Atlas Shrugged/Section121

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapter 2, section 1:     Previous Next

• Plot summary

Hank Rearden watches triumphantly as the first order of Rearden Metal is poured. He reflects on the ten years of struggle to produce Rearden Metal, and as he walks home he reviews his life. To celebrate his triumph, Rearden makes a Bracelet out of the first Rearden Metal that is poured and gives it to his wife, Lillian. Lillian cannot appreciate the triumph this gift symbolizes and uses the occassion to ridicule her husband's sentimentalism. She makes a big deal about Rearden attending a party she is throwing in three months time (see Section161). Also at the Rearden home are his brother Philip Rearden, his mother, and a friend, Paul Larkin, who has come to warn Rearden of possible trouble in Washington. His family insults and criticizes Rearden for the crime of being able to support them. He tries to understand their behavior but cannot come to acknowledge the depths of their depravity. He believes they are expressing the same concerns that he feels, but only in a different way, and that he is morally required to tolerate them because they are weaker than he is. This is the first glimpse of the Sanction of the Victim, which is a central concept of Atlas Shrugged. The abuse Rearden receives from his family in the second part of this scene creates a stark contrast to the triumphant achievement at the mill in the first part of the scene.

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• Setting

Rearden Steel mills in Philadelphia and Rearden's home.

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• Characters

 Gwen Ives: Mentioned.
 Hank Rearden
 Lillian Rearden
 Mrs. Beacham: First and only mention.
 Passenger Number 3: First and only appearance.
 Passenger Number 4: First and only appearance.
 Paul Larkin
 Philip Rearden
 Rearden's Mother
 Worker Number 1: First and only appearance.