Who is John Gault? Roman Ain Rand "Atlas straightened his shoulders": the main characters

The question "Who is John Gault?" Is the key phrase of the main book of the American writer Ain Rand. This is an anti-utopian novel, written in 1957. It's called "Atlas squared his shoulders." A character named John Gault is invisibly present throughout the book, and physically appears only in its final - the third part.

The Secret of John Gault

The first chapter of the novel begins with a dialogue with the question "Who is John Gault?". The circumstances of this character's life become known to the reader in the course of the story. John is a native of Ohio, his father worked as an auto mechanic. The boy left his parents' house at the age of twelve. At sixteen he went to college on his own.

These facts of biography clear in the last - third - part of the novel "Atlas straightened his shoulders." The book has for a long time kept the reader in the dark, thereby warming up interest in the mysterious person. As befits any such character, Gault was an outstanding man. Most of all his abilities were manifested in the field of philosophy and physics. It was on them that the student specialized in college.

A talented inventor

John Gault is the brightest character that was invented for his writing career Ain Rand. "Atlas straightened his shoulders" reveals only general information about his life prior to the beginning of the plot line of the novel. After graduating from college, he began working at the factory with the characteristic name "Twentieth Century." The engineer managed to invent a completely new engine that operated on static electricity. It was a revolutionary development that could change the economy of the whole world.

Then came the conflict, which became the basis of the book "Atlas stretched his shoulders." The management of the plant tried to strengthen control over the workers and, in fact, to make Gault's invention his (collective) property. The designer did not put up with the pressure. Soon he announced his departure from the company.

Protest

The rebel is the simplest answer to the question "Who is John Gault?". Indeed, a talented physicist and philosopher refused to live in the system that was imposed on him by American society. Defending his right to use his own invention, he organized an unprecedented scale strike. He was joined by a variety of talented professionals.

Gault quickly became a cult figure among businessmen, designers and industrialists. They were enterprising and enterprising people who did not want to give their society and state their own designs, companies and other valuable property. Their revolt turned out to be directed against the socialist and communist (leftist) values, gaining popularity in the United States in the course of the development of the plot. These people are vivid individualists and opponents of everything collective.

Atlantis

In his struggle against the state and unjust laws, John Gault went to the most drastic measures. He managed to convince many wealthy capitalists to stop and destroy their own business. A colossal protest of entrepreneurs - the main background of the rest of the events of the novel "Atlas straightened his shoulders." Quotations well convey the meaning of the work, but even better this is the first draft of the manuscript Ayn Rand's "Strike".

Denying public and state norms, industrialists and tycoons, led by their leader, create a secret society and build a settlement in the Colorado Mountains (away from their opponents), which they call Atlantis. Throughout the book, John Gault is the most important figure of the work, although he is not the character on whose behalf the narrative is directed.

Dagny Taggart

The main heroine of Atlanta is Dagny Taggart. She works as the vice-president of the New York railway company, headed by her brother James. The firm is approaching bankruptcy. Its main asset (the railway) has become unusable, customers are leaving, and every day brings new losses.

In these unenviable circumstances, Dagny first hears the question: "Who is John Gault?" - but does not pay attention to the myths about the legendary engineer-inventor. As vice president of the company, she is trying to save the family business. During the first part of the book, she fights for the construction of a new railway. Taking advantage of the myth of the lucky and talented John Gault, Dagny calls the opened way "the Gault line". The new road brings profit, the company avoids bankruptcy and again gets big money.

The collapse of the state

The successes of Dagny are wiped out when the government begins to reform and tries to abandon the market economy. The state wants to create a controlled planned economy that could be tightly regulated from the political center. This system resembles the system of the USSR and other communist countries.

Begins oppression of business - an important storyline fork, which included in his book Ayn Rand. "Atlas straightened his shoulders" more and more resembles the genre of anti-utopia. The situation worsens even more when oil production stops because of the economic crisis. Then the same happens with coal supplies. "Atlas straightened his shoulders" shows how reckless authorities because of their wrong decisions can easily sink any country into the deepest chaos.

Seeking asylum

Dagny Taggart remarks, as one by one disappear the famous businessmen. Seeking the missing, she finds herself in Atlantis, the refuge of John Gault supporters. The main symbol of a small town was a huge three-foot dollar sign, smelted from pure gold. Around it is built many modern buildings, where the tycoons, businessmen and scientists live, who fled the authorities.

The fall of Dagny to Atlantis is an important plot of the novel "Atlas straightened his shoulders." The book finally confronts the two main characters. John Gault explains to Dagny his revolutionary views. His community is a group of free people who want to work for their own good. The economy of the settlement is a free market, where everyone offers the buyer what he can produce. John Gault calls his protest a riot of will and reason against the crowd and her ignorance.

The inhabitants of Atlantis suggest that Dagny stay in shelter and live according to local laws. The main heroine agrees, but soon changes her mind after she learns that John Gault is going to blow up her railroad (all the businessmen and inventors who disappeared in Atlantis deprived the society of their property). Dagny insists on his own. Gault agrees to return her to the ordinary world in exchange for a promise never to disclose the secret of the Colorado shelter.

Speech by John Gault

Dagny returns to the United States. She is trying to save her railway, but this is hampered by total corruption in power. Meanwhile, due to the poor economic environment and increasing poverty in the country, riots of the population begin. Looting and violence have become everyday events. Desperate people seize entire urban areas, steal all property and sow around anarchy.

The President of the country is trying to rectify the situation. He is going to speak on television to calm the population. However, at the beginning of the broadcast, the signal is intercepted by the host of Atlantis. The subsequent speech of John Gault is the most important episode of the book that Ayn Rand wrote for two whole years. The philosopher denounces the authorities and explains the falsity of their policies. He explains the importance of human intelligence, creativity, pride and independence. It was these qualities that made the most successful people in the country refuse to cooperate with the state and go underground. Thanks to the treatment on TV, the whole country is rethinking what happened to her in recent times. His speech, John Gault brought the ending of the novel "Atlas straightened his shoulders." Quotations from his speech migrated to the western political lexicon and to the pages of many writers' books:

• "Refusal to recognize reality always leads to disastrous consequences."
• "... where there is no choice, the existence of values is impossible."
• "The thirst for power is a weed that grows only on the wasteland of an abandoned mind."
• "When one wins and the other loses, it's not a deal, it's a fraud."
• "There is no more sure way to destroy a man than to force him to work as hard as possible from day to day. It is ruining faster than drunkenness, laziness or theft. "

Decoupling

After the speech of John Gault, the government begins to lose power. Enraged people are outraged by the ruinous economic course, they set fire to the last factories, destroy the factories. The country lacks prisons and security guards, in order to maintain such a large number of prisoners. Trying to stay afloat, the president instructs the law enforcement agencies to find John Gault. The inspirer of the revolution is hunted down and caught. He is forced to read the prepared text on television, but at the last moment Gault breaks the speech.

The authorities, realizing that it is impossible to persuade a philosopher, send him to a secret bunker and begin to torture. Gault's associates manage to save their leader. At the end of the book, they fly to the shelter, and Dagny decides to join the protest. This concludes the book "Atlas stretched his shoulders." The main characters see the devastation and darkness in which the country plunged. In the last scene, John Gault draws a dollar sign over a deserted land.