Summary—Chapter VII: “This is John Galt Speaking”
Centuries ago, the man who was—no matter
what his errors—the greatest of your philosophers, has stated the formula
defining the concept of existence and the rule of all knowledge:
A is A. A thing is itself. You have never grasped the meaning of
his statement. I am here to complete it: Existence is Identity,
Consciousness is Identification.
See Important Quotations Explained
Rearden vanishes, sending Dagny a note that says only,
“I have met him. I don’t blame you.” Without him, the output of
the steel industry shrinks. The country is panicky, and violent
gangs gain control. Newspapers tell conflicting stories, mostly
in the form of denials, but everywhere the collapse of society is
obvious.
In an attempt to calm the public, the government announces
that Mr. Thompson, the Head of State, will give a speech on all
stations to address the crisis. The date and time are announced
repeatedly for a week. At the moment the speech is to begin, the
airwaves are taken over, and John Galt addresses the public instead.
Galt delivers a long, detailed speech about the state of the nation
and the strike of the mind and its reasons.
He denounces the mystics who claim God as the highest
moral authority, and the socialists, who claim one’s neighbors as
the highest moral authority. He argues that morality is not an arbitrary
system imposed from the outside, but an integral part of man himself. Man’s
reason, Galt says, is his moral faculty. Serving himself is the highest
goal of the moral man. He describes the principles under which every
man must live: reason, purpose, and self-esteem. These principles,
he declares, imply and require all of man’s virtues: rationality,
independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, and pride.
He calls for a general strike, asking those with any shred of reason
left to withdraw their sanction and stop supporting their own destroyers.
He urges people to accept reality and to stop shrinking from knowledge,
but accept it and reclaim the concept of an objective reality.
Summary—Chapter VIII: The Egoist
After the speech, Mr. Thompson and the other Washington
men are terrified and desperate. Dr. Stadler suggests coldly that
they should kill Galt. Mr. Thompson thinks that Galt is a man of
action, precisely what the nation needs, and that he can get the
retired industrialists back. Thompson wants to negotiate with him.
After the broadcast, Eddie tells Dagny that he knows John
Galt, that for years he has talked to him at the Taggart cafeteria.
He wonders if he was helping to save or to destroy the railroad.
Dagny asks him to keep his knowledge of Galt’s employment secret,
because the government is desperate to find him.
The country falls deeper into chaos. The government
searches for Galt, while a steady flow of broadcasts announce that
John Galt will solve the country’s problems. Thompson asks Dagny
if she knows where to find Galt. He hints that the situation is
now desperate. He can no longer control the government’s dangerous
faction, and if they were to find Galt first, they might kill him.
She tells Thompson that she does not know where Galt is. After her
conversation with Mr. Thompson, Dagny is so afraid for Galt that
she rushes to his apartment. When she reaches him, he tells her
that she was followed by government agents, and in a short time
they will storm the apartment. He tells her that she must pretend
to be against him. If they realize the nature of Galt and Dagny’s
relationship, they will use her to torture him. When the agents appear
to arrest him, she pretends he is her enemy.
