Atlas Shrugged

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1957

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-10

Part 2, Chapters 1-5

Part 2, Chapters 6-10

Part 3, Chapters 1-5

Part 3, Chapters 6-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Background

Socio-Historical Context: Communism, Capitalism, and the Cold War

Atlas Shrugged was published in 1957, at the height of the Cold War, when tensions between the communist USSR (Soviet Union) and capitalist US threatened to plunge the world into nuclear war. The topics and themes explored in the novel as well as the values of Rand’s objectivist philosophy are strongly influenced by this geopolitical context.

After the end of World War II in 1945, tensions mounted between former allies US and USSR as the two superpowers competed for global supremacy and pitted their respective incompatible ideological systems against each other. The US was dogmatically committed to capitalism and associated values such as Radical Individualism and Idolization of the Lone Genius Archetype. In contrast, the USSR was formed as a communist state founded on ideals of collectivism and social responsibility following the Russian Revolution of 1917, with personal liberties increasingly eroded by Stalin’s authoritarian regime. Both nations consolidated power in their respective spheres of influence—the US over its colonial holdings and NATO allies and the USSR over its conquered territories and satellite states. The nuclear arms race saw each side develop greater and more powerful atomic bombs, while the threat of cataclysmic retaliation deterred the two nations from outright war. Instead, they invested heavily in covert intelligence and fought proxy wars across the globe, backing opposing sides in conflicts such as the Korean (1950-1953) and Vietnam Wars (1955-1975).

Ayn Rand was born in Russia and experienced firsthand the Communist Revolution and the early years of the Soviet State, during which time her father’s prosperous pharmaceutical business was confiscated by government authorities. This experience impacted her greatly and fostered a lifelong resentment of government intervention in matters of economy and private property. When she moved to the US in 1926, she was impressed by the improved quality of her life under capitalism, which led to her developing The Objectivist Perspective of Morality, building on the already prevalent ideals of egotism, individualism, and productivity. She remained an American citizen until her death in 1982 and remained staunchly opposed to any socialist reforms or humanitarian projects that she perceived as a threat to laissez-faire capitalism.

Philosophical Context: Objectivism

Atlas Shrugged is widely viewed as Rand’s magnum opus, showcasing the themes and values that were implied in earlier fictional works such as Anthem (1938) and Fountainhead (1943) and made explicit in her later nonfiction essays and publications. The ideological lynchpin of Rand’s work is her systematic philosophy of objectivism, which Rand herself summarized thusly:

Metaphysics: Objective reality
Epistemology: Reason
Ethics: Self-interest
Politics: Capitalism (Rand, Ayn. “Introducing Objectivism.” The Objectivist Newsletter, Aug. 1962, p. 35).

Rand argues that the world exists objectively and externally to the observer and that universal truths about reality can be discovered through observation. She proposes that mankind’s greatest tool is reason, which should be utilized in the pursuit of one’s own happiness. The Objectivist Perspective of Morality proposes that the greatest moral good is to work to ensure one’s own satisfaction and productivity and to accrue value for one’s own advancement. The ideal objectivist political system is one of laissez-faire capitalism, wherein the government doesn’t interfere in the economy, with policies of absolute non-violence save for self-defense. This philosophy promotes Radical Individualism and Idolization of the Lone Genius Archetype and repudiates The Weaponization of Victimhood.

Rand deliberately developed her philosophy of objectivism outside and in defiance of established philosophical traditions. This was due in large part to her mistrust and contempt for academia. As a result, her doctrine does not take into account the contributions of many prior philosophies. Her arguments additionally lack many of the expected rigors and standards of mainstream philosophical discourse. Consequently, philosophical experts and academics frequently discredit objectivism as a rigorous philosophical perspective (Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 740).

Critical Context: Reception and Impact

Upon its publication, Atlas Shrugged received both lackluster and downright scathing reviews from the vast majority of critics. Its philosophy was widely lambasted as immoral, even dangerous, and few credited it with any redeeming literary merit; as one notable review declared, “It can be called a novel only by devaluing the term” (Chambers, Whittaker. “Big Sister is Watching You.” National Review, 1957, pp. 594-596). Atlas Shrugged remains to this day a frequent target of ridicule and satire, particularly in leftist, academic, and literary circles. Despite the criticism, Atlas Shrugged sold well, gracing the New York Times Best Seller list for 22 consecutive weeks following its publication, with 10 million copies sold as of 2022 (Offord, Derek. Ayn Rand and the Russian Intelligentsia: The Origins of an Icon of the American Right. Bloomsbury, 2022).

Rand is one of the key influences on the development of 20th-century American libertarianism, a fringe political philosophy that sanctifies individual liberty above all else and disavows any notion of collective responsibility. Several attempts have been made to establish libertarian communes, inspired at least in part by Rand’s depiction of the utopian society of Galt’s Gulch, although such projects have been met with very limited success (Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear. Public Affairs, 2020). Objectivism still retains many followers in the present day, with organizations such as the Ayn Rand Institute and the Atlas Society founded with the express purpose of promoting Rand’s work and philosophies. The novel is as popular as it is controversial, particularly among young people, industrialists, and businesspeople, who are reflected by the novel’s heroes.