Atlas Shrugged

Dr. Robert Stadler paces inside his office at the State Science Institute. A chill settles in his bones as he looks out at the gray hills and the dark river beyond his window. It is May, yet the weather remains bitterly cold, a reminder of the fuel shortages that plagued the country during the past winter. He remembers the long winter that stalled work on the laboratory motors and wasted valuable time. A book authored by Dr. Floyd Ferris and titled Why Do You Think You Think? lies on his desk, and he pushes it aside in a sudden burst of anger. He waits impatiently for Dr. Ferris to arrive so that he can address the concerns pressing on his mind.

Dr. Ferris enters at last and excuses his lateness by blaming car trouble in Washington. He immediately begins discussing the oil shortage and the Wyatt Reclamation Project. He explains that Wyatt set fire to his own oil wells in Colorado and, because there are no heirs and no will, the government has taken control of the fields for a seven-year term. Ferris outlines the technical obstacles involved in replicating Wyatt’s process using damaged machinery and incomplete documentation. He insists that the fire was an accident and claims Wyatt died in it.

Ferris then brings up a secret project, Project X, stressing its importance and insisting that no one must speak of it publicly. He vaguely mentions it involves the use of sound, offering no specifics. The two men exchange heated remarks about whether science should serve the public or remain pure; Stadler criticizes the way Ferris twists scientific truth for political purposes, and Ferris defends his approach by saying that the public prefers not to think deeply.

Stadler is especially disturbed that the book Ferris authored includes a false endorsement from him and presents irrational ideas that he does not accept. Before more can be said, Ferris stands, offers another brief apology, and leaves with a remark about his car troubles and the vanishing of reliable suppliers. Before leaving, Ferris also notes that Andrew Stockton and Lawrence Hammond have disappeared as well.

Stadler sits alone, feeling his authority slip further from reach. He questions whether he has abandoned the ideals that once defined his work. In a wave of resentment, he tosses Why Do You Think You Think? into the wastebasket. A brief moment of distraction arrives when the telephone rings—Dagny is calling. Stadler agrees to meet with her later that afternoon. He is clearly excited to hear from her and volunteers to travel to New York rather than ask her to come to him.

Dagny draws a black line through Train Number 93 on the schedule, cutting service due to the collapse of industry in Colorado. Wyatt, Andrew Stockton, and Lawrence Hammond have either vanished or retired, leaving the region crippled. A single oil well continues to burn in Colorado, known now as Wyatt’s Torch. She remembers her engineers combing through the abandoned factory and the Patent Office in search of the experimental motor’s inventor but uncovering no trace. Still frustrated, she meets with Stadler to explain that she found the motor in a deserted factory but has not identified its creator. She hands him photographs of the damaged machine and the scattered pages of a manuscript describing its construction.

Stadler studies the material with mounting intensity. His eyes move quickly over the pages. Speaking with rising excitement, Stadler questions why a mind capable of such innovation would operate in a modest, commercial environment rather than at a prestigious scientific institute. He asks Dagny whether she can recall any young scientist from 10 years earlier who might have produced such a breakthrough. When she admits her investigation has produced no answers, he offers a suggestion: Quentin Daniels, a physicist from the Utah Institute of Technology who once rejected a government job. Stadler agrees to assist with the theoretical research to identify the motor’s energy source, and Dagny promises to contact Daniels.

After their meeting, Stadler and Dagny walk together through the dim tunnels of the Terminal. They pass along a rusted stretch of track and encounter two workers adjusting a switch. One of the men asks, “How long is it going to take?” The other shrugs and replies, “Who is John Galt?” Stadler stiffens at the name and quickly waves it off as nonsense. He remembers having once known an extraordinary man with that name but now insists it is a coincidence, and the man he knew must be long dead.

At Hank’s steel mills, a document stamped “Confidential … Emergency … Priority …” rests on his desk. The order demands that he deliver ten thousand tons of metal to the State Science Institute. According to the Fair Share Law, Hank must supply metal to anyone who submits a request, but the volume of requests makes it impossible to satisfy them all. Those with political connections receive far more than their supposed “fair share,” while legitimate industrial needs remain unmet.

To oversee allocation, the government assigns a young official to the mills as Deputy Director of Distribution, a position that quickly earns him the nickname “the Wet Nurse” from the steelworkers. The young man parrots government slogans and encourages Hank to accept the new order. Hank deliberately refuses to act on an order from the State Science Institute concerning a project called Project X. One week later, an Institute representative arrives to persuade him to cooperate. Hank declines, instructing the man to bring trucks and take whatever metal the Institute requires, but he will not pretend that the transaction is voluntary. The representative, clearly unsettled, departs after muttering vague threats. His parting tone is bitter, and he warns Hank that he will regret this decision.

That night, Dagny sits in an armchair in her apartment, physically drained yet filled with anticipation for Hank’s return. She reflects on how her time with him feels like the only part of her life in which she truly lives, rather than simply endures. She remembers a winter evening when Hank gave her a ruby pendant. When she objected that the gift was too lavish, Hank led her into the bedroom, removed her clothing, and placed the pendant around her neck, saying he wanted her to wear it for his own satisfaction. As she lay on the bed adorned only with the necklace, he told her that she resembled a work of art—something great artists would strive to capture but never completely understand.

As time passed, Hank continued to send Dagny lavish gifts. One evening, he took her to dinner and instructed her to wear a blue dress. As she sat wrapped in her cape, he watched her with the focused pride of a craftsman observing his own creation. He explained that he took pleasure in giving her things not because she lacked them, but precisely because she did not—because he wanted her to have them, and he wanted them to come from him. He confessed that this impulse was a selfish indulgence, but she replied that he had earned it, just as he had earned everything else that he built.

Back in the present, Hank walks toward Dagny’s apartment, absorbed in his thoughts. He has just left a meeting with copper producers who are being ruined by government regulations. The condition of the world fills him with disgust, as he sees no space remaining for thought or action—only obedience. He recognizes that he no longer possesses the will to resist. Dagny remains the only part of his life that still carries meaning. Yet even his desire for her has dulled—not due to fading passion, but because he has lost his sense of purpose.

When Hank arrives at Dagny’s apartment, he finds her waiting, and the sight causes a genuine smile to return to his face. He tells her to remain seated because he wants to look at her. She responds with a teasing remark, reminding him that he should know by now she always waits for him. Dagny explains that she feels secure in her own worth—and in his—and that this is why she can admit to wanting him. She adds that most people only believe they have value when someone else desires them.

Hank and Dagny spend the evening in conversation. Hank tells her about the representative from the State Science Institute who demanded Rearden Metal for Project X. Dagny offers to speak with Stadler to try to stop the order, but Hank tells her not to. He says he does not want her entangled with a man like Stadler. Their discussion turns to the experimental motor. Hank feels a sense of awe knowing that the inventor must have truly existed—that someone once possessed the brilliance and ability to create such a machine.

Hank explains to Dagny that the “looters”—his term for those in power—do not simply seek to seize wealth or goods. They crave moral approval. They depend on their victims to behave as though everything is normal, as though the looters’ rule is just and legitimate. That is what Stadler attempted to gain from Dagny, and what the Institute’s agent attempted to gain from Hank. Hank insists that they must never provide that approval. Even if all they have built is destroyed, they must never pretend that the looters are anything but looters. He says this is the only way to survive. Dagny agrees. She has experienced the same realization, though she lacked the words to express it until now. Together, they understand that the system’s strength lies in persuading people like them to surrender. But now, they have taken the first step toward resistance.