My entry on this chapter is going to be shorter than others But I really liked this chapter. And also hated it. Ultimately, I had what I think was an epiphany that made me at least a little more sympathetic to Rand and some of her acolytes.
Anyway, the basics: Hank Rearden reluctantly attends his wedding anniversary party, where he meets a bunch of people he can’t stand who his wife has invited. There are some horrible people there espousing some horrible philosophy and treating Hank contemptuously while rarely even addressing him directly. One particularly noxious philosophizer is named “Balph Eubank” (yes, “Balph” with a B, I’m not kidding).
Francisco shows up because Hank’s wife invited him, and Hank determines to avoid him because from reputation alone he hates the guy. But Francisco approaches him and, speaking nebulously, makes it clear that he only came to the party to meet Hank and gives Hank some vague and non-specific observations that appear to be aimed at making Hank think differently about his assumptions in life. It’s pretty obvious that he’s “priming” Hank for something (read: to embrace John Galt’s philosophy) without saying so. There’s also some discussion of a pirate who’s making problems out at sea for various countries, who we’ll learn more about later. Dagny’s also at the party, and conversations between her and Hank and Francisco are strained. At one point Dagny hears Hank’s wife complaining about the bracelet made of Rearden Metal, so Dagny embarrasses her by offering to swap a diamond bracelet off her own wrist in exchange for the “hideous” Rearden Metal bracelet. This annoys everybody but the swap is made. Later, after the party, Hank enters his wife’s bedroom (they sleep in separate rooms) and contemplates having sex with her but doesn’t, because he feels degraded by sex with this woman, and by sex in general, and he still isn’t sure why he married her or she married him.
There’s actually quite a lot of general philosophizing in all this, and to be frank it’s often infuriating to read. When Rand’s protagonists espouse her philosophy, I agree with some of it and disagree with some of it; when her party guests/antagonists speak, they say ludicrous things you’d only really expect out of a Communist (and maybe not even one of those). I agree with a few of the things her antagonists say but disagree with most of it–but who wouldn’t? Mostly it’s a bunch of annoying people saying a bunch of weird things. So far, my view of Rand remains that the core problem is not her prose, or her style, it’s the base preconceptions of her philosophy.
I’m out of patience for pulling out specific quotes from the book (at least for now), but let’s just leave it said that almost every sentence is laden with heavy philosophizing and lecturing. It’s hard not to credit Rand with a fierce intellect; to be able to make practically every word drip with her philosophy and its antithesis is no small feat. It’s also hard not to say “both the theses and the antitheses are often wrong.” And in my view, faulty premises often lead to bad storytelling. As the old saying goes, “I agreed to suspend my disbelief, but not to have it hung by the neck until dead.”
All of that said, I had a bizarre reaction to this chapter: it irritated me, but something finally clicked and made me think I understand why some people, especially when they’re young, really like this book. If you are of a personality type that concentrates on GETTING THINGS DONE rather than social niceties, you probably strongly relate to the characters of Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart. In fact, as a more idea-oriented, action-oriented guy than a “people person” myself, it’s hard at times not to sympathize with both Hank and Dagny. And I think that if you grow up more concerned with things than people (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as many a successful scientist, engineer, computer programmer, mathematician, etc. is of that personality type, and they’re often really great people inside), the whole motif of “I’m sick of everybody laying their DUMB EXPECTATIONS on me for CLOTHES and PARTIES and BEING FRIENDLY and GOSSIPING when I have INTERESTING THINGS TO DO OR EXPLORE” is probably very, very appealing. Especially if you’re a precocious, intelligent youngster who likes exploring ideas rather than the petty political intrigues and gossip and concern for appearances that fill up so many people’s daily lives. Or you’re an older person who’s felt that way your whole life and just grown to think yourself defective because of it. And no, by the way, you are NOT defective if….
CONTINUE READING THIS ITEM on Dean Esmay’s blog.)
(here.)
Dean Esmay is the author of Methuselah’s Daughter. He has contributed to Dean’s World, Huffington Post, A Voice for Men, Pajamas Media. Neither left nor right wing, neither libertarian nor socialist.