Morality, according to the theme of Atlas Shrugged, involves an unbreached commitment to the rational requirements of man's life on earth. Eddie exhibits such commitment to the end. For example, when the Taggart Comet breaks down in the Arizona desert, the passengers and crew abandon it for a covered wagon, but Eddie refuses to leave the train. "We can't let it go!" Eddie says fiercely. At some level, he knows that he means more than the Comet and the railroad. Eddie won't abandon industrial production, technology, science, and progress; he refuses to revert to primitive modes of transport or living. He'll fix the train and restore transcontinental service, or he'll die trying. He is loyal to the achievements of modern civilization and the minds that make them possible. This loyalty is the essence of his moral stature.
Ayn Rand deliberately leaves Eddie's fate unresolved. His friends may rescue him and take him to the valley, where he deserves to be, but it's also possible that Dagny and Francisco will be unable to find him in the desert and he'll die. Eddie's dependence on the strikers is a final example of the relationship between the common man and the creative geniuses. When the great minds are free to act upon their thoughts, they create abundance and the common man flourishes. However, when geniuses are enslaved, they're unable to generate prosperity, and the common man suffers as a result. Eddie Willers — the moral best of every man — understands this truth. His moral status lies in his veneration of the mind.
