Quotes Thread. (Post your quotes from chapter 2 via comments!)

Tonight’s discussion featured a different reading of Hank Rearden, the producer-hero’s, motive. (I moved the start time on the inworld event notices to 8 PM, and I guess that caused a bit of confusion. People dropped in and out, and the ten donut-chairs set up for yesterday were never filled :-(.)

Lauren Weyland came in and directly identified the topic of focus that Snow Woodget mentioned yesterday, “Words were a lens to focus one’s mind.” Rand’s heroes are the ones who have both ability and the capability to focus; thus, unlike the everymen and villains, they always know what to do. In Chapter 2, however, Hank Rearden is described, several times, to be unable to understand on his family’s motive — always attempting to attribute a benevolent cause for their actions, even when he has to warp his logic to do so. We’d find out more about the effects later.

Harman Mayo brought up an interesting perspective where Hank is seen to be “powered by” pain — from the ore mines he worked hard to own to, now, his family, which he attempts to placate despite their ill-treatment of him. Hank feels drained by his family, but he does not let himself understand why (and what they’re doing to him). Instead, he’d rather avoid (psycho)analysis, and think of happier things — his work, for example. Once again, this relates to the idea of evasion and being able focus on one’s current problems. [Eventually, we will find that evasion has (eventual) dire consequences.]

Jordana McMahon brought up an interesting question, “Why doesn’t he just ditch his family?” My own answer to that, at this point in the novel, is that Rearden believes that his family is attempting their best to be nice to him; again, this is his re-warping his perception of reality to interpret everything they do in a benevolent light. Rearden isn’t being naive, per se. He just cannot accept the possibility that his family would want to harm or hurt him, and would attempt to believe in anything else other than that (fact or not).

His desire to reaffirm his own belief of a benevolent world belittles his confusion at the way his family and Larkin acts, “His exhaustion had gone while he talked about his business. He felt a sudden spurt of rebellion, a need to recapture and defiantly to reassert his own view of existence… which now seemed threatened in some nameless manner.”

Official chat transcripts are here, broken up into 4 parts: (1a | 1b | 2a | 2b).

We didn’t get to address the topic of “the theme” sufficiently, but several interesting points were brought up:

1. “Blank out”/Evasion by both villains (James) and everymen (Eddie).
   1. In Eddie’s case, he knows something is wrong but cannot identify it (and appears to avoid wanting to identify it).
   2. Eddie knows that he wants to do whatever’s right, but does not actually have an idea of that.
      1. He’s a follower, and depends on Dagny (who looked to the railroad, when he asked her that question in their youth)
2. The motif of the hollow oak tree
   1. Allusion to the Taggart Tower
   2. Allusion to the current world (we might be at the end of a [destructive] cycle)
3. Significance of giant calendar on public building?
   1. Government having the “power” to signify *today.*
   2. Days are numbered
4. Richard Halley’s RL Counterpart?
   1. Beethoven
   2. Wagner
   3. Rachmaninoff (Fountainhead, Concerto)
5. Dependence(?)

Please feel free to post comments, bring out your own points, extend the discussion, etc!

(Here is an edited version [1|2] of the conversation (GMT-8); please read the real transcript here!)

What: In August… We will read and discuss a chapter a day for 30 days, for the 30 chapters of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The 31st will be an all-day symposium on Galt’s speech. (Please come prepared, having read the chapter-of-the-day on your own!)

When: 8 pm Second Life Time (PDT) for the main discussion, throughout the day with others you meet in the area

Where: The Long Discussion House on sLiterary’s Cookie Island on Second Life

Who: You… and both fans and newbies to Atlas Shrugged

How: By signing up for Second Life here (if you don’t already have an account) then clicking the link above to arrive straight at the Long Discussion House on Cookie.
What if I get lost? Email me or IM me inworld via Ina Centaur

What if I miss a session? All transcripts will be made available on this site. Comments are open for all to post to continue or join in on discussions.

The tech’s here… so… Let’s make this a truly global event.