The result of remaining true to your values

Camille Kelleher

Former mentor to John Galt, Francisco d’Anconia, and Ragnar Danneskjold and professor at Patrick Henry University, Dr. Robert Stadler is the epitome of human evil. He caved in his intelligence and affinity towards reason for political acceptance and communistic values. In the view of John Galt and his moral code and ethics, Stadler is a sell-out. He had once been on par with the status of the other industrialists who had disappeared to Atlantis until he started to work for the State Science Institute.

Ayn Rand highlights the corrupt and abusive relationship between the Washington politicians and Stadler when they invited him to the opening demonstration of Project X. Through Stadler’s dialogue with Dr. Floyd Ferris, the press, and his own perspective; I realized that Stadler feels imprisoned in the system. The government can easily manipulate his appearance, actions, and future achievements. Stadler’s intention to avoid greed chained him to the unproductive and inefficient lifestyle of politicians. The government demands cooperation and loyalty from Stadler and expects him to assume responsibility for Project X, a worthless yet destructive invention that has no practical means. During Project X’s demonstration, I saw the faults of the “brotherhood” when Dr. Ferris invited the press to interview Stadler when he had no knowledge of the invention. This inconsiderate, unreasonable and barren logic caused Stadler to make invaluable assumptions about the invention, which could have led to his demise if the press and US citizens weren’t so unmotivated to disagree with the government. What makes it worse is that Stadler goes along with the system. My disbelief of his morality carries weight into the one-sided conversation between John Galt and Stadler on page 1023.

Dr. Stadler’s attempt to squeeze a type of forgiving and accepting pity out of a motionless Galt backfires and makes him seem even shallower than he already is before the conversation. Stadler’s two-page rambling and meaningless plead to Galt resembled a typical conversation between James Taggart and Dagny. Stadler attempted to relieve himself from responsibility by blaming the government and making up excuses like fighting for the future of science and his own chance to live. When Galt doesn’t respond, Stadler begins to blame Galt by saying his code has no power against the government’s corrupt control and leaves no space for inevitable human weaknesses. Stadler attempts to make Galt feel inferior because he is the one who is captured and close to death. Rand beautifully captures the pain of Stadler in this conversation, “…the immobility of the figure on the window sill had served as a silent reflector and had suddenly made him see the full meaning of his words.” Stadler’s accusations that backfired highlighted his failures because he is the one who is enslaved to the system and has become just as fraudulent as the Washington politicians. Galt knows that if he dies, he can go peacefully because he has remained honorable to truth, knowledge, reasons, values, and rights. Dr. Stadler, who had once preached the power of the mind to John Galt at Patrick Henry University, left the room surrendering to his past decisions and plagued by the potential success he could have had if he remained true to his values.