What does ayn rand mean by ldquo the sanction of the victim rdquo ? what does it mean when rearden refuses to give it at his trial? the sanction of the victim is the willingness of the victim to accept the moral terms under which he or she is accused. This willingness allows the oppressor to coerce the victim through guilt and obligation. Rational people will withhold their sanction when they do not accept the premise under which they are victimized. If their own moral code is not the code of their oppressors, they are not obligated to participate under the oppressors rsquo terms or to validate the oppressors rsquo position by accepting it as rational.

Under the collectivist system rand describes in the novel, the producers are made to feel morally obligated to provide for those who do not produce but live off the products made by others. The system presents a morality of altruism in which all people are considered their brothers rsquo keepers and the strong feel compelled to sacrifice themselves for the weak. The only way a government can really force its people to sacrifice themselves is by brute force.

When a rational person withdraws sanction and refuses to participate in his or her own victimization, the government can either resort to force or it must back down. At his trial, rearden does not accept the laws he has broken as rational, so he refuses to participate. The government is able to prosecute him as a criminal only because they have created unjust laws that turn him into one. He withholds his sanction of the trial and makes it clear that the government must either compel him with violence or leave him alone. But the government cannot risk revealing the brute force that its power is based on, so it has no choice to but to let him go.

Ayn rand intended for atlas shrugged to demonstrate her philosophy of objectivism in action. How successful was she in showing how objectivism can work in the real world? by presenting her philosophy in the format of a novel, rand sought to demonstrate her principles at work in the actions of her characters and bring her philosophical concepts to life. The messages are easier to understand in the context of a story than they might be in a straight philosophic treatise. Moreover, rand does succeed in making her heroes embody the rationality and self interest upon which her philosophy is based. The many speeches delivered by the strikers, most notably francisco rsquo s ldquo money speech rdquo and galt rsquo s lengthy radio address, are effective means of presenting ideas that might otherwise be too dry for many readers.

But it seems unlikely that real people would speak this way, and the characters suffer as a result. Dagny, rearden, francisco, galt, and danneskjold are all physically attractive, astonishingly gifted, and possess tremendous personal integrity. Only cherryl brooks and the wet nurse exist between these extremes, but they are tragic victims and minor characters. Furthermore, rand rsquo s characters are free to devote themselves to their efforts, whether productive or parasitic, because none of them have to deal with children, illness, or any other issue that demands attention in the typical life. While they are effective as idealized representatives of rand rsquo s ideas, the characters offer little for readers to identify with, making it difficult for them to imagine how objectivism may apply to their own lives. How do events in atlas shrugged support ayn rand rsquo s view that capitalism is the only moral economic system? rand rsquo s argument in favor of capitalism is mostly illustrated through her description of the failure of its alternatives. Rand demonstrates how the self sacrificing code of socialism ultimately creates an irrational system where need matters more than production.

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She highlights the government rsquo s interference in the economy and the fact that every government action has unanticipated effects that in turn require more intervention to fix. An example of the irrationality of this system is the set of rules placed on rearden that require him to simultaneously limit his output of rearden metal and fill every order he receives. Rand demonstrates that the logical outcome of this spiraling interference is the government rsquo s directive 10 289. Furthermore, the seizing of resources to serve ldquo the needy rdquo only makes those whose resources have been seized become needy. When resources can be obtained only by demonstrating the greatest need, as was the case at the twentieth century motor company, the strong are enslaved by the weak. By showing how socialism destroys productivity and dominates individuals, rand helps to promote capitalism as its antidote.

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If, as rand suggests, the notion of sacrifice for the ldquo public good rdquo is the force behind the destruction of society, then only a system that does not attempt to serve the public good can be moral mdash and only unfettered capitalism meets this criteria. The strikers rsquo code requires a totally free exchange of goods and ideas in trades of ldquo value for value. Rdquo only capitalism can offer that freedom from intervention and allow people to do business based on their own values. Therefore, for the strikers and for rand , capitalism is the only truly moral economic system.

What role does eddie willers play in the unfolding drama? what does his character say about the role of the common man in the world of ayn rand? 2. Why is rearden willing to support his family despite their attitude toward him? what causes his position to change? 4. Is the current economic and political system in this country more like galt rsquo s ideal or the looters rsquo ? 5. What does francisco mean when he says, ldquo the words lsquo to make money rsquo hold the essence of human morality rdquo ? q: what is objectivism? how is it presented in atlas shrugged ? a: objectivism, a philosophy created by ayn rand, is concerned mainly with the freedom of the individual. Many of the traditional constraints of community and service to others are denigrated in this philosophy, and the creative and independent spirit of individuals is prized. The character of john galt is the epitome of the ideal objectivist man in atlas shrugged.

Q: why does hank rearden hate himself after he first starts his relationship with dagny? a: hank has some traditional values about sex, and perhaps even some antiquated notions about women. When he first sleeps with dagny he is married to someone else and, being an honorable man who prides himself not breaking his word, he is ashamed of breaking his oath to his wife lillian. Hank is very conflicted about his desires, and this causes him the price of his self esteem 255. Q: at what point in the novel is it completely clear that america is becoming another people's state ? a: in part ii chapter vi, when wesley mouch, jim taggart, the head of state, and their cronies are discussing the passing of directive 10 289, which would effectively enslave the population in their jobs, it becomes clear that america has become an authoritarian communist state in all but name.

All businesses must remain in operation or face prosecution including desertion of head executives , all patents must be signed voluntarily 538 over to the state, no new devices shall be produced or invented, production levels must be exactly what they produced during that year, every person must spend the same amount every year, all wages must be frozen, and all decisions regarding business must be made by the unification board. Hank is taken aback because ragnar is a pirate, but hank does not give ragnar away when the police are looking for him. How would you react? a: hank has had to give over the rights to rearden metal, and he is understandably nearing despair. But when he sees that ragnar is threatened by the police, and he has had a chance to listen to ragnar's reasons for his actions, he cannot give him up. Do you agree or disagree with ragnar's actions? what about hank's? q: what is dagny's experience in galt's gulch? how realistic is it? a: dagny's accidental visit to galt's gulch introduces her to a self contained, utopian society created by john galt and his friends. The ray shield that is created to hide the valley from airplanes flying above it is a science fiction touch, for nothing like it existed in the 1950s when the book was written, or today. The fact that all the people in the valley would voluntarily leave their own society and remove themselves to a remote life and cease contact with the outside world seems fantastic, but the society they left is also an extreme and, perhaps, unrealistic one.

Q: what is the progression of cherryl brooks' opinion of james taggart? a: jim taggart's wife, cherryl brooks, goes from bewilderment at jim taggart's attention to her to a form of misguided hero worship when they begin to have a relationship. By the time they are married cherryl has a completely different idea of what jim is than what is reality. Soon after they are married, however, cherryl begins to understand that jim is not the hero of industry that he claims to be, and her disillusionment continues as the novel progresses.

Q: what sort of transformation does the wet nurse go through? what does it mean to hank rearden? a: the young man who is assigned by the goverment to oversee hank's production levels at the rearden steel plant goes through a character change from believing wholeheartedly in the collectivist principles of the government to a desire to work for his money. In part i chapter v the young man asks to be a cinder sweeper or other menial job, just to get out of the deputy director of distribution racket 934. After several years of the policies of the looter government, even the government's officials are disillusioned with the new philosophy and long to return the more capitalist principles represented by hank's company. Hank is not surprised that the young man has had a change of heart, but he shows his concern by reminding him that there is no way to legally change his job under the current system. Q: what does rand mean by the title of part i, chapter 9 the sacred and the profane ? a: rand found little in 1950s sexual morality to like she thought that the restrictions on women and the double standard, in particular, to be unfair and a kind of false modesty. In all of the sexual relationships in this novel physical desire is an expression of a spiritual one. She sees no disconnect between the desires of the mind and the desires of the body, and draws a very clear line between the kind of love dagny and john galt have for each other, and the pointless pleasure seeking of jim or his cronies.

The combination of the sacred and the profane, in this chapter specifically in regard to hank and dagny's relationship, is meant to dissolve the contradiction of genuine physical desire being something to be ashamed of, as hank is of his desire for dagny. Dagny, however, represents rand's ideal, of the integrated character which sees all her genuine desires as moral and right. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permision from men who deal, not in goods, but in favors when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws won't protect you against them, but protect them against you. 413 what does he mean by this? a: francisco is saying that the ultimate immoral act of a government is the coercion of trade in any form. Particularly the military or forcible control of business, or the threat thereof, is detrimental to society in such a way that it means that the whole culture is tipping toward doom. Francisco believes that there is no way that justice and fair dealing can survive in such a society. Q: who is the mysterious railway worker to whom eddie willers talks so much in the cafeteria of the taggart terminal? why is this character important? a: this man is none other than john galt who has, for the last twelve years, been working at a very menial job in the terminal and spending a month each year in galt's gulch.

Essay Topics Atlas Shrugged Text

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