to be. He refused to sleep with her until they both had earned each other’s love. Love in this manner is then aligned with sex for those who earn it.