"This paper shall examine three memorable quotations provided by the somewhat inscrutable protagonist of Ayn Rand? 1957 classic, Atlas Shrugged. The p...
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 1 source, 2005, $ 44.95
Abstract "This paper shall examine three memorable quotations provided by the somewhat inscrutable protagonist of Ayn Rand? 1957 classic, Atlas Shrugged. The paper argues that Gault's quotations are intended to underscore Rand's own conclusion that the de-sanctification of private property, free-market competition, human ingenuity and creativity and, not least of all, societal standards of excellence will lead to tribalism, wide-scale mediocrity and inefficiency, and will excise a society of its essential vitality. In an age where big government remains an ever-present danger, Rand? work has lost none of its importance."
From the Paper The world that Ayn Rand crafts for us in Atlas Shrugged is a deeply disturbing one in which individual thought and creativity has been suppressed to such an extent that society itself has stopped moving forward. This paper reviews Rand's work by exploring three passages found on our assignment worksheet in which his views about the society he has fled are delineated. The importance of these passages to the text's underlying themes will be discussed in their appropriate sections. However, it may be said that Rand's John Gault, the man who effectively stopped the motor of the world, is the diabolical seer whose vision leads to a society of cynical indifference, mistrust, and spiritual vacuity. The story begins with Eddie Willers in a heated discussion with President James Taggart, of Taggart Transcontinental.
Abstract The title of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" represents the major theme of the novel, which is to detail what happens to the world when the best of men can no longer exist in it. The "Atlas" of the title is the character John Galt, the hero of the novel. This paper compares the Atlas of Greek mythology with John Galt and examines the significance of the reference with the political message of the novel.
From the Paper "To look at Galt and his role in holding up the world, it is now necessary to consider exactly what Galt represents. While Galt is one man, he also represents all the thinking men of the world. He is the perfect man, the ideal man who fights to save the world. This is akin to the brave warrior who saves the world by battling enemies, except Galt fights with his mind. His fight is against society itself and a political system that encourages capitalism and rejects the individual. Galt describes himself saying, "I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values" (Rand 936)."
Tags: greek, mythology, world, heaven, decision, society
Abstract In this article, the writer discusses the Atlas Copco Group, which is responsible for the manufacturing of electric and pneumatic tools. The writer notes that the company is extremely successful but like any company of its magnitude Atlas has several problems that must be resolved. The writer makes recommendations to Atlas concerning such issues as supply and demand, expansion in North bay and issues associated with suppliers. The writer concludes that the company must implement total quality management, and focus on R&D as it relates to supply and demand. The writer also maintains that the company should find competent realtors and evaluate lease to buy options as it relates to expansion in North Bay. Finally, as it pertained to problems with suppliers, the research indicates that the company should have contracts with all suppliers and implement some degree of vertical integration.
Outline:
Introduction
Matching supply and demand
Expansion in North Bay
Suppliers
Conclusion
From the Paper "Since the company is concerned about increasing efficiency and competence it is important that research and development, total quality management and automation play a key role in solving this problem. Research and development is recommended because it will assist the company in creating the products that meet the needs of customers. Research and development will also assist the company in understanding the quantity of products that should be produced to meet customer demand. Total Quality management is needed to ensure that the company is producing a product that is of excellent quality; doing so limits the likelihood that the product will have defects. This is important because defective products are more likely to be recalled and product recalls can cost the company a great deal of money. TQM will also improve efficiency."
Abstract This paper explains that, in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," all of the novel's heroes believe in the primacy of individualism and capitalism. The author points out that the villains of "Atlas Shrugged" attempt to control the flow of capital and of creativity by creating a socialist state in which the greatest thinkers and entrepreneurs stifle their natural inclinations. The paper concludes that the chaos, which takes place throughout the course of the novel, illustrates Rand's thesis that money is the root of good, not evil, and that state-controlled industry is the ultimate affront to the human mind and human potential.
From the Paper "For example, John Galt, the statuesque hero of Atlas Shrugged, creates the "strike of the mind" in response to the government's attempt to usurp the free flow of capital and ideas. His name reflects the centrality of money to the novel's theme: Galt sound similar to gelt, a slang term of German and Yiddish origin denoting money. The meaning of Galt's name is underscored by his heroic stature. The protagonist of Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart, also upholds the book's central theme of the beneficence of money."
Abstract This paper looks at the Atlas Copco company's range of services and their marketing strategies. The paper explores how Atlas Copco is influenced by developing local and world trends, especially the trend towards environment consciousness and energy conservation. The paper shows how the company copes with modern threats to the industry, turning them into relative dangers that can be overcome.
Outline:
Overview
Product Description and Market Offerings
Developing Trends
Relative Threats and Solutions
From the Paper "The history of the company in its present form began in the 1950's. Atlas Diesels acquired compressor specialist, Arpic Engineering SA, Antwerp, Belgium in 1956. In the same year the company changed its name to Atlas Copco; an abbreviation of Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale, which highlights the company's increased focus on compressed air. Today Atlas Copco's Airpower facility in Belgium "...is the world's largest and most advanced manufacturing site for both portable and stationary compressors, employing around 2 600 people. " (Atlas Copco Airpower Celebrates 50 Years of Success: 2006)"
Abstract The paper relates that Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is set some time in the future in the United States, which is experiencing a severe economic depression. The paper explains that the destruction of the railroad in the novel is a metaphor for the rise in socialism and the end of capitalistic competition in its purest form. The paper also discusses Rand's fears of a socialist society, one which is subordinate to an irrational majority that is drunk with power and greed. The paper further discusses Rand's belief that a government who strips individuals of rights and values will only lead to despair and hopelessness in the end.
Outline:
Introduction
Factors That Make the Destruction of the Phoenix Durango Railroad Possible
Relation of the Meaning and Theme of Atlas Shrugged to the Destruction Factors of the Phoenix-Durango
From the Paper "The influential characters in the novel include John Galt who initiates, conceives and implements the strike of the great minds, and invents the motor and the "destroyer" (343). Dagny Taggert is the vice president of Taggart Transcontinental railroad, who tries to keep her railroad afloat and out of the hands of looters. She eventually joins in a strike against the looters. Hank Reardon is a steel baron, one of the nation's greatest industrialists, and Dagny's lover. He also joins the strike against the looters. Francisco d'Anconia is a hedonist, playboy, a copper industrialist, and the wealthiest man in the world, who is an ally of Galt and the first to join him on strike. He is Dagny's first lover and suffers the most for joining the strike. Dan Conway is the builder and owner of the Phoenix-Durango Railroad, which is a dominant force in the southwest United States, and overtakes Taggart Transcontinental as Colorado's major freight transporter."
Abstract This paper examines the book "Atlas Shrugged", by Ayn Rand, which depicts the interplay of two forces-- regulated economic freedom and free-market system. The philosophy and the practical stances of both the schools of thought within the context of events that occur in the book are discussed.
From the Paper "Atlas Shrugged is a fictional account, which depicts the causes, the results, and the ultimate connotations attached to the moral and philosophical self-destruction that the mankind, in general, is slipping into in a gradual fashion. The most significant cause and hence the philosophy behind this moral decadence is the lack of belief in the morality of self-interest. And the vehicle through which this is perpetuated is the governmental control featuring diminishing economic freedom. Therefore the plot of Atlas Shrugged revolves around diminishing economic freedom resulting in intellectual stagnation. However there exists an opposing force that provides a directly opposite plan of action with a directly opposite belief system. Those belonging to this school of thought are intellectual and highly capable, rebelling against a society that preaches altruism, a society that teaches struggling victims that sacrifices for the sake of others is proper and moral, a society that indoctrinates its youth with a vicious, destructive skepticism. In this society, need is the most important claim to virtue, and so the most productive, capable men are forced into virtual enslavement by a vicious code of directives intended to eliminate all economic class distinctions."
Tags: economics, free-market, self-destruction, society, morality, government
Abstract This paper explains that the protagonists in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" are industrial geniuses, such as Dagny Taggart and great minds, such as Francisco D'Anconia, who are fighting against a society that doesn't want them but desperately needs them; the society and the government are the antagonists. The author points out that this book is about losing to win, which is a philosophy created by Ayn Rand, displayed by her characters and called objectivism, a system where each individual strives to be the best they can be and to profit themselves. The paper relates that feminists, who are sympathetic with the themes of Rand's literary work, say that Rand has created a rare female character, Dagny Taggart, on a par with any folk hero or medieval knight, but even sympathetic feminist readers have difficulty with Rand's seeming to define her female characters in terms of their relationships to their male counterparts as a derivative or dependent, if not subordinate.
From the Paper "For the adult Dagny, there are few men (individuals) in the world to whom she could submit or subordinate herself. As John Galt is following her into the long, dark, abandoned, granite tunnel of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, Dagny chants to herself, "You will follow me." These words silently spoken are more a claim of right than a prayer, more a demand than a wish. Sensing that she is being followed, she moves even faster into the darkness, pulse beating rapidly, but unafraid. And then, despite Galt's "leashed intensity," the "harshness of his lips...down the line of her throat, leaving a trail of bruises and his elbow knocking her head aside," with "her teeth sinking into the flesh of his arm," there is less surrender than "worship of him.""
Abstract The paper examines Mary Cassatt's "The Caress" and highlights how the entire picture is that of familial bliss, relaxing happiness and the idea of coziness and tenderness. The paper contrasts this to Michelangelo's "Atlas' Slave", which offers a rough image of a slave holding on his shoulders the entire weight of the world. The paper further points out how Cassatt's painting is already well formed while Michelangelo's work is almost partly created by the viewer himself. The paper notes a similarity of the two works that is the unnatural position of both works' center characters. The paper concludes that while one work is a painting and the other one a sculpture, and there are 400 years separating the two artists, both works of art are still excellent examples of how one can use stone or oil to express human feelings and reactions.
From the Paper "Mary Cassatt is one of the representative Impressionists of late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century in the United States and "The Caress" reflects this in a distinct tendency to suggest rather than clearly state. This suggestive style can be noticed, for example, in the wavy lines that define the bodies of female figures and the baby. This brings out a certain delicacy that the painter surely wanted to pass on to the viewer. Since the title is "The Caress", Mary Cassatt wants to show an image consisting of tenderness and care: a mother holding her baby, with the daughter simply participating in this happy familial picture and supporting the idea of happiness in a familial framework."
Tags: painting, sculpture, position, images, color, material
Abstract "Haeberle's The Sex Atlas: New Popular Reference Edition is a comprehensive guide to the biological, behavioral, and social aspects of human sexuality. The book is well organized with essay-like chapters that offer accurate, precise outlines of many subjects, an easy-access, chapter-coordinated bibliography, and a glossary of sexual slang terms. The bibliography is also supplemented by reference and recommended-reading lists at the end of each chapter, providing, overall, an excellent starting point for readers who wish to know more about a particular topic.
From the Paper "Haeberle's The Sex Atlas: New Popular Reference Edition is a comprehensive guide to the biological, behavioral, and social aspects of human sexuality. The book is well organized with essay-like chapters that offer accurate, precise outlines of many subjects, an easy-access, chapter-coordinated bibliography, and a glossary of sexual slang terms. The bibliography is also supplemented by reference and recommended-reading lists at the end of each chapter, providing, overall, an excellent starting point for readers who wish to know more about a particular topic. The writing style is effective and quite clear in the sections dealing with anatomy, biological processes, and other basic subjects. The tone in other chapters is more personal and assertive where Haeberle argues against repressive, out-of-date notions of sexuality. The chapters dealing with factual ..."
Abstract The paper discusses how one of the book's central characters, Francisco d'Anconia, expresses outrage at the expressed ideal that "money is the root of all evil." The character argues instead that money is the root of all human advancement and gain. The paper looks at how this theme runs through Rand's work and concludes that ultimately the entire work rests upon arguing from emotion, using powerful metaphorical and cultural tropes to draw the reader in, but with little factual basis to back up the arguments.
From the Paper "Rand's protagonist accuses those that spout "that phrase about the evil of money," as being aristocrats. She states that such an idea comes "from a time when wealth was produced by the labor of slaves-slaves who repeated the motions once discovered by somebody's mind and left unimproved for centuries." In other words, before capitalism, individuals labored at brute tasks for no reward, other than not to be lashed to death by their masters. Even today, the only people who really despise money are those who gain it by corruption, pandering, and fraud, for if the "source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence...Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you'll scream that money is evil. Evil.""
Abstract In this paper, the writer examines how Crane's "Mercator" details how Mercator as an individual was inspired to take on the prodigious task of the formation of the cosmography that yielded the birth of the Atlas as well as the birth of the globe. The writer discusses Crane's treatment of the environment in which Mercator grew up, and how he was inspired to take on such a prodigious task. The writer also touches upon Mercator's 36,000 word treatise called "On The Creation and Fabric of the World' and asserts that it is perhaps the farthest reaching global vision that mankind has ever seen. The writer concludes that Mercator was a global thinker who personified the means by which the human rational mind was capable of seeing the globe.
From the Paper "In a time of exploration and new scientific frontiers that were to shape the modern world, Mercator (1512-94) had the ultimate global vision. He thought of all things at a global level, and his global vision was to spur the massive project that we has to undertake, the cosmography, that yielded the birth of the Atlas, as well as the birth of the globe. His intrinsic ability to see things at a global, collective level, viewing and organizing the aspects of existence as interrelated and conforming to an order, was the earliest manifestation of perhaps the most fundamental aspect of the global mentality which has become increasingly relevant to society."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the philosophical position of ethical egoism as presented by Barbara MacKinnon and Ayn Rand, as a viable ethical theory. The plan of the research will be to set forth the principal elements associated with this philosophy and then to discuss the manner in which it is elaborated by Rand and, as appropriate, other commentators.
According to MacKinnon, ethical egoism is a normative theory derived from psychological egoism, which as that term implies refers to the motivations of self-interest embedded into individual consciousness. The normative aspect of ethical egoism arises to the degree it implies projection of an attitude toward the individual's status as a social being or the individual's relationship to the rest of the human community. Ethical egoism, MacKinnon says, can be considered in its individual or universal .."
Abstract This paper discusses the life and work of the author Ayn Rand and makes a parallel between her background in communist Russia and her philosophy of objectivism. It show how Rand's works and ideals were the product of opposition to her background and homeland's philosophies by analysis of the themes in her novels "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged".
From the Paper "These concepts of total equality and selflessness are what Ayn Rand despised and fought with her concept of objectivism. Objectivism is Rand's most lauded philosophy; it is Rand's belief that all universal concepts can be explained rationality, neither being received by mystic forces nor created by the human mind (Baker 95). This train of thought conveys three arguments that are ever visible in Rand's writings: individualism versus collectivism, egoism versus altruism, and reason versus mysticism ("Overview" online). Rand embraces the former of each in her two most renowned novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged."
From the Paper "Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is regarded as the embodiment of her philosophy of Objectivism and as the Bible for this philosophy, a philosophy that has implications for business and for the relationship between society and its institutions. Rand herself considered the novel to be her masterpiece, and it was the largest and last of her novels. The book took nine years to complete, and it was received by critics who either loved or hated it. Many found it to be powerful but still condemned it for the ferocity of its vision.
Rand railed in the novel against what she saw as the loss of personal liberty that marked contemporary society. She saw government as having become hopelessly bureaucratic in nature, with the bureaucracy dedicated to reducing whatever personal liberty was left. The novel takes place in a vaguely defined..."
