The first words of Chapter 1: The Theme. I know memes existed long before the Internet
, but I wonder what Ayn Rand would think of the various memes of the modern day.
Anyway, this question is asked of Eddie Willers by a bum who stopped him for change. For some reason this bothers Eddie more than the pan-handling, and he hurries on. He seems to be in a bad mood, and blames it on the twilight (No, not that Twilight, but I know I would).
Moving on he spies a large calendar built between two buildings displaying the date. The sight of it bothers him, but he doesn't know why. Eddie seems to be a man bothered in many ways he can't describe. For good reason perhaps, because the city's a dump; most businesses are closed, so the sight of one open warms his heart.
Suddenly flashback to his childhood on the Taggart estate, triggered seemingly out of nowhere. He recalls admiring an old oak tree on the land that was struck by lightning one night. The next morning he saw it was split open and was hollow; it was long dead, yet he thought it would stand forever. Seeing it, he lost his innocence that day in a way most children do when they first learn of death.
Fast forward to a childhood friend, he and her are talking about what they'll do when they grow up. His answer is "whatever is right", and talks about winning battles and saving people. Y'know, more than just getting by. His companion looks to the railroad tracks nearby, but doesn't say anything.
Which serves as a nice segue to his arrival at his place of employment, Taggart Transcontinental. He goes right for the President, James Taggart, and informs him that there's been an accident on the Rio Norte Line. James seems unimpressed, so Eddie does one better by adding the line is shot and can't run anymore. James continues to be indignant of Eddie's pessimism. Eddie seems to be more of a realist, because he just came back from their associate, Orren Boyle of Associated Steel, where their orders of rail have been delayed constantly. No rail, no fixy the Rio Norte Line.
James says to not worry about it and wait for Orren to deliver the rail, even at the risk of the line breaking up. He has sour words to say of competitors like Rearden Steel and Phoenix-Durango (apparently a competing train company). Eddie is understandably annoyed with him, pointing out if they don't do something they'll lose Colorado like they lost Wyatt oil fields. James' response? "Damn Ellis Wyatt!!" So he also has problems with the guy people are calling a prodigy. Not an unreasonable title for a guy who turned Colorado into an oil tycoon's dream by using some strange entrepreneur magic to revive dead oil wells (or so the legends whispered in New York say!)
Nevertheless, James thinks there are more important things than money, and feels betrayed by Wyatt when he dropped them for Phoenix-Durango just because Taggart Transcontinental wasn't growing fast enough. Eddie is still concerned, having obvious devotion to the company, and James finally pulls rank and reminds him of his lower status. He tells him to take it to the departments, and that he doesn't intend to abandon the line. Whatev.
Pop Harper, the chief clerk, communes with Eddie after he exits the office over the hard times, from his busted typewriter to closed down bridges. Says Pops "Oh well, what's the use? Who is John Galt?" Yeah, and where's the beef?
And now we're in a train car with a woman. We know it's a woman thanks to Miss Rand's description of stockinged, stretched out legs, of high-heels and sensual mouths, and oh my where was I? She's got a good imagination at least, as she lies in rapture listening to a symphony by a famous composer, only to realize it's just the brakeman whistling it that she heard. She chats music with him, seems like a nice lady, though obviously busy as she hasn't slept in two nights. Right on queue, she nods off and awakes to find the train had stopped for an hour. outside passengers and the engineer are gathered around a red signal light. The engineers admit it's likely broken as it hadn't changed in an hour, but don't want to take the fallout for passing when it's red. The woman asks how long he'll wait, he responds "Who is John Galt?" Apparently this meme refers to a question nobody can answer. She advises them to slowly advance to the next signal, and continue if it's in order. At this point the engineer recognizes her as Dagny Taggart, Vice-President of Taggart Transcontinental, and she assures him she'll take responsibility for any trouble.
Hmm, if I were her I'd do something about that safety protocol if there's two signals. No sense in waiting at one if you can't confirm the other. And with this we are somewhat acquainted with our main protagonist.
Dagny is in a meeting with her brother James, and she plans to save the Rio Norte Line. By ordering from Rearden steel. James is shocked! Though it seems the only reason is that a) he doesn't like Henry Rearden, and b) he wants to support the smaller Associated Steel rather than encourage a monopoly. Dagny is indignant to such base human emotions of course, and adds that she's ordered what will help Taggart Transcontinental the most; specifically, Rearden Metal, an Unobtanium which inexplicably has not been used by anyone since the 10 years it's been invented. (What. Maybe Rearden should put out some R&D figures for it?) Jim is real butthurt over this, the Wyatt fields, the whole thing, and Dagny drills home when she points out the failure of his contract with Associated Steel and the rumors his Mexican line will be nationalized soon (gasp!). It's high time someone kick the company's ass out of the red, and Dagny's just the girl to do it, says she!
We get some creepy description of Dagny's legs from James' perspective, and finally he agrees to the order. She assures him it'll be simple and as she leaves he points out that "Other people are human. They're sensitive. They can't devote their whole life to metals and engines. You're lucky—you've never had any feelings. You've never felt anything at all." To which she responds "No, Jim. I guess I've never felt anything at all." So, determined but cold. At this point I can't tell if it's supposed to be a character flaw or not.
In her office, she asks Eddie (her assistant; there's that childhood connection in action!) if Richard Halley had composed a fifth concerto. Y'see, that brakeman back on the train claimed the symphony he was humming was Halley's Fifth Concerto, yet she had only known of four. Eddie confirms that Halley had only written four, and dropped off the face of the earth eight years ago. Huh, oh well...
After that totally-not-relevant-later sideline in comes Owen Kellogg, an engineer whom Dagny wants to promote to Superintendent of the Ohio Division as part of her bid to seize Colorado from the worthy opponent of Phoenix-Durango. Then the unthinkable happens; he turns down her offer. He says he's resigning, that he won't work at any railroads, and no offer will change his mind. When asked why, he replies (say it!) "Who is John Galt?"
End of Chapter 1.
Well, so far it's more interesting than I anticipated. I'll work on condensing my summary as best I can, sorry if it's a little long this time.
Comments
(Some really hilarious answers here.)
