Introduction

The final novel written by Russian-born American philosopher and author Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged is a controversial and widely popular work. According to a 1991 […]

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand, a.k.a. Alice Rosenbaum, was born on February 2, 1905, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her family was relatively wealthy; Rand’s father was a self-made […]

Plot Summary

A Part 1: Non-Contradiction Atlas Shrugged opens in a devastated New York City with crumbling buildings, empty stores, and closed businesses. It is a vision […]

Characters

A Hugh Akston A famous philosopher, “the last advocate of reason” and a renowned teacher at the Patrick Henry University; John Galt, Francisco d’Anconia, and […]

Themes

A Individual vs. Society The very title of Atlas Shrugged illustrates the rebellion of one person against the system. It evokes the image of the […]

Construction

A Point of View In Atlas Shrugged, Rand efficiently uses a third-person narrative that most often comes from the limited omniscient perspective of one of […]

Questions

Rand was the originator of Objectivist philosophy, embodied in Atlas Shrugged. Did Objectivism ever gain acceptance in mainstream philosophy? Why or why not? Compare and […]