Crazynas: catagorized

2006-05-17T00:42:37Z

catagorized

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:42, 17 May 2006
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	**Looters - mentioned		**Looters - mentioned
	**Mouchers - mentioned (term first introduced to describe those who would expect others to be in business purely for their convenience)		**Mouchers - mentioned (term first introduced to describe those who would expect others to be in business purely for their convenience)


			[[Category: Chapters in Atlas Shrugged]]

Crazynas: copied from wikibooks

2006-05-17T00:25:51Z

copied from wikibooks

New page

===Section 141: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 1===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**Dagny attempts to pinpoint the need of the world--motive power to keep it standing, movement to keep it immovable; the Taggart Transcontinental skyscraper rests not on its granite foundations, but in its engines--that's what keeps it going. With depressed thoughts, Dagny Taggart reminisces a visit to [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|United Locomotive Works]] to determine why they consistently fail to deliver the Diesel engines she ordered. The President of ULW talks for hours without answering directly or saying anything of substance. After returning to the office, Eddie Willers informs Dagny that Dick McNamara - the best contractor that can be found anywhere - has quit without explanation. As Dagny walks home that night she sees the depravity that passes for popular culture: books and movies that trivialize what is glorious, demonize what is moral, and exalt what is base; people who act as if pleasure were a sin that one gets away with. Depressed, she returns home and listens to the soul tonic of Richard Halley. While she listens, she recalls Halley's struggles as a young composer, his sudden success, and his mysterious disappearance. She sees in the newspaper that Francisco d'Anconia has returned to New York amidst a scandal in which a married woman tried to kill her husband so she could be with Francisco, whom she identifies as her lover. Francisco says he came to New York to witness the farce - but it is not the farce people are led to believe that he wants to witness.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
**The offices of Taggart Transcontinental
**New York City in the evening
**Dagny's apartment

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
** Chief Engineer
** Dagny Taggart
** Eddie Willers
** Gilbert Vail
** Dick McNamara - mentioned
** Mrs. Gilbert Vail
** President of ULW
** Richard Halley - mentioned

*'''Foreshadowing:'''
**Dagny sees a precision machine tool abandoned and decaying in the [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|United Locomotive Works]] factory; abandoned not because it was valueless, but because the owners could not extract value from it. This foreshadows another discovery in an even less competent factory - a motor that is priceless, but which is left abandoned by people who could not see its value.
----

===Section 142: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 2===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|James Taggart]] awakes at noon, hungover, in his apartment with [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Betty Pope]], with whom he is having a romanceless sexual affair. He brags about how he is going to bring down [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Dagny Taggart]] for what she did to the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|San Sebastian Line]]. But before he has a chance to do this, he receives a call from his man in [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Mexico]] telling him the line and the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|San Sebastian Mines]] have been nationalized, just as Dagny predicted.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
**The apartment of James Taggart.

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
**Betty Pope
**Board of Directors
**Dagny Taggart - mentioned
**James Taggart
**Jock Benson
**Jules Mott
**Liz Blane

----

===Section 143: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 3===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|James Taggart]] addresses the [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Board of Directors]] after the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|San Sebastian Line]] is nationalized. He takes credit for removing everything of value from [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Mexico]], and assures everyone that with his [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Washington]] connections he can get the government to demand just compensation from [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Mexico]]. He places the blame for his disaster on two men who played only a minor role in the fiasco. Moreover, the board he speaks to is given the comfort of knowing what excuse to give to those they represent.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
** A meeting of [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental's]] [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Board of Directors]].

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
**Board of Directors
**Clarence Eddington - Mentioned (Only Appearance)
**James Taggart
**Jules Mott - Mentioned

----

===Section 144: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 4===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Orren Boyle]] meets with [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|James Taggart]] about the Mexican disaster. They can't believe [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Francisco d'Anconia]] was swindled out of fifteen million dollars, and they assume he must know something they don't know. Taggart tries to make an appointment with Francisco but he refuses to see him, because Francisco finds him "boring".

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
**James Taggart's office.

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
**Francisco d'Anconia - mentioned
**James Taggart
**Orren Boyle
**James Taggart's Secretary

----

===Section 145: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 5===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**The [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|National Alliance of Railroads]] passes the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule]] which gives them the power to dictate which railroads can operate in which regions of the country. The rule was crafted by [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Orren Boyle]] with the purpose of driving the [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Phoenix-Durango]] out of [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Colorado]], so [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental]] would not have to compete with them any longer. (It is part of a "friendship" made earlier with Taggart - I do your dirty work; you do mine.) After the vote, [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|James Taggart]] storms into [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Dagny Taggart's]] office and gloats about how he has ruined their competitor, which in his mind is a victory over Dagny. She calls him a rotten bastard and rushes out.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
**A meeting of the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|National Alliance of Railroads]]
**The office of Dagny Taggart.

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
**Board of Directors
**Dagny Taggart
**Dan Conway
**James Taggart
**Orren Boyle

----

===Section 146: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 6===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dagny Taggart]] visits [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Dan Conway]] in order to try to persuade him to fight the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule]], and to discuss morality. [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Conway]] admits the ruling is not fair, but he doesn't feel he has any right to fight the will of the majority. He meekly resigns himself to running his railroads in [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|Arizona]]. Conway states, "I suppose somebody's got to be sacrificed. If it turned out to be me, I have no right to complain." This is an important passage because it is the first explicit statement of the concept of the [[Concepts in Atlas_Shrugged|Sanction of the Victim]]. Moreover, the term "looters" referring to the villain is first introduced in the context of the excuse of "public welfare."

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
** A meeting in an unspecified location, presumably in [[Places in Atlas_Shrugged|New York]].

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
** Dagny Taggart
** Dan Conway
** Ellis Wyatt - mentioned.
** James Taggart - mentioned.

----

===Section 147: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 7===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Ellis Wyatt]] appears suddenly and unexpectedly in [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dagny Taggart's]] office. He issues an ultimatum, saying if [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental]] fails to run trains the way his business requires, his business will fail - and he will drag them down with him. Wyatt had expected a spiel of excuses, as any well-educated looter would have given. However, [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dagny]] surprises him by quietly assuring him, without excuses or explanations, that he will get the service he requires. Dagny knows full well Wyatt's basis from which to question Taggart Transcontinental's ability to service him. [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Wyatt]] states, "You expect to feed off me while you can and to find another carcass to pick dry after you have finished mine." He understands that the parasites are dependent upon him, and when he issues his ultimatum, he is refusing to grant the [[Concepts in Atlas_Shrugged|Sanction of the Victim]]. Thus [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Ellis Wyatt]] is a sharp contrast to [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dan Conway]] in the previous section. The responses of these two men to the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule]] represent opposite sides of the book's central conflict - one accedes to being a victim, one refuses.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
** [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dagny Taggart's]] office at [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental]].

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
** Dagny Taggart
** Ellis Wyatt
** Hank Rearden - mentioned.

----

===Section 148: Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 8===

*'''Plot summary:'''
**[[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Dagny Taggart]] meets with [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged|Hank Rearden]] at his steel mill to tell him that, because of the [[Things in Atlas_Shrugged|Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule]] she will need her rails in nine months instead of twelve. She asks Rearden if he can deliver the order in time, and he tells her he will. Dagny acknowledges that Rearden now holds [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental]] in his power - if he fails to deliver, the railroad might collapse. But, Rearden needs this project to succeed as well because it will prove the value of [[Technology in Atlas_Shrugged|Rearden Metal]], creating new markets for him. They stand together in silence, watching as the first load of Rearden Metal is loaded onto the trains, both knowing what this new invention represents. The two talk about business as if one business' success creates opportunities for another, which is in sharp contrast to the talk about "destructive competition" that was used to justify the Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule earlier in this chapter.
**The first traces of Dagny and Rearden's relationship becomes apparent, as Dagny has an epiphany. "If joy is the aim and the core of existence, and if that which has the power to give one joy is always guarded as one's deepest secret, then they had seen each other naked in that moment." Rearden, however, is extremely stoic, and although this realization of joy is mutual, Rearden replies with, "We're a couple of blackguards, aren't we?" This disturbs Dagny and foreshadows the guilt that will plague Rearden, make him believe that his pleasure is depraved, and eventually undermine Rearden's ownership of Rearden Metal.
**There is an apparent plot hole as to why Dagny did not buy the rail from Conway and skip the trouble of meeting a near impossible schedule. This hole is filled in later in the novel. [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|Dagny]] has an argument with [[Characters in Atlas_Shrugged|James Taggart]], her brother, when he mentions he tries to purchase the rail from Dan Conway, who states in anger that not one foot of his rail will ever be sold to [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Taggart Transcontinental]]. He later sells his railroad piecemeal for dismemberment at a huge discount for dismemberment to anyone - except Taggart Transcontinental.)
**The chapter ends with the extension of the metaphor that the chapter opens with: Rearden states that "we are the movers," thereby transferring the strength and burden of the skyscraper of Taggart Transcontinental to earthly flesh.

*'''The following settings are used as settings in this section:'''
**Hank Rearden's office at [[Companies in Atlas_Shrugged|Rearden Steel]].

*'''The following [[Characters in Atlas Shrugged]] appear in this section:'''
**Dagny Taggart
**Dan Conway
**Ellis Wyatt
**Hank Rearden
**James Taggart
**Looters - mentioned
**Mouchers - mentioned (term first introduced to describe those who would expect others to be in business purely for their convenience)

Atlas Shrugged chapter four - Revision history

Crazynas: catagorized

Crazynas: copied from wikibooks