Previous
Part 2, Chapter 4
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
Without copper, Hank fails to deliver the Rearden Metal rails promised to Taggart Transcontinental. It marks the first failure in Rearden Steel’s history. The ripple effects spread quickly: rail replacements stall, the mainline infrastructure continues to deteriorate, and shipping delays worsen. Shortages become widespread, with coal in particular running low, grinding entire rail routes to a halt. The economy enters free fall. Factories shut down, towns empty out, and once-thriving regions—especially Colorado—collapse into destitution. On the Rio Norte Line, businesses vanish. With no shippers left and no revenue to justify continued operations, the Taggart Board meets to decide the fate of the John Galt Line.
The failure to deliver copper marks a turning point—not only for Hank but for the entire industrial world built around his metal. The disruption the result of sabotage masked as regulation. The consequences are immediate: transportation breaks down, energy shortages multiply, and production halts across once-thriving corridors like Colorado. These collapses expose the fragile scaffolding propping up the national economy—an economy that now depends on the few people still willing to build anything.
Themes
Dagny attends the board meeting, where a government man named Mr. Weatherby is present. The conversation revolves around political maneuvering: which Washington factions to court, what deals to offer, and what favors might be expected in return. Dagny remains silent as the directors discuss sacrificing the John Galt Line. She refuses to shield them from responsibility, reminding them that she warned of this outcome. She abstains from voting, forcing the others to make the decision themselves. After much evasion, someone finally gives the order to shut down the line. Dagny says nothing, but the moment crushes her. She thinks of Nat Taggart and how he must have felt during his own darkest hour trying to finish the Mississippi bridge as he faced collapse and ruin.
Dagny’s refusal to vote on the fate of the John Galt Line exposes the cowardice of the board. Her silence forces the others to carry the burden they spent years avoiding. By abstaining, she denies them their last shield: her competence. The collapse of the line becomes a moment of personal reckoning. She sees herself as the heir to Nat Taggart’s struggle—not in legend, but in failure. His bridge once defied the Mississippi; her line now vanishes under Washington’s weight. This parallel sharpens the loss, turning the shutdown into a betrayal not just of industry, but of lineage, effort, and belief.
Themes
As she leaves the building, Dagny runs into Francisco. He takes her out to dinner, where their conversation veers between personal and philosophical. Francisco tries to awaken her to the futility of working for people who destroy value. He questions how long she will keep building for those who do not deserve her efforts. Dagny defends her commitment to the railroad—regardless of cost. She believes abandoning it would betray something essential in herself. Francisco tells her a story about his ancestor, Sebastián d’Anconia, who waited 15 years for the woman he loved. After Sebastián won the woman over, knew that his struggle was over. Dagny wonders if Francisco is hinting at his own feelings but pushes the thought aside.
Francisco’s dinner invitation functions as an intervention. He aims his warnings precisely at the lie Dagny continues to live: that work can be saved while the world dismantles the meaning of work itself. His invocation of Sebastián d’Anconia reframes love as endurance, as something earned rather than claimed. The story is a veiled confession, and Dagny knows it. Yet she resists the implication. Her belief in the railroad is inseparable from her identity, and she cannot yet separate devotion from servitude.
Themes
When Dagny brings up Hank, demanding to know what did to him, Francisco Francisco’s mood changes. Francisco avoids the question but offers her something else instead: an explanation of who John Galt is. He says John Galt is “Prometheus who changed his mind.” In Greek myth, Prometheus gave fire to humankind and suffered eternal punishment. But this new Prometheus, Francisco says, withdrew his fire—the fire of the mind, of invention, of industry—because men turned against him. The myth has become real, Francisco implies. The world is punishing its creators, and one by one, they are vanishing.
The image of John Galt as Prometheus reimagines the myth of progress. Francisco’s version reframes the narrative: not as rebellion, but as withdrawal. Galt does not punish humankind—he simply stops contributing to it. The fire he carries is not literal—it is the fire of rationality, invention, and independence. Francisco implies that the destroyer Dagny suspects is not a criminal but a savior, ending the cycle of forced creation. This is not sabotage but rather a refusal to support a system that feeds off the minds of people while simultaneously scorning them.
Themes
Get the entire Atlas Shrugged LitChart as a printable PDF.
On March 31, Dagny and Hank ride the final run of the John Galt Line. Colorado is desolate, its economy gutted. Panic rises among the passengers; they sense the end approaching. Dagny notices how even the engine’s rhythm feels strained—less a pulse of energy, more like a dying breath. The shutdown of the line confirms what many already suspected: there is no longer a future in the region. Behind the scenes, the government prepares new legislation. It needs Rearden’s cooperation or, at the very least, silence. Washington pressures James to “keep Rearden in line” and in return promises not to slash shipping rates. James agrees—and looks for leverage. He turns to Lillian, who dines with him and agrees to help. Lillian plans to use Hank’s affair against him.
The final run of the John Galt Line becomes a funeral procession. What was once an act of rebellion now feels like a relic. The country is no longer declining—it is collapsing. The passengers’ fear mirrors the public’s growing awareness that no one is in control. Dagny watches the engine’s pulse weaken and hears the rhythm of decay. Behind the scenes, Washington’s strategy crystallizes: it strives to preserve illusion through coercion. Hank’s silence is now a commodity. James becomes a liaison between power and weakness, enlisting Lillian as his instrument.
Themes
Lillian goes to meet Hank’s train at the Taggart Terminal. She sees him disembark alone—then watches Dagny exit the same car. In that moment, she finally realizes the identity of his lover. The discovery stings more than expected. She wanted a scandal, someone vulgar she could shame Hank with. But Dagny is not who she expected and will be much harder to weaponize
Lillian’s discovery of Hank’s affair with Dagny is problematic for Lillian because her plan depends on scandal, but what she finds is a woman who cannot be ridiculed. Dagny does not fit the mold Lillian constructed to justify her resentment. Her presence robs Lillian of her last illusion: that she is the wronged party.
Themes
That night, Lillian confronts Hank. He admits to the affair and says he will not stop seeing Dagny. He offers her a divorce, which she refuses. Instead, she lashes out, accusing him of immorality and daring him to face the consequences. But Hank no longer feels guilty—he just feels relief. For the first time, he sees Lillian clearly: her lifeless expression, her evasive eyes, her air of shared, meaningless guilt. He understands how deeply he had misunderstood morality—mistaking impotence for virtue and treating the joy of living as sin. He no longer intends to live by her rules. Lillian leaves empty-handed. Rearden, at last, feels unburdened.
Hank’s response ends his long arc of moral confusion. His admission is a rejection of every value Lillian tried to force on him. The offer of divorce signals his readiness to walk away, but Lillian refuses, clinging to a power that no longer exists. Her accusations have no effect. What she sees as immorality, he sees as release. Hank is no longer asking for forgiveness. He is claiming what he once thought he had to hide: the right to feel joy.
Themes
