The Soft Side Of Dagny
At 15512 on Kindle:
"A young woman lay stretched on the sun-flooded planks, watching a battery of fishing rods. She glanced up at the sound of the car, then leaped to her feet in a single swift movement, a shade too swift, and ran to the road. She wore slacks, rolled above the knees of her bare leg, she had dark, disheveled hair and large eyes.
"Hello, John! When did you get in?" she called.
"This morning," he answered, smiling and driving on.
Dagny jerked her head to look back and saw the glance with which the young woman stood looking after Galt. And even though hopelessness, serenely accepted, was part of the worship in that glance, she experienced a feeling she had never known before: a stab of jealousy.
"Who is that?" she asked.
"Our best fishwife. she provides the fish for Hammond's grocery market."
"What else is she?"
"You've noticed that there's a 'what else' for every one of us here? she's a writer. The kind of writer who wouldn't be published outside. She believes that when one deals with words, one deals with the mind."
I credit rockymountainpirate for reminding me of this scene in AS. This is a rare glimpse of Dagny examining her emotions and empathizing with another. A poignant, human understanding and connection with romantic love. For the young girl, it goes unrequited-but Dagny feels a stab of jealousy regardless. I thought it would be fun to explore that scene a little and Dagny's first experience with jealousy. Is the scene used to foreshadow that her feelings for Hank will not be what she will experience falling in love with Galt? Is the scene actually to demonstrate the softer side of Dagny? Dagny the woman-not Dagny the railroad industrialist. Any thoughts?
As an aside: I read that this scene was in part a Hitchcock-esque cameo for Rand. If so, how interesting that the young writer is almost portrayed as Galt keeping her "innocent and pure" in the Gulch. As we know, that writer would be published "out there" and achieve the prominence of one the most important thinkers of the 20th century.
"A young woman lay stretched on the sun-flooded planks, watching a battery of fishing rods. She glanced up at the sound of the car, then leaped to her feet in a single swift movement, a shade too swift, and ran to the road. She wore slacks, rolled above the knees of her bare leg, she had dark, disheveled hair and large eyes.
"Hello, John! When did you get in?" she called.
"This morning," he answered, smiling and driving on.
Dagny jerked her head to look back and saw the glance with which the young woman stood looking after Galt. And even though hopelessness, serenely accepted, was part of the worship in that glance, she experienced a feeling she had never known before: a stab of jealousy.
"Who is that?" she asked.
"Our best fishwife. she provides the fish for Hammond's grocery market."
"What else is she?"
"You've noticed that there's a 'what else' for every one of us here? she's a writer. The kind of writer who wouldn't be published outside. She believes that when one deals with words, one deals with the mind."
I credit rockymountainpirate for reminding me of this scene in AS. This is a rare glimpse of Dagny examining her emotions and empathizing with another. A poignant, human understanding and connection with romantic love. For the young girl, it goes unrequited-but Dagny feels a stab of jealousy regardless. I thought it would be fun to explore that scene a little and Dagny's first experience with jealousy. Is the scene used to foreshadow that her feelings for Hank will not be what she will experience falling in love with Galt? Is the scene actually to demonstrate the softer side of Dagny? Dagny the woman-not Dagny the railroad industrialist. Any thoughts?
As an aside: I read that this scene was in part a Hitchcock-esque cameo for Rand. If so, how interesting that the young writer is almost portrayed as Galt keeping her "innocent and pure" in the Gulch. As we know, that writer would be published "out there" and achieve the prominence of one the most important thinkers of the 20th century.
Gotta love it.
hey! this is perfect for the Bunny Ranch post
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/...
Rand's response cracked me up. i really wish she had responded to the question just to know how conscientious she was with her fiction. a member here, amagi, mentioned the other day that she met Rand and asked the author if she knew what the Scandinavian definitions of Ragnar and Dagny were. amagi said that Rand was not aware of their meaning, in which case it's just a happy coincidence that their roles match their names' definitions (Ragnar = happy warrior while Dagny = new day), although a reader could certainly say that Rand did this intentionally. i think that readers take in a lot more meaning than what authors consciously include in their art, but that's part of the beauty of writing stories and releasing them to the world.
EitherOr mentioned the scene with Dagny on the train where she is enjoying Halley's music being whistled. i agree that it's a good example of dagny displaying her softer side. at this point in the story, Dagny wasn't yet on the "flight or fight" response. she was able to be in enough of a relaxed state-of-mind to let the right side of her brain have its enjoyment. her world wasn't perfect and not everything was pleasant, but she wasn't yet fighting the system the way she spends the rest of the book doing. the next time Dagny is able to relax is also the next time we clearly see her express an emotion that isn't sexual (oh, there's another topic: was dagny's sexual affair with hank an emotionally one or not?) is when she's in the gulch with John. the world is horrible outside, but she's found common ground in the haven with that select group of men and women. because she doesn't have to fight in the gulch, she can relax enough to be the person she might have been able to be in the outside world if the country hadn't been pushed to its tipping point by the moochers. i imagine that, should the story have continued after dagny re-entered the gulch, we would have eventually met a character displaying a better balance of intellect and sensualism. it's clear that dagny is multifaceted and capable of emotion; the reader just doesn't get to see too much of her softer side in the portion of dagny's story that Rand chose to write.
Does the latest version of Internet Explorer wotk with your editing?
Thanks again.
Sleeping with your partner's friend is worse. You don't get horrible diseases from someone undermining your business.
yeah, it was about finding "the one"... which in this case is the most alpha male. Otherwise "the one" would be Rearden (or Francisco) because it wouldn't matter that she had to be there whenever he needed her.
Francisco was a close second to Galt. He was the unobtainable. Francisco had something greener on the other side syndrome. Everything was always on his schedule when it suited him. With him she always felt she had to stand strong. He left her alone to fight all on her own. Francisco made the choice for both of them and he just wasn't there for her. She could torture herself over him and try to have faith in him but eventually she had to chose what was best for her.
It wasn't about finding the alpha male, it was about finding the one. John Galt was the one that was there when no one else was. He was the one that was there in her darkest times. He was the one that was strong enough to carry her when she needed to be, a shoulder to rest her head on. He was the one that saw all of her suffering and the obstacles she faced. He also saw the strength that continuously carried her pushing her to move forward. With Galt she didn't have to hide her strength or her weakness, he challenged her to be her true self. He was the one she could trust like no other He was satisfied with the person he was and He wasn't going to put on an act to win anyone's approval. She could be strong around him and he wouldn't be threatened. He had to be able to count on her when he needed it too. It wasn't a fight to see who wins, it was what was necessary for her to want to come to him unrestrained freely and totally and share herself with him and he with her.
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