Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand
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At a glance:
- Author: Ayn Rand
- First Published: 1957
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: Approximately the 1950’s
- Setting: New York City and Colorado
- Characters: Dagny Taggart, James Taggart, Henry “Hank” Rearden, Lillian Rearden, Eddie Willers, Francisco d’Anconia, Ragnar Danneskjöld, John Galt, Ellis Wyatt, Philip Rearden, Wesley Mouch
- Genres: Long fiction, Philosophical realism, Novel
- Subjects: 1950's, Social action, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Intellectuals, Philosophy or philosophers, Social reform, Revolutionaries, New York City, Social issues, Oppression, Ethics, Business or business people, Capitalism, Southwest, Railroads, Reason or reasoning
- Locales: United States, Colorado, North America, New York, New York
Form and Content
“Who is John Galt?” The question, which begins Atlas Shrugged, is used rhetorically, in the place of “Who knows?” Through the first half of the novel, various legends about him are advanced. Approximately halfway through the book, the reader discovers that there is in fact a John Galt, the leader of a revolt of intellectuals unwilling to let the products of their effort be taken by others except in fair trade.
The massive novel (more than eleven hundred pages) begins as Eddie Willers, an assistant working in operations at the Taggart...
(The entire page is 2073 words.)
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