Summary The economy in Colorado is collapsing. Nobody has been able to replicate Ellis Wyatt’s method of creating oil from shale, and without the Wyatt fields, the companies dependent on them go out of business. Andrew Stockton, the Colorado businessman who operates the country’s best foundry, makes a fortune because […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 1 – The Man Who Belonged on EarthSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 10 – Wyatt’s Torch
Summary Dagny begins the search for the motor’s inventor, interviewing the town officials in Rome, Wisconsin where the Twentieth Century Motor Company was located. But when she contacts her assistant Eddie, he warns her that the politicians are threatening to pass laws that would kill industrial production in Colorado. The […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 10 – Wyatt’s TorchSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 9 – The Sacred and the Profane
Summary The morning after their night of passionate lovemaking, Rearden is angry. He regards sex as a low impulse of the flesh, and he feels contemptuous of Dagny (and especially himself) for craving “obscene” pleasures. Dagny rejects his scorn, because she regards sex with Rearden as noble — something to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 9 – The Sacred and the ProfaneSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 8 – The John Galt Line
Summary Rearden sells his ore mines to Paul Larkin and his coal mines to Ken Danagger, a hard-bitten Pennsylvania coal producer who started his career as a miner. Rearden’s calls to Wesley Mouch in Washington go unanswered, and he then receives a letter announcing Mouch’s resignation. Two weeks later, Rearden […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 8 – The John Galt LineSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 7 – The Exploiters and the Exploited
Summary Dagny goes to the construction site of the Rio Norte Line to supervise the work because Ben Nealy, the contractor she found to replace the retired McNamara, is incompetent. Ellis Wyatt arrives, and the respectful manner with which he treats Dagny shows his recognition of the merit of her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 7 – The Exploiters and the ExploitedSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 6 – The Non-Commercial
Summary Lillian throws a party for the Reardens’ wedding anniversary. Hank Rearden doesn’t feel like celebrating but, of course, duty dictates that he must attend. He would prefer to devote his time to the mills, because the superintendent of his rolling mills has resigned suddenly and without explanation. Rearden must […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 6 – The Non-CommercialSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 5 – The Climax of the d’Anconias
Summary The government of Mexico is outraged to find that Francisco d’Anconia’s San Sebastian Mines are worthless, containing no copper. Francisco is in New York, ostensibly to witness the spectacle of a divorce scandal in which he’s supposedly involved. Dagny suspects that Francisco is visiting New York to observe the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 5 – The Climax of the d’AnconiasSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 4 – The Immovable Movers
Summary McNamara quits. He was the best contractor in the country and the man that Dagny counted on to complete the Rio Norte Line. McNamara walks out on a pile of contracts, and nobody knows why or where he went. The People’s State of Mexico nationalizes both the San Sebastian […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 4 – The Immovable MoversSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 3 – The Top and the Bottom
Summary Over drinks in a New York bar, four men conduct a meeting that will greatly impact the U.S. economy. Orren Boyle wants Jim Taggart to use his influence with various Washington politicians to pass legislation that will strip Rearden of his ore mines. Taggart agrees to do it. Taggart […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 3 – The Top and the BottomSummary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 2 – The Chain
Summary Hank Rearden pours the first heat for his first order of Rearden Metal. As he walks home from his office late that night, Rearden thinks about the ten years of excruciating effort that went into inventing his new metal. We learn that he has been working since he was […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 2 – The Chain