Previous
Part 1, Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Atlas Shrugged, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Morality of Self-Interest
The Value of Productive Work
The Individual vs. the Collective
Government Power and Corruption
The Corruption of Language
Despair in the Absence of Purpose
Summary
Analysis
On the rooftop of a New York skyscraper, Orren Boyle, James Taggart, Paul Larkin, and Wesley Mouch meet in private to discuss business troubles. They speak in vague, guarded language about shortages, economic burdens, and the need for companies to share the load instead of competing. Boyle defends his ongoing failure to deliver steel to Taggart Transcontinental, blaming it on material shortages. James complains that Dagny is undermining him, especially with her decision to use Hank Rearden’s unproven metal. Boyle criticizes Rearden Metal, calling it reckless and irresponsible. He accuses Hank of hoarding resources that others deserve more. James agrees and hints that Washington might be persuaded to intervene.
The rooftop meeting reveals how corruption hides behind euphemism in the world of the novel. The men speak in vague terms, never stating clearly what they want but moving steadily toward control. Boyle’s attack on Hank and his invention is not about safety—it is about punishing independence. The charge of hoarding exposes a core mentality: the belief that earned success should be redistributed to the less capable. James’s agreement shows his alignment with those who want to regulate greatness out of existence.
Themes
When the conversation turns to the San Sebastian Mines—an investment all four men share—Boyle speaks in glowing but evasive terms. James brings up reports of poor service on the Mexican rail line. Boyle admits seeing wood-burning engines and broken-down passenger cars but brushes it off. James defends the situation as a temporary equipment delay. Uncomfortable, he ends the meeting and goes to confront Dagny.
The San Sebastian investment exposes the fusion of economic self-delusion and political vanity. Boyle’s evasion and James’s defensiveness suggest they both know the venture is doomed but cannot admit it. Their glowing language masks the same decay that runs through the rest of the system. Instead of addressing failure, they double down on the illusion.
Themes
Meanwhile, Dagny reflects on how she always wanted to run Taggart Transcontinental. From childhood, she admired its builders, especially her ancestor, Nathaniel Taggart, who founded the railroad without relying on government favors. As a child, Dagny excelled in math and engineering and started working at 16 while attending college at night. She rose quickly, not by ambition alone, but because no one else around her stepped up. James inherited the presidency at age 34—not because of talent, but because of tradition and political skill. Dagny accepted this because she believed she could keep the company running, no matter who sat at the top.
Dagny’s memory of Nathaniel Taggart anchors her to a lineage of builders, not bureaucrats. Her success isn’t framed as ambition but as response—she filled a void left by others. Her path from childhood to executive role is the inverse of James’s. Unlike him, she earned her place through competence, not entitlement. This contrast extends beyond family drama—it reflects a larger split between those who create and those who merely occupy positions of power.
Themes
Dagny opposed the San Sebastian Line from the beginning, calling it a bad investment disguised as humanitarian goodwill. When the Board overruled her, she nearly quit. Instead, she demanded to be named Vice President of Operations, threatening to resign unless she had real authority. The Board agreed. Dagny built the line quickly, even though she believed it would fail. And now, it’s beginning to do just that.
Here, the San Sebastian Line becomes the test case for what happens when action is compromised by bad ideals. Even though Dagny executes the project efficiently, she never believes in it—and the result is failure. Her willingness to take the job despite knowing this points to a tragic streak in her character: a tendency to shoulder burdens she knows are doomed, out of duty to a system that no longer deserves her.
Themes
Get the entire Atlas Shrugged LitChart as a printable PDF.
Late at night, Dagny works alone in her office. She’s focused on rebuilding the Rio Norte Line with Rearden Metal. James barges in, furious that she moved valuable equipment out of Mexico and replaced it with junk. Dagny admits it calmly. She says she took action before the Mexican government could seize everything. James threatens to go to the Board. Dagny tells him to do whatever he wants.
James’s outrage reveals the extent to which he sees morality not as action but as loyalty to appearances. Dagny’s preemptive removal of equipment shows her realism—she protects the company from government seizure by acting before it’s too late. However, James cannot grasp this because he’s tethered to process, not outcome. His threat to appeal to the Board is empty ritual.
Themes
Exhausted, Dagny walks home through the giant concourse of Taggart Terminal. She pauses before a statue of Nathaniel Taggart, then stops at a small newsstand. The man behind the counter collects rare cigarettes, and they talk about how the world is becoming smaller, meaner, and more afraid. They agree that no one seems to act with purpose anymore. As she leaves, the man mentions the same phrase she’s been hearing: “Who is John Galt?”
Dagny’s late-night walk through the terminal functions as a moment of communion—with the railroad, her past, and a shrinking world. The cigarette vendor becomes an unlikely confidant, a fellow observer of cultural contraction. Their conversation makes explicit what the setting implies: the world is not just collapsing materially, but spiritually.
Themes
Elsewhere, Eddie Willers sits alone in the Taggart cafeteria. He talks quietly to a railroad worker who listens silently. Eddie admits he’s worried about the company’s future but believes Dagny will save it. He mentions her deep love for the railroad and her private passion for the music of Richard Halley. He describes Dagny as someone who lives only for her work.
Eddie’s quiet monologue highlights the personal cost of faith in a collapsing system. His loyalty to Dagny mirrors the devotion she shows to the railroad, but he lacks her clarity. Eddie’s reverence for Dagny’s discipline and love of Halley’s music casts her in the light of a hero—but it also positions her as a tragic figure, someone who may give everything to a structure already rotting from within.
Themes
