Atlas Shrugged

Rearden observes his workers pouring the first batch of the newly created alloy, “Rearden Metal” (RM), to be used in the TT tracks. As he watches, Rearden thinks back on his career. He began work in the steel industry at 14 and worked his way up the ranks in many jobs to buy his first iron mine at age 30. RM is the culmination of the research and development in the decade since.

Rearden returns to the house that he shares with his family—his mother; his wife, Lilian; and his brother, Philip—late in the evening, as is his habit. He gifts Lilian a chain bracelet made from the first pour of RM, and, despite his reluctance, he agrees to attend a party that she plans to throw on their anniversary in three months. Rearden also agrees to give his brother a large sum of money for charity, which Philip demands be paid in cash to avoid the taint of association with Rearden. Throughout their interactions, Rearden’s family treats him with thinly veiled disapproval and contempt. Rearden’s visiting family friend, Paul Larkin, warns Rearden that he is unpopular and advises him to ensure that his Washington man, Wesley Mouch, is good at his job.

Boyle, Jim, Larkin, and Mouch meet over drinks and make plans to approach some of their colleagues in Washington to rally support for their schemes and interests. They discuss the San Sebastian copper mines founded in the mountains of Mexico by “Copper King” Francisco d’Anconia. All four have invested in the mines and dismiss rumors that the Mexican government might soon nationalize them. Boyle complains of the railway service to the mines; Dagny has restricted the number and quality of the trains, predicting that the line might also be nationalized soon.

Since Nat Taggart founded TT, a member of the Taggart family has always run the railroad. Dagny decided at age nine that she would one day run TT and began working on the railway at age 16 while studying engineering in college. Although Jim inherited the position of president, Dagny has been running the railroad from the operating department since their father’s death. For three years, she did the job under an incompetent and hostile manager, but when she threatened to quit, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to promote her to the position of vice president in charge of operation.

In the TT company cafeteria, Eddie meets with an unnamed friend who is later revealed to be John Galt. Eddie updates Galt on recent events affecting TT.

McNamara, TT’s last reliable contractor, quits. Dagny feels adrift but finds solace in listening to Halley’s fourth concerto. Jim learns that the San Sebastian mines and railway line have both been nationalized by the Mexican government. Although he had been planning to condemn Dagny to the Board of Directors for her neglect of the line, Jim now takes credit for her efforts to minimize their losses. He tries to organize a meeting with Francisco, but Francisco refuses because he says that Jim bores him.

The National Alliance of Railroads passes the “Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog” rule to forbid “destructive competition” by forcing newer railways in contested areas to cease operating, favoring established railways. Jim orchestrates this measure to eliminate the threat that Dan Conway’s Phoenix Durango line poses to the TT Rio Norte line. Although Dagny encourages Conway to oppose the decision, he is broken and defeated, opting instead to retire. Elliott Wyatt, whose oil fields have reinvigorated industry in Colorado, demands that Dagny have the new Rio Norte line completed before the Phoenix Durango line closes in nine months. His business will collapse without access to rail transport, but he promises to take TT down with him if Dagny fails.

Rearden agrees to provide Dagny with the new tracks made out of RM on the new schedule, although he plans to charge her a fortune for it. This pleases and impresses Dagny.

The novel narrates Francisco’s past with Dagny. Francisco spends a month at the Taggart estate every summer through his childhood. He spurns Jim’s company but is fast friends with Eddie and Dagny. He leads them on numerous adventures and projects, and one summer he sneaks away every morning to work as a TT call boy. Men of the d’Anconia family have always been gifted and successful, increasing the family fortune with each generation, and Francisco is the best of them. Dagny and Francisco discuss their respective ambitions for the future before he leaves for college.

When Dagny turns 16, she makes her formal debut into high society. To her mother’s surprise, Dagny looks beautiful and feminine in her formal regalia and anticipates her first ball with excitement. The ball is a disappointment, however, and a disillusioned Dagny returns her focus exclusively back to her work and studies. The following summer, Francisco and Dagny compete in a tennis match, and Dagny pushes herself beyond her physical limits in order to beat him. They then secretly begin a sexual relationship, which continues thereafter with Francisco periodically visiting Dagny in her New York apartment. While studying in college, Francisco also works at a copper company, which he bought prior to his graduation with money that he’d earned on the Stock Exchange. This property is added to his family’s business empire, which Francisco eventually inherits.

The last time that Francisco and Dagny meet as lovers, Francisco is clearly conflicted and suffering. Unbeknownst to Dagny, he is grappling with his college friend John Galt’s proposition that they strike in defiance of the society of looters so as to live authentically by objectivist principles. Francisco takes his leave of her and they become estranged, with Francisco going on to live the lifestyle of a careless and degenerate playboy. Dagny is wounded by this perceived betrayal but eventually moves on. Now, in the present, she meets with him to discuss the San Sebastian mines, which Francisco tells her are worthless anyway. She tries to persuade him to fight the looters, but Francisco says that it’s her he’s actually fighting; this should ruin TT, and he’s planning to go after Wyatt next.