The question "Who is John Gault?" - The key phrase of the main book of the American writer Ayn Rand. This is an anti-utopian novel written in 1957. It's called Atlas Shrugged. A character named John Gault is invisibly present throughout the book, and physically appears only in its final - third part.
The mystery of John Gault
The first chapter of the novel begins with a dialogue with the question "Who is John Gault?" The circumstances of the life of this character become known to the reader in the course of the plot. John is from an ordinary Ohio family, and his father worked as a car mechanic. The boy left his parents' house at the age of twelve. At sixteen he entered college on his own.
These facts of the biography are clarified in the last - third - part of the novel Atlas Shrugged. The book has long kept the reader in the dark, thereby fueling interest in the mysterious person. As befits any such character, Gault was an outstanding person. Most of all his abilities were manifested in the field of philosophy and physics. It was them who the student specialized in while studying at college.
Talented inventor
John Gault is the brightest character that Ayn Rand came up with during her writing career. âAtlas Shruggedâ reveals only general information about his life before the plot of the novel. After graduating from college, he began working at a factory with the characteristic name Twentieth Century. The engineer was able to invent a completely new engine that worked on static electricity. It was a revolutionary development that could change the economy of the whole world.
Then came the conflict, which became the basis of the book âAtlas Shruggedâ. The plant management tried to strengthen control over the workers and actually make Gaultâs invention their (collective) property. The designer did not put up with pressure. Soon he announced his departure from the company.
Protest
The rebel is the simplest answer to the question "Who is John Gault?" Indeed, the talented physicist and philosopher refused to live in the system that American society imposed on him. Defending his right to use his own invention, he organized an unprecedented strike on a scale. A variety of talented specialists joined him.
Gault quickly became a cult figure among businessmen, designers and industrialists. These were initiative and enterprising people who did not want to give their own developments, companies and other valuable property to society and the state. Their rebellion turned out to be directed against socialist and communist (left) values, which were gaining popularity in the United States as the plot progressed. These people are bright individualists and opponents of the collective.
Atlantis
In his struggle against the state and unfair laws, John Gault took the most drastic measures. He managed to convince many wealthy capitalists to stop and destroy their own business. The colossal protest of entrepreneurs is the main background of the rest of the events of Atlas Shrugged. The quotes convey the meaning of the work well, but even better is the first draft title of Ain Rand's manuscript, The Strike.
Denying social and state norms, industrialists and magnates, led by their leader, create a secret society and build a settlement in the Colorado Mountains (away from their opponents), which they call Atlantis. Throughout the book, John Gault is the most important figure in the work, although he is not the character on whose behalf the story is being narrated.
Dagney Taggart
The main character of Atlanta is Dagny Taggart. She works as vice president of a New York rail company led by her sibling James. The company is approaching bankruptcy. Its main asset (the railway) has become unusable, customers are leaving, and every day brings ever new losses.
In these unenviable circumstances, Dagney first hears the question: âWho is John Gault?â - but does not pay attention to the myths of the legendary engineer-inventor. As vice president of the company, she is trying to save the family business. During the first part of the book, she fights for the construction of a new railway. Using the myth of the successful and talented John Gault, Dagney calls the opened path "Gault Line." The new road makes a profit, the company avoids bankruptcy and again receives a lot of money.
State collapse
Dagneyâs success is nullified when the government begins to reform and tries to abandon the market economy. The state wants to create a controlled planned economy that could be tightly regulated from the political center. This system resembles that of the USSR and other communist countries.
The oppression of business begins - an important plot fork, which Ayn Rand included in her book. âAtlas Shruggedâ is increasingly reminiscent of the dystopian genre. The situation worsens even more when oil production ceases due to the economic crisis. Then the same thing happens with coal supplies. âAtlas Shruggedâ shows how reckless power, due to its wrong decisions, can easily plunge any country into the deepest chaos.
Seek refuge
Dagney Taggart notices how famous businessmen disappear one after another. Seeking the missing, she finds herself in Atlantis - the refuge of John Gault supporters. The main symbol of the small town was a huge three-foot dollar sign, melted from pure gold. Around it are built a lot of modern buildings, where magnates, entrepreneurs and scientists who have fled from the authorities live.
Dagneyâs entry into Atlantis is an important plot twist of Atlas Shrugged. The book finally clashes the two main characters. John Gault explains to Dagny his revolutionary views. His community is a group of free people who want to work for their own benefit. The economy of the settlement is a free market where everyone offers the buyer what they can produce. John Gault calls his protest a rebellion of will and reason against the crowd and its ignorance.
Residents of Atlantis offer Dagny to remain in hiding and live according to local laws. The main character agrees, but soon changes her mind after learning that John Gault is going to blow up her railroad (all the entrepreneurs and inventors hiding in Atlantis deprived society of their property). Dagney insists. Gault agrees to return her to the ordinary world in exchange for a promise never to reveal the secret of the Colorado refuge.
Speech by John Gault
Dagney returns to the USA. She is trying to save her railroad, but this is hampered by total corruption in power. Meanwhile, due to the poor economic situation and increasing poverty in the country, riots begin. Robberies and violence have become everyday events. Desperate people capture entire urban areas, plunder all property and sow anarchy around.
The country's president is trying to rectify the situation. He is going to appear on television to reassure the population. However, at the beginning of the broadcast, the signal is intercepted by the owner of Atlantis. The subsequent speech by John Gault is the most important episode of the book that Ayn Rand wrote for two whole years. The philosopher exposes the authorities and explains the deceit of their politics. He explains the importance of human intelligence, creativity, pride and independence. It is these qualities that made the most successful people in the country refuse to cooperate with the state and go underground. Thanks to the appeal on television, the whole country is rethinking what has happened to her recently. With his speech, John Gault brought the ending of Atlas Shrugged. Quotes from his speech migrated to the Western political vocabulary and to the pages of books by many writers:
- "Failure to recognize reality always leads to disastrous consequences."
- "... where there is no choice, the existence of values ââis impossible."
- "The thirst for power is a weed that grows only in the wasteland of an abandoned mind."
- âWhen one wins and the other loses, this is not a deal, but fraud.â
- âThere is no more sure way to destroy a person than to force him to work as bad as possible day by day. It kills faster than drunkenness, laziness or theft. "
Denouement
After John Gaultâs speech, the government begins to lose power. Enraged people are indignant at the ruinous economic course, they set fire to the last factories, destroy factories. There are not enough prisons and guards in the country to contain such a large number of prisoners. Trying to stay afloat, the president instructs law enforcement agencies to find John Gault. The mastermind of the revolution is tracked down and caught. He is forced to read the prepared text on television, but at the last moment Gault breaks the speech.
The authorities, realizing that it is impossible to persuade a philosopher, send him to a secret bunker and begin to torture. Gaultâs companions manage to save their leader. At the end of the book, they fly away to the shelter, and Dagney decides to join the protest. Thus ends the book Atlas Shrugged. The main characters see the devastation and darkness in which the country plunged. In the final scene, John Gault draws a dollar sign over deserted land.