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Atlas Shrugged/Synopsis/Section 2A

< Atlas Shrugged
The latest reviewed version was checked on 11 May 2022. There is 1 pending change awaiting review.

See Also: Structure, Part 1: Chapters 1-5, Part 1: Chapters 6-10, Part 2: Chapters 1-5, Part 2: Chapters 6-10, Part 3: Chapters 1-5, Part 3: Chapters 6-10

Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapters 6-10

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CHAPTER SIX: Miracle Metal

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Section 261: Part 2, Chapter 6, Section 1

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  • Plot summary:
    • The Washington gang discuss their problems with revenue & jobs. They decide it is time to move forward with Directive 10-289, which dictates that:
  1. Workers can't quit
  2. Businesses can't close for any reason
  3. Patents and copyrights are to be signed over to the government
  4. No new inventions are to be allowed
  5. Businesses will produce the same output as the last year, no more, no less
  6. Every private citizen will spend the same per year as they did the year before.
  7. Wages, profits, dividends are frozen as is
  8. A new Unification Board will be the judge of all disputes
    • Fred Kinnan who represents labor insists that the Unification Board be all labor men, and through threats of causing trouble with the workers he gets his way.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Entry
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Mr. Thompson
    • Wesley Mouch
    • James Taggart
    • Orren Boyle
    • Dr. Floyd Ferris
    • Mr. Weatherby
    • Fred Kinnan
    • Eugene Lawson
    • Others

Section 262: Part 2, Chapter 6, Section 2

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  • Plot summary:
    • Dagny wakes in her office around 9:30am, having worked into the early hours. She learns of Directive 10-289 via a call from Francisco and resigns. She tells Eddie that she'll be at the Taggart cabin in Woodstock, although he is not to tell anyone else.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Dagny's office at Taggart Transcontinental
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Eddie Willers
    • Francisco d'Anconia (via phone)

Section 263: Part 2, Chapter 6, Section 3

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  • Plot summary:
    • Workers are quitting at Reardon Steel at a slow but steady pace, just disappearing. Dr. Ferris visits Hank without an appointment but Hank sees him. He wants Hank to sign a Gift Certificate giving away his rights to Reardon Steel. He blackmails Hank by threatening to expose Dagny as his mistress, to ruin her reputation. Hank signs.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Hank's office at Reardon Steel
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Hank Reardon
    • Gwen Ives
    • Dr. Ferris

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Moratorium on Brains

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Section 271: Part 2, Chapter 7, Section 1

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  • Plot summary:
    • Eddie Willers is in the cafeteria at Taggart Terminal talking to "the anonymous worker", telling him just about everything. He talks about Dagny quitting and even includes where she is (the Taggart cabin outside Woodstock). He also tells him about the orders to take the extra diesel engine from the mouth of the Taggart Tunnel for Chick Morrison's publicity tour.
    • He tells how Hank Reardon signed over his metal to the government, how Orren Boyle was going to start making it until his mill was blown up by Ragnar.
    • The anonymous worker mentions that he will be gone on vacation for a month.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • The cafeteria at Taggart Transcontinental
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Eddie Willers
    • The Mysterious Worker

Section 272: Part 2, Chapter 7, Section 2

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  • Plot summary:
    • Hank Reardon is walking home in the dark from his mills to his apartment in Philadelphia. Ragnar steps out from some bushes to give Hank a bar of gold. He explains that the gold is repayment for money taken from him by force.
    • Ragnar says he wants to kill off the idea of Robin Hood, that he himself is the opposite of Robin Hood. Ragnar takes from the (thieving) poor and gives to the (productive) rich.
    • He explains that he never attacks private ships. Nor does he attack military vessels because the military is a proper function of government. He attacks looter's ships filled with goods that were taken by force from productive men, or relief ships.
    • He explains that he sells the goods for gold, either to some American friends or to black marketeers in the People's States of Europe (who he considers forced into crime by their laws).
    • A cop car comes by, looking for Ragnar, the policemen recognize Hank. Instead of turning Ragnar in Hank protects him, telling the police that Ragnar is his bodyguard.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • The road between Reardon Mills and Hank Reardon's apartment
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Hank Reardon
    • Ragnar Danneskjold
    • A couple cops

Section 273: Part 2, Chapter 7, Section 3

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  • Plot summary:
    • A Taggart train loses its diesel engine just short of the Taggart Tunnel in Colorado. Kip Chalmers is on board and demands that a replacement engine be found.
    • The spare diesel engine kept by the tunnel for exactly this situation has been ordered elsewhere by the government. The story leads us through the various Taggart personnel who don't want to make a decision. The only engine available is a coal burner. This is very risky because of the fumes and the length of the tunnel. But Kip Chalmers orders it so that he can make it to a big rally. Finally an engineer with a record of safety lapses who is also drunk agrees to drive it.
    • The men swapping the engines and switching the tracks know that they are creating a dangerous situation but do nothing to stop the train.
    • We are told about some of the people on the train, and why they are worthless. Lastly, the train goes into the tunnel and we know they are going to die.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • The Taggart Comet
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Kip Chalmers
    • Various railroad workers
    • Various passengers

CHAPTER EIGHT: By Our Love

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Section 281: Part 2, Chapter 8, Section 1

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  • Plot summary:
    • Having quit her job, Dagny is staying at a cabin on a self imposed vacation, but she is having a hard time enjoying herself, she feels the urge to work. Francisco visits, telling her that he is destroying d'Anconia Copper to avoid giving it to the looters.
    • On the radio, Dagny hears of the Taggart Tunnel disaster, she immediately leaves for New York to deal with it.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • The Taggart Cabin
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Francisco d'Anconia

Section 282: Part 2, Chapter 8, Section 2

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  • Plot summary:
    • At Taggart Transcontinental, Jim is contemplating his resignation over the tunnel disaster. He yells at Eddie to tell him where Dagny is, which Eddie refuses to do. Dagny shows up, and starts planning how to deal with the disaster. Wesley Mouch calls from Washington full of promises. Dagny calls Hank to let him know she is back. He tells her about the "Gift Certificate", signing over Reardon Metal to the government.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Taggart Transcontinental
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Jim Taggart
    • Eddie Willers
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Hank Reardon(via phone)

CHAPTER NINE: The Face Without Pain or Fear or Guilt

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Section 291: Part 2, Chapter 9, Section 1

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  • Plot summary:
    • Dagny wakes in her apartment, feels for the first time that her work is pointless. Francisco visits, essentially admits that he is with "the destroyer". Hank shows up and is angry that Francisco is there and slaps him. Francisco leaves without fighting back. Dagny gets letter from Quentin Daniels that he will no longer work for her on the motor. He will keep working, but plans to keep any discoveries he might make to himself. Dagny arranges to take the Taggart Comet to see Daniels to convince him to continue.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart's apartment
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Francisco d'Anconia
    • Hank Reardon

Section 292: Part 2, Chapter 9, Section 2

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  • Plot summary:
    • Eddie Willers is at Dagny's apartment getting instructions while she packs. He sees a man's robe with the initials H.R. and realizes that she is having an affair with Hank. He feels jealous and realizes that he loves her.
    • Later he goes to the company cafeteria and meets the anonymous worker. Eddie tells him about Quentin, and about Hank. The worker excuses himself.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart's apartment
    • The cafeteria at Taggart Terminal
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Eddie Willers
    • Dagny Taggart
    • The Anonymous Worker

CHAPTER TEN: The Sign of the Dollar

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Section 2A1: Part 2, Chapter 10, Section 1

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  • Plot summary:
    • Dagny is on the Comet train heading out West. She meets a "bum" hiding in the vestibule of her car who used to be a skilled lathe operator. He once worked at the 20th Century Motor Company. He described the "new plan" put into place 12 years ago by the children of the company founder after his death. It was based on the idea of "to each according to his need, from each according to his ability". He was there at the company meeting when John Galt said, "I will stop the motor of the world". As their company started to fail, the bum and his coworkers started the phrase "Who is John Galt" to express hopelessness.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • A Taggart train
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Owen Kellogg

Section 2A2: Part 2, Chapter 10, Section 2

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  • Plot summary:
    • Dagny wakes to find that the train has stopped. She find that Owen Kellog is on the train. They walk up the tracks to find an emergency phone and she arranges for a new crew. She walks to a small nearby airport and buys a plane. She flies to Afton to see Quentin Daniels, to convince him to continue working on the motor for her. When she lands, the airport staff member tells her that Quentin Daniels just left in the plane that took off as she landed. She follows that plane, back to Colorado. She encounters a strange phenomenom that stalls her engine, and she goes down in a crash landing.
  • The following Places in Atlas Shrugged are used as settings in this section:
    • A Taggart train
    • An airport
  • The following Characters in Atlas Shrugged appear in this section:
    • Dagny Taggart
    • Owen Kellogg

See Also: Structure, Part 1: Chapters 1-5, Part 1: Chapters 6-10, Part 2: Chapters 1-5, Part 2: Chapters 6-10, Part 3: Chapters 1-5, Part 3: Chapters 6-10

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