The American economy is gradually collapsing. Industrial production is in steady decline, stores are closing, and workers are unemployed. A general gloominess pervades the culture, giving rise to the rhetorical question, “Who is John Galt?” The question expresses the widespread belief that no one can answer the difficult questions facing the American society. Dagny and Eddie contemptuously reject this pessimistic attitude and fight it.
Ayn Rand sets up a contrast immediately between Dagny, the story’s heroine, and her brother, Jim. Both are businesspeople, but each holds markedly different moral and political theories. Dagny is a model of the spirit and practice of capitalism. She believes in industrial production and profit—hard work and earning large amounts of money. She orders rails from Hank Rearden instead of Orren Boyle because Rearden delivers his product and Boyle does not. Likewise, Dagny will provide freight service to Ellis Wyatt and the Colorado industrialists but not to the destitute economy of socialist Mexico because Wyatt and his colleagues produce but the Mexican economy does not. Jim, on the other hand, is an example of the spirit and practice of socialism. He believes in sacrificing for the “public good” and in giving chances to the little guy, rather than dealing with those already successful. He orders rail from Associated Steel instead of the efficient Rearden Steel in order, he says, to give Orren Boyle a chance. Likewise, Jim builds the San Sebastian Line at a cost of millions to give the impoverished Mexicans an economic opportunity. Dagny seeks to earn profit; Jim seeks to serve the public welfare. Because of their underlying differences, Dagny and Jim clash regarding the San Sebastian Line, the choice of steel companies, and many other things.
Jim lacks a mind of his own. Public opinion is an important consideration for him. For example, he’s afraid to take a chance on Rearden Metal because the product is new and not yet accepted by society. Jim Taggart isn’t a man willing to trust his own judgment, and he’s not one to innovate or take a chance on inventions or new methods. Dagny, on the other hand, isn’t concerned with what people believe or say. She has a mind of her own and follows her own judgment. For example, she studies Rearden’s formula and examines the results of his testing in order to understand the metal’s superiority. Dagny is a rigorous engineer concerned only with the facts of the metal and its capabilities, not with the public’s beliefs or fears. Dagny says that she’ll take full responsibility for the metal’s performance, and Jim finally agrees to the purchase of Rearden metal rails. Dagny stakes her future on her own judgment.
This chapter also shows the ominous collapse of American industrial production. The closing plants and stores, the rising unemployment, and the lack of consumer goods aren’t the only elements adding to the growing gloom. The retirement and mysterious disappearance of brilliant, talented individuals in a wide range of fields adds to society’s pessimistic outlook. For example, Richard Halley, the brilliant composer whose music Dagny loves, has retired and gone into seclusion. Likewise, Owen Kellogg, a rising young star of Taggart Transcontinental, tells Dagny that he’s leaving not only the Taggart line, but railroading entirely. He loves his work, and he doesn’t plan a career in another field, but he leaves. Owen’s reasons are a mystery to Dagny; she finds his actions inexplicable.
The question of the new piece of music also troubles her. She knows with certainty that only Richard Halley could’ve written the melody that the young Taggart brakeman whistled. But the boy’s attitude became evasive when Dagny reminded him that Halley wrote only four piano concertos. And the publisher of his music assures her that Halley is retired and has stopped writing. There is no fifth Halley concerto. What, then, was the young brakeman whistling? Why did he tell her it was Halley’s Fifth and then retract his claim?
The steady decline of American prosperity reminds Eddie Willers of the oak tree that stood on the Taggart estate when he was a child. The tree was huge and powerful and stood for centuries. In fact, Eddie thought that it would always stand there. Its roots were deeply embedded in the soil, and Eddie thought that if a giant grabbed the tree, he would be unable to uproot it but would swing the hill and the entire earth with it “like a ball at the end of a string.” The youthful Eddie thought of the oak tree as a symbol of strength and solidity and felt safe in its presence. However, lightning struck the tree. When Eddie looked into its trunk, he discovered that the interior had rotted away long ago. The trunk was merely an empty shell, no longer containing living power. The adult Eddie experiences the same feeling when walking into the Taggart Building. He always felt safe there, in the midst of its great power and its capacity to provide train service to a continent. But now when he walks into the president’s office—the heart of the building and of the railroad—Eddie doesn’t find the energy of a great living power. Instead, he finds the deadly inner corruption that is James Taggart.
The oak tree, giving the appearance of strength and vitality, is a symbol to Eddie. It reminds him that things aren’t always what they seem—particularly that the outward appearance of power isn’t necessarily an accurate indication of inner reality. Taggart Transcontinental (and the U.S. economy in a more general sense), although powerful and seemingly safe through many years, has now rotted away. Eddie wonders what is causing the deterioration.
