Atlas Shrugged/Hank Rearden

One of the central characters in Atlas Shrugged. Hank Rearden is the founder of Rearden Steel and the inventor of Rearden Metal. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Lillian, his brother Philip, and an elderly woman known only as Rearden's Mother, all of whom he supports.

The character of Hank Rearden has two important roles to play in the novel. First, he is in the same position as the reader in that he is aware that there is something wrong with the world but is not sure what it is. Rearden is guided toward an understanding of the solution through his friendship with Francisco d'Anconia, who does know the secret, and by this mechanism the reader is also prepared to understand the secret when it is revealed explicitly in [Galt's Speech]?.

Second, Rearden is used to illustrate Rand's theory of sex. Lillian Rearden cannot appreciate Hank Rearden's virtues, and she is portrayed as being disgusted by sex. Dagny clearly does appreciate Rearden's virtues, and this appreciation evolves into a sexual desire. Rearden is torn by a contradiction because he accepts the premises of the traditional view of sex as a lower instinct, while responding sexually to Dagny, who represents his highest values. Rearden struggles to resolve this internal conflict and in doing so illustrates Rand's sexual theory.

Rearden appears in:

 Section114 - Mentioned.
 Section121
 Section131 - Mentioned and alluded to.
 Section132
 Section147
 Section161