PLOT
Dagny is in Colorado working on the Rio Norte Line. Ellis Wyatt and Hank stop by, individually, and Dagny is now on great terms with both. Dr. Potter from the State Science Institute offers Rearden a huge sum of money if he will sell the rights to Rearden Metal so its introduction can be delayed a few years. Rearden rejects the offer. The State Science Institute (Dr. Ferris) responds with a non-specific slander (opinion) of Rearden Metal. Dagny goes to visit Dr. Stadler at the State Science Institute to appeal the opinion. He declines. TT's stock crashes. Dagny proposes the John Galt Line. The legislature passes the Equalization of Opportunity Bill.
SUBPLOT (loose ends)
The switch company (Mr. Mowen) won't use Rearden Metal for a nonspecific reason.
James convinces Dagny into giving a speech supporting Rearden Metal. When she finds out it's a debate with Bertram Scudder she leaves the car. The debate question: "Is Rearden Metal a lethal product of greed?"
John Galt Legend II - "He found the fountain of youth, which he wanted to bring down to men. Only he never came back. Because he found that it couldn't be brought down."
Ragnar and Francisco Background - They, along with another student, were friends who majored in Physics (Robert Stadler) and Philosophy (Hugh Akston) at Patrick Henry University.
Bonds - Dagny gets several businessmen to buy bonds in the John Galt Line. Francisco refuses.
Sex - Hank fantasizes about having "animal sex" with Dagny.
Philip - Hank's mom asks him to give Philip a job because he "needs" it. Hank refuses.
COMMENTS
Scale - The people who openly buy bonds in the John Galt Line are on the positive side of the scale. The people who buy Taggart stock in private are on the negative side of the scale.
Words - The debate was worded in such a way to prevent Dagny from talking about what is good about Rearden Metal and allowed Bertram Scudder to slander Rearden Metal by implication. If words aren't exact, why do the people who believe this choose their words so carefully?
Thought Process - Again, the thought process model explains what is happening in this chapter.
As we saw in the chapter six notes, Rearden sees sex as an instinctual Drift animal need. In this chapter, he looks at Dagny ("the only person I respected") and thinks, "The lowest of all desires - as my answer to the highest I've met..." In the previous chapter, he continued his growth from Drift to Focus by NOT having intercourse with Lillian.
The reason he was rude to Dagny and became more attentive to Lillian at the party was because Rearden realized he wants to have sex with Dagny! So his actions were a Focus attempt at not looking like he wants to have sex with Dagny. It looks as if Hank broke his addiction by stating he no longer wanted to have sex with Lillian.
We discussed the theme of "pain" in chapter five. This chapter introduces another theme coming from pain: fear. Pain causes us to act like Drift animals, not thinking at Focus, and just responding in the short term through the expediency of the moment. For the rest of this novel, notice who is afraid and what makes them afraid. "Thought is a weapon one uses in order to act. He (Hank) saw for the first time that he had never known fear because, against any disaster, he held the omnipotent cure of being able to act." Again, Hank is continuing his growth from Drift to Focus.
In chapter six, we saw the party guests speaking unknowable models and not able to be understood. It is an example of people trying to destroy Focus in others so everyone will be at Drift and controllable.
In this chapter, the State Science Institute wants to stop Rearden from using his revolutionary Rearden Metal. They don't give a logical reason. They don't go on record with any facts. They say they are concerned for others and will undermine it with certain bills if Hank doesn't sell it to them or hold off for a couple years. Not only are they at Drift, they may be in Evasion. After dealing with Mr. Mowen (who has moved to Drift), Dagny thinks, "It was useless to argue, she thought, and to wonder about people who would neither refute an argument nor accept it."
Also, Dagny talks to Robert Stadler who is the head of the Institute. Their motto is: "To the fearless mind. To the inviolate truth." Yet, Dr. Stadler: "Men are not open to truth or reason. They cannot be reached by a rational argument. The mind is powerless against them."
Dagny is beginning her descent from Focus to Drift, while Hank is moving up from Drift to Focus.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION (worth rereading)
Morality is discussed throughout this chapter. Dagny asks the old bum, "What is morality?" "Judgment to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at any price. But where does one find it?"
Notice, Hank embodies this definition in the rest of the chapter with his interactions: refusing Dr. Potter's offer, investing one million dollars in the John Galt Line, refusing to give Philip a job (Mother: "You're the most immoral man living - you think of nothing by justice!"), helping out Mr. Ward, and creating a new bridge design...which reverses the circumstances that caused him to go to Drift!
Remember this passage from chapter two signified the moment when Hank began his addiction to Drift?
"He asked himself who had started him and kept him going. Then he raised his head. Slowly, with the greatest effort of his life, he made his body rise until he was able to sit upright with only one hand pressed to the desk and a trembling arm to support him. He never asked that question again."
In this chapter, he REVERSES the addiction to Drift by embracing the pain and asking that question. The answer leads to a moment where Hank comes up with the idea of combining a truss with an arch, and this realization gives him energy.
What is Man?
Man is a being who is able to be at Focus and act as a first cause.
Man is able to be his own motive power.
Hank REVERSED his addiction by acting according to his uniqueness.
Dagny ends the chapter looking to Hank for energy.
Who do you look to for energy?
Hank's uniqueness is: solving a problem by creating a technical breakthrough. When he makes this intangible uniqueness tangible, he has energy even in his most draining moment.
What is your uniqueness?
SUPPLEMENT
Man - "The reasons in favor of prolonging the usage of 'man' are four: etymology, convenience, the unsuspected incompleteness of "man and woman" and literary tradition."
"To begin with the last, it is unwise to give up a long-established practice, familiar to all, without reviewing the purpose it served. In Genesis we read: ‘And God created Man, male and female.’ Plainly, in 1611 and long before, 'man' meant 'human being'. For centuries zoologists have spoken of the species Man; ‘Man inhabits all the climactic zones.’ Logicians have said ‘Man is mortal,’ and philosophers have boasted of ‘Man's unconquerable mind.’ In all these uses man cannot possibly mean male only. The coupling of woman to those statements would add nothing and sound absurd."
"Nor is the inclusive sense of human being an arbitrary convention. The Sanskrit root man, manu, denotes nothing but the human being and does so par excellence, since it is cognate with the word for ‘I think’."
"The thought occurs that if fairness to all divisions of humanity requires their separate mention when referred to in the mass, then the listing must not read simply ‘men and women’, it must include teenagers. They have played a large role in the world and they are not clearly distinguished in the phrase ‘men and women.’ Reflection further shows that mention should be given to yet another group: children." (Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence)
The Dark Knight - At the end, Batman tells Gordon to make him the enemy and lead the pursuit of him because he can bear the pain. When Dagny tells Jim about the John Galt Line she says: "You can help them to curse me and denounce me."
Table of Contents
Next Chapter: The John Galt Line
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