Atlas Shrugged, a story by Ayn Rand, focuses on the aspect of human action towards various life situations either based on logical frameworks, or non-logical approaches. The writer discusses this primary concept through giving a story about the lives of various characters in the story, their role in society, business and politics. Conflict refers to disagreement between two or more parties. Conflict can occur due to various reasons depending on the context and furthermore, the extent of damage caused by conflict is fully dependent on the time taken to solve conflict, and the willingness of the involved parties to solve. The idea of conflict in different dimensions is a key theme that has been progressively developed by Rand through both internal conflicts within the souls of the characters, ideologies, and that between groups: the looters and creators (Rand, 2005). In the story, Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearde are the creators who are dedicated to ensuring quality in productivity and are against the looters who are mainly in government: this creates a clear impression of the conflict between the creators and the group of people who fight progress in society for their own selfish reasons. The two characters feel the priorities of the looters are misplaced in the sense that instead of building the economy, they vandalize: bring down industrialization, and further hinder progress in the field.
The conflict of ideologies is eminent, whereby two contrasting ideologies are held by different groups of people in the story, in which each believes is the right thing to do while disputing other rival theories and philosophies of human living. There exists conflict between reason and anti-reason as portrayed by the different characters in the story; individuals who embrace logic against those who fail to appreciate logical frameworks. John Galt and James Taggart are a symbol of these conflicting sides; Galt being swayed to reason while Taggart embracing anti-reason for reasons he holds dear (Rand, 2005) . Based on Galt’s speeches in the story, it is clear to notice his unwavering support for the ability of man to develop logical frameworks, which he believes are key in gaining knowledge.
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The pro-reason argue that reason is a significant part of human living and existence because it forms the core of knowledge and productivity. Reason is driven by the ability of the human mind to decipher the things that their senses help them physically spot. Human’s senses are meant to give man evidence of the existence of things of value, but reason helps them identify them. Identification of such things of value is what prompts action directed to utilization of the valuable things to increase productivity. In Rand’s story, Dagny uses her senses to identify that his brother James lacks strategy to propel their company, and she tries to remedy the situation by introducing her ideas, which later on save the firm from failure. The anti-reason on the other hand have a different opinion about how human beings should live, especially how actions should be taken in various life situations. The anti-reason group of philosophers is either in agreement with mystics of spirit or mystics of muscle. Mystics of spirit believe that faith is the core of everything that involves human life, while at the center of it all is a supernatural being, God. This group of individuals believes that human actions should always be validated by an external locus, which in this case is the will of God. Their actions, however, should be taken without questioning the reason behind them but rather taken with the expectation of a greater reward beyond the grave. The mystics of muscle on the other hand have a philosophy with the same framework as that of the mystics of spirit, except for their source of external validation, which is the society. Actions taken by this group of people are aimed to solely please the will of society. The reason for their actions is also not being questioned because it is apparently beyond human understanding. The reward for this group of ideologists is granted on Earth and enjoyed by their descendants. As Rand (2005) noted, Taggart is a symbol of this group of believers in Rand’s story, and he argues further that the mystics of spirit and muscle who believe that the highest truths cannot be known through reason and those instincts are the true compass to human living and success. Taggart occupies an influential role in the society but his beliefs and philosophy are a major barrier to the prosperity of the business he runs at Taggart Transcontinental; for instance, Taggart’s anti-capitalistic beliefs drive his decisions to counter Dagny’s opinions, which are mostly sensible and logical, for the sole purpose of feeding his ego.
Conflict between groups of people in the book is portrayed through the disagreement between the creators and the looters. On the other hand, conflict exists internally in the souls of the creators. The creators face conflicts in two dimensions; based on their actions which contradict with their philosophies, and conflict with the looters. The internal conflict faced by the creators revolves around their actions and whether they should act based on what they believe in or what the society subjects them to do. For instance, the creators in the story believe in reason as the driver of productivity in an economy, but their actions do not fully portray this belief as evident in what Dagny and Hank do: after putting so much effort in developing industries, and later facing sabotage, they choose to stay low and blame the whole mess on the looters rather than taken action. The creators in the story also believe that the act of giving should be done only when there is something created to be given, which in connection to that depends on the giver’s ability to create. Therefore, if society lacks the ability to create, nothing should be expected to be given out. Additionally, the creators’ philosophy states that giving should only be dependent on the giver’s decisions on whether to extend help or not, which is influenced by their own judgment about the receiver’s struggle or value ( Mayhew, 2009) . However, the actions by Dagny and Hank are contrary to what they believe in. Dagny and Hank are true believers to these philosophies but still put in effort to enhance productivity and help society, yet they feel that the society and government are not worthy the help.
The second dimension of conflict is that which exists physically between the looters and the creators: the creators are focused on entrepreneurship and productivity while the looters aim to destroy the developed entities of production and innovation. The creators are crucial members of society as they possess the brains to innovate and create institutions of productivity and economic development, as compared to masses of labor without creativity. The destruction of such people in society through crippling activities they actively participate in creates an open field for looters to grab power and cause destruction of economies. This scenario is evident in the story by Rand. Rearde dedicates her efforts to industrialization, which directly benefits the government and society. However, Rearde’s metal is denounced by the State Science Institute, an action that causes the stocks of the company to crash, and ultimately cripples the whole industry. Rearde fortunately meets Dagny whom she falls in love with and they partner in productivity. Dagny invests in rebuilding a new line with his lover Rearden, which grows after a number of years but is still crushed by the government. After a few years of success, Dagny and Rearde discover a motor that uses static electricity, although the work was done by an unknown innovator. Therefore, the two set journey to search for the unique talent and fail miserably. Unfortunately, Dagny and Rearde discover that the implemented legislations by government are the drivers that obstructed both the efforts of the innovator to bring revolutionary change in science and also, their efforts to find the innovator of a static electricity generating motor ( Younkins, 2016) . Dagny’s efforts to build business and the industry fail miserably again and it is at that point that it dawns on him that there is a looter of innovators, brains, and an enemy of progress.
Therefore, the conflict that exists in the story by Rand covers both inner contradiction within the souls of the characters whose actions are different from their beliefs, conflict in the actions of the creators and looters, and the conflict between ideologies and philosophies such as reason and anti-reason. Resolution of such conflicts can be handled by reason and logic in the sense that reason will help parties involved identify the cause of conflict with objectivity, and also develop rational remedies to the conflicts. The conflict between the looters and creators also follow the same framework for its resolution: the looters are individuals emanating from a society which has already embraced anti-reason, a rot that they have lived with, carry it along to positions of power to suppress those with reason. The writer clearly stresses on the idea of logic and reason as an important factor in human behavior as seen in the characters’ stories.
References
Mayhew, R. (Ed.). (2009). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged . Lexington Books.
Rand, A. (2005). Atlas shrugged . Penguin.
Younkins, E. W. (2016). Ayn Rand's Atlas shrugged: a philosophical and literary companion . Routledge.
