Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Chapters 6-10

=Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapters 6-10=

(View complete Structure_of_Atlas_Shrugged, or for previous chapters, see Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Chapters 1-5, for next chapters see Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapters 1-5)

---

Table of contents

1 CHAPTER SIX: THE NON-COMMERCIAL 1.1 Section 161: Part 1, Chapter 6, Section 1 1.2 Section 162: Part 1, Chapter 6, Section 2 2 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE EXPLOITERS AND THE EXPLOITED 2.3 Section 171: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 1 2.4 Section 172: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 2 2.5 Section 173: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 3 2.6 Section 174: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 4 2.7 Section 175: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 5 2.8 Section 176: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 6 2.9 Section 177: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 7 2.10 Section 177: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 8 3 CHAPTER EIGHT:THE JOHN GALT LINE 3.11 Section 181: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 1 3.12 Section 182: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 2 3.13 Section 183: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 3 3.14 Section 184: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 4 3.15 Section 185: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 5 3.16 Section 186: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 6 4 CHAPTER NINE:THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE 4.17 Section 191: Part 1, Chapter 9, Section 1 5 CHAPTER TEN:WYATT'S TORCH

CHAPTER SIX: THE NON-COMMERCIAL

Section 161: Part 1, Chapter 6, Section 1

• Plot summary:
  • Hank Rearden reluctantly attends a party thrown by his wife on their anniversary. Lillian Rearden has invited her circle of friends, which includes the "heart of the country's culture", the intellectual elite whose opinions are shaping the times. This is a bit of an insult, though, as the whole country is falling apart. As these friends speak, we are introduced to the ideas that are causing the collapse of society:
    • Dr. Simon Pritchett, the nation's leading philosopher, declares man is a miserable bit of protoplasm, there are no standards, reason is a superstition, the purpose of philosophy is to prove we can know nothing and find no meaning in life, and that when people realize this they will be more "tractable."
    • Balph Eubank, the literary leader of the age, declares that suffering is the essence of life, and that free will, achievement, and happiness are laughable concepts. Plot, he says, is a primitive vulgarity in literature. He later says, that the machine age has destroyed man's humanity, observing that Dagny Taggett runs a railroad rather than practicing the beautiful art of the handloom and bearing children.
    • Bertram Scudder, the editor, declares that property rights are a superstition. Claude Slagenhop, president of Friends of Global Progress, declares that need is the only consideration, and that this consideration justifies anything, that ideas are just hot air - what is needed is action, and that right is whatever is good for society.
  • Rearden is shocked by the arrival of Dagny Taggart. When they talk he is formal and distant, quite unlike the easy manner that characterized their business dealings. Dagny is taken aback by his manner and is puzzled when he gives her the cold shoulder throughout the evening.
  • Rearden argues with Lillian after he discovers she has invited Bertram Scudder to the party. Scudder had trashed Rearden in an article. He cannot understand why she would invite a man who is so hostile to him, and why Lillian seems to enjoy his anger. He thinks there is some riddle to her character that he should try to understand. Just then, Francisco d'Anconia enters, who will in due time provide Rearden with the answer to this riddle. A self-made man, Rearden despises Francisco as a worthless profligate who does not know how to deserve the great gift of inherited wealth. He tells Lillian to "keep that man away from me." But Francisco has come for the specific purpose of meeting Rearden, and it is only a matter of time until he corners him. First, though, Francisco circulates, and as Lillian's friends spout out their inanities, he glibly refutes them. When Francisco does meet Rearden, their talk is pregnant. Francisco asks why Rearden is willing to support those who are helpless, who never show their gratitude towards him, and who, in fact, openly denounce him as an evil exploiter. He leaves this an open question. Rearden at this point of the story is aware that there is something wrong with the world, but does not know what, while Francisco does know. In this, their first meeting, Francisco tries to place in Rearden's mind the seeds of understanding. The reader is in the same position as Rearden, and the scene is meant to do the same for the reader, preparing us for the explicit revelation of Galt's Speech.
  • As the scene reaches a climax, Dagny is leaving the party before she loses her composure. What she has slowly come to realize is that she came to the party hoping to make Rearden aware of her as a woman, not just a business partner. She is distraught when Rearden responds to her with indifference, and upset when Francisco is the only one who sees her as an object of sexual desire. She has also been pushed to the edge by the inane ramblings of Lillian's guests. As she walks out, she is pushed over the edge when she hears Mort Liddy's bastardized treatment of her favorite song, Halley's Fourth Concerto. At that moment, Dagny hears Lillian denigrating the bracelet of Rearden Metal that she has been wearing all night as a joke. Lillian jokes that it is supposed to be priceless because it is the first thing ever made from Rearden Metal, but she would gladly exchange it for a common diamond bracelet any time. In an act of supreme audacity, Dagny removes her diamond bracelet and offers it in exchange. Lillian is taken aback but accepts the trade. Hank Rearden is furious at Dagny's gall. This scene symbolized Rand's theory of sex that will be elucidated in the next section.

• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Rearden's home in Philadelphia.

• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Balph Eubank
  • Bertram Scudder
  • Betty Pope
  • Businessman 1
  • Claude Slagenhop
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Gwen Ives
  • Hank Rearden
  • Hugh Akston
  • James Taggart
  • John Galt - legend mentioned
  • Lillian Rearden
  • Mort Liddy
  • Mrs. Whitcomb
  • Newspaperman 1
  • Philip Rearden
  • Ragnar Danneskjold
  • Simon Pritchett
  • Spinster
  • Wesley Mouch - mentioned

---

Section 162: Part 1, Chapter 6, Section 2

• Plot summary
  • After the anniversary party, late in the evening, Hank Rearden enters his wife's bedroom in order to have sex with her. He does this reluctantly - he wishes he did not have these feelings, but he cannot resist the urge. Lillian accedes perfunctorily, and starts talking about the party, because talking is what people are supposed to do before making love. As she jabbers, Rearden wonders why she married him, and recalls the details of their courtship and early marriage. He thinks about how unfulfilling his sex with Lillian has been, and how his marriage has been a torture. By the time she is done talking, Rearden has lost his desire and returns to his own room. It is his first glimpse of the premise, from Rand's sexual theory, that one's sexual desires are an expression of one's values.

• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Lillian Rearden's bedroom.

• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Hank Rearden
  • Lillian Rearden
  • Balph Eubank - mentioned
  • Bertram Scudder - mentioned
  • Dagny Taggart - mentioned
  • Francisco d'Anconia - mentioned
  • Mrs. Weston - mentioned
  • Simon Pritchett - mentioned
  • Simons - mentioned

---

---

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE EXPLOITERS AND THE EXPLOITED

Section 171: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 1

• Plot summary:
  • Dagny Taggart visits the construction site of the Rio Norte Line near the Wyatt oil fields. Construction is being supervised by Ben Nealy, who is incompetent but the best contractor Dagny could find. She meets Ellis Wyatt who indicates he now knows what she is, and that he respects her. Hank Rearden is also on hand, designing a Rearden Metal bridge to show off his new metal. The two get along as they always had, as if the party had never happened.
  • Rearden mentions he is flying back east, and Dagny asks if she can go back with him. He tells her no, because he is flying to Minnesota before heading to New York. Later at the airfield, Dagny discovers Rearden was lying -- that he did fly straight to New York. Dagny has no clue why Rearden would flat out lie to her.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Laying of the new Rio Norte Line track near the Wyatt oil fields in Colorado.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Airport attendant 1
  • Ben Nealy
  • Chief Engineer 2
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Ellis Wyatt
  • Hank Rearden
  • Francisco d'Anconia - mentioned
  • Dick McNamara - mentioned.
  • Mr. Coleman - mentioned.
  • Mr. Mowen
  • Nat Taggart's son - mentioned.
  • Orren Boyle - mentioned

---

Section 172: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 2

• Plot summary:
  • Jim tries to trap Dagny into appearing on a radio program to debate Bertram Scudder by promising she'd be there. When she discovers that the topic is 'Is Rearden Metal a lethal product of greed?' she bails out of the car, considering such a ridiculous question to be non-debatable.
  • She visits a diner in a slum area and hears more myths about John Galt, including one that he found the Fountain of Youth, but never came back because he couldn't bring it back.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • New York City streets
  • A Diner in a run-down section of New York City.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Bertram Scudder - mentioned
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Jim Taggart
  • Various people in the diner
  • John Galt - legend mentioned

---

Section 173: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 3

• Plot summary:
  • Dr. Potter tries to convince Rearden to take his metal off the market, because it will make the State Science Institute, a government research facility, look bad for its failure to produce any serious new developments in metallurgy over the past few years. Rearden refuses, even after Dr. Potter tries to bribe him into selling all rights to the metal to the government.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Rearden's Office at Rearden Steel in Pennsylvania.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dr. Potter
  • Hank Rearden

---

Section 174: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 4

• Plot summary:
  • Eddie Willers informs Dagny that the State Science Institute has released a sham condemnation of Rearden Metal that has no actual facts as to any problems with the metal, but essentually an innuendo of doubt as to whether it is safe or not.
  • Dagny visits the Institute to try to find out why the statement was made. The Director of the Institute, Dr. Robert Stadler, refuses to denounce the statement, which was made without his knowledge or consent, even though he knows it to be untrue, because to denounce the statement would destroy the institute, which is all he cares about.
  • Dr. Stadler doesn't really have any concern as to how people are going to think about the false statement his institute has made, because he has essentially lost faith in humanity. He notes when he was at the Patrick Henry University he had three star pupils: Francisco d'Anconia who become a worthless playboy; Ragnar Danneskjöld who become a pirate; and a third very promising student who went nowhere.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Dagny's Office at Taggart Transcontinental in New York City
  • Dr. Stadler's Office at the State Science Institute in New Hampshire.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Eddie Willers
  • Dr. Robert Stadler
  • Francisco d'Anconia - mentioned
  • Ragnar Danneskjöld - mentioned

---

Section 175: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 5

• Plot summary:
  • When Taggart Transcontinental becomes unable to finish the construction of the Rio Norte line, but is also in the precarious position if they don't finish it the railroad will collapse, Jim Taggart develops a strange case of flu and runs off to the mansion on the old Taggart Estate. Dagny delivers an ultimatum: she will finish the Rio Norte Line herself, on her own terms, without help from the railroad. She also demands Eddie Willers be appointed Vice President of Operations in her absence (but it will actually still be her running the company, just nobody will admit it.) In deciding what to call the new railroad she will operate, when suggesting her own name, Jim feels that her using her own name will suggest there is a connection between the two companies. (Which everyone will know but nobody will admit.) Flippantly, she suggests calling the line The John Galt line, and decides to use that name.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • The Taggart Estate on the Hudson River.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Jim Taggart
  • Eddie Willers - mentioned

---

Section 176: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 6

• Plot summary:
  • Dagny spends time selling bonds to finance the construction of the John Galt Line. Francisco d'Anconia refuses to buy them for reasons he cannot say. He is shocked when he finds out the name of the railroad, because she did it for the effect, that it represents "the hopeless" and suggests that if it is that way, let John Galt come and claim his line. Francisco's response is, "He will."
  • Dagny visits Rearden to place the "first official order" for steel rails for the John Galt Line. Noticing that others from Colorado and other places have put up their own money to have the line built, Hank Rearden makes an unsolicited offer to buy the largest block of bonds, not because he's offering her charity, but because he knows he will make a big profit off her work.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • The John Galt Line office in New York City.
  • Rearden's Office at Rearden Steel in Pennsylvania.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Francisco d'Anconia
  • Hank Rearden

---

Section 177: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 7

• Plot summary:
  • Rearden's mother - against Rearden's wishes that they not visit the mills without asking him first - comes to see him and wants Rearden to give his brother Phillip a job in the steel mill. Rearden refuses because Phillip can't do the work. His mother tries to manipulate Rearden by saying he only thinks of justice and has no love. Rearden responds, "Mother, I'm running a steel plant--not a whorehouse."
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • The mill floor at Rearden Steel in Pennsylvania.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Phillip Rearden - Mentioned
  • Lillian Rearden
  • Hank Rearden

---

Section 177: Part 1, Chapter 7, Section 8

• Plot summary:
  • The Legislature passes the Equalization of Opportunity bill, which will make Rearden unable to operate the other businesses he has as part of his operation. Privately, he feels as if a part of his body has been cut out from under him. In thinking about this he realizes a revelation about a new type of bridge development; he calls Dagny to tell her about it.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Rearden's Office at the steel mill in Pennsylvania.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Hank Rearden
  • Mr. Ward
  • Rearden's Secretary Gwen
  • Wesley Mouch - Mentioned

---

---

CHAPTER EIGHT:THE JOHN GALT LINE

Section 181: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 1

• Plot summary:
  • Eddie is ashamed to see The Worker whom he's known for years, because for the moment, Eddie is Vice President of Operations of Taggart Transcontinental while Dagny is building the John Galt Line, and while it would be an honor for him to be a stooge for her, in some undefined way he feels he is a (greasy) stooge for Jim Taggart.
  • Eddie tells The Worker how Dwight Sanders has taken over the bankrupt United Locomotive Works so they should soon be receiving new Diesel locomotives.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Employee Cafeteria of Taggart Transcontinental in New York City
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Eddie Willers
  • The Worker
  • Dwight Sanders - mentioned

---

Section 182: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 2

• Plot summary:
  • Dagny, dead tired after an endless workday at John Galt, Inc., sees a shadow indicating some person is thinking of walking into her office. The sight reminds her of what she wishes she could find: someone she could love, a strong man who would bring out the best in her. The person who is about to enter the office stops at the door, then changes their mind and walks away. Dagny runs out but no one is there; all she can see is the empty street and the entrance to the Taggart Transcontinental Building's train tunnels.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Offices of The John Galt Line in New York City.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Shadow Man

---

Section 183: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 3

• Plot summary:
  • Rearden, required to do so because of the Equalization of Opportunity Law, sells his iron ore mines to Philip Larkin, and hates it for having to do so because he sees Larkin as unworthy.
  • When Rearden sells his coal mines to Ken Dannager, it's almost painless, because he respects Dannager.
  • Eddie Willers comes to see Rearden at the Wayne-Falkland Hotel in New York. Rearden, in his blue "HR" bathrobe, recognizes that Taggart Transcontinental is in trouble because of his Metal, and agrees to give the railroad a six month delay in paying its bills. Rearden really can't spend the money he's gotten from selling his unrelated businesses so this is a way he can help them in their fight against the looters.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Rearden's Office at Rearden Steel in Pennsylvania
  • Ken Dannager's Office at Dannager Coal Company in Pennsylvania
  • Rearden's hotel room in the Wayne-Falkland Hotel in New York City.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Hank Rearden
  • Philip Larkin
  • Ken Dannager
  • Eddie Willers
  • Jim Taggart - mentioned

---

Section 184: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 4

• Plot summary:
  • Public Opinion - without any evidence or proof - is that the Rearden Metal rail of the John Galt line will break or fail, and that the Rearden Metal bridge will collapse. Jim Taggart informs Dagny he's afraid of public opinion. Dagny tells him how their ancestor, Nat Taggart, only envied one of his competitors, who said, "The public be damned!" because he wished he had said it.
  • A delegate of the Union of Railroad Engineers tries to blackmail Dagny by saying they won't allow her to run trains on the John Galt Line, whereupon she orders him out of her office. He changes his tone when she refuses to acceed to his blackmail. She states she won't make anyone work on the train, she will ask for volunteers.
  • In putting out a request for volunteers, Eddie Willers informs Dagny that with the exception of three men who are unreachable, every single engineer on Taggart Transcontinental volunteered to drive the first train on the John Galt Line.
  • Dagny announces casually to a packed audience of railroad engineers that she will also be aboard that first train, but her casual attitude fools no one, they all expected her to go.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Jim Taggart's Office at Taggart Transcontinental in New York City
  • Offices of the John Galt Line in New York City
  • Eddie Willer's Office at Taggart Transcontinental in New York City
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • James Taggart
  • Eddie Willers
  • Union Shop Steward
  • Room full of train engineers

---

Section 185: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 5

• Plot summary:
  • Dagny Holds a press conference to announce the opening of the John Galt Line and welcomes the press to be in Cheyenne, Wyoming for the first train, which will not be a passenger special with celebrities and politicians, but a freight express, running at an average speed of 100MPH. She also announces she will be aboard the train.
  • Hank Rearden is present at the press conference, and announces that he, too, will ride the first train of The John Galt Line.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Offices of the John Galt Line in New York City
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Dagny Taggart
  • Several Reporters
  • Hank Rearden

---

Section 186: Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 6

• Plot summary:
  • Item.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Item.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Name

---

CHAPTER NINE:THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE

Section 191: Part 1, Chapter 9, Section 1

• Plot summary:
  • Item.
• The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
  • Item.
• The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
  • Name

---

---

CHAPTER TEN:WYATT'S TORCH

---

---

Back to Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapters 1-5, Continue with Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapters 1-5.
See Also: Structure_of_Atlas_Shrugged, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapters 1-5, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapters 6-10, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapters 1-5, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapters 6-10, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, Chapters 1-5, Synopsis of Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, Chapters 6-10