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The Experimental Motor
The recurring motif of Atlas’s shrug symbolizes the withdrawal of society’s creators—the individuals who bear the weight of the world through their intellect, labor, and innovation. The title metaphor is introduced by Francisco’s question: “What would you tell Atlas to do if he felt the weight of the world crushing him?” The answer is: shrug. In this image, Atlas is not a mythic titan, but the creative individual—the thinker, the builder, the innovator—on whose shoulders civilization rests. The world demands their effort while offering guilt, regulation, and sacrifice in return. Atlas Shrugged asks what happens when those people stop. The phrase becomes the rallying idea behind the strike of the mind. One by one, the novel’s producers withdraw, leaving society to run on borrowed time. Unlike a political revolution, the strike is a silent refusal: there are neither speeches nor protests, just disappearance. The shrug is not cruelty: it is a clear gesture of recognition that a system that survives by looting the competent cannot survive at all. When Dagny joins the strike, the metaphor becomes literal. Atlas has shrugged, and the world must collapse. Only then can a new world, built on justice and ability, begin.
Atlas’s Shrug Quotes in Atlas Shrugged
The Atlas Shrugged quotes below all refer to the symbol of Atlas’s Shrug. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 2, Chapter 3
Quotes
“Mr. Rearden,” said Francisco, his voice solemnly calm, “if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?”
“I . . . don’t know. What . . . could he do? What would you tell him?”
“To shrug.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Atlas’s Shrug Symbol Timeline in Atlas Shrugged
The timeline below shows where the symbol Atlas’s Shrug appears in Atlas Shrugged. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2, Chapter 3
...feel guilty for his virtues. He says that Hank and men like him are like Atlas holding up the world. But Atlas is in pain. Now, Francisco asks, what would happen...
(full context)
