Atlas Shrugged : Hank Rearden, Character Sketch

The gullibility of human psychology and its’ stupefying denominations of causes and effects of sorrows and pleasures, has made our biggest assets, ‘our minds’, our greatest liabilities.

That which is an effect has become world’s greatest commodity consumed in order to attain an end. It’s a bit like starting a race from the finish and wanting to feel triumphant. To feel victorious, the basis must be correct. Else, you might end up running around in a circle, feeling all proud, without realizing that the harder you try the faster you reach your starting point.

You might win, but you won’t be victorious!

As cliched as it may sound; the journey is as important as if not more, than the destination. What if the river didn't accept the boundaries of its banks?
What if the strings of guitar weren't tight enough?
You cannot obtain pure iron from iron ore without putting it through 1500 C in the blast furnace. You cannot obtain gold from its raw ingredients without synthesizing it in the nuclear reactor.

The point I am trying to make is, “Without living, how come you lived?”

A huge population of the world doesn't live, it exists!

So what is living?
Living is, to become more than yourself, the self that you were at the previous instant, at this instant.
It isn't a mere coincidence or for that matter an act of sorcery that we became humans from monkeys. Or, have we?(!)

I live, therefore I am.

This epitomizes the importance of every instance of my living and my being.

When you think of Hank Rearden, do the thoughts of his wife, brother or mother symbolize or epitomize what Henry Rearden, the Man, stood for?

Far from it! In fact, these people signify the exact opposite of what Hank Rearden stood for, or what Hank would've wanted the name Hank Rearden to typify. Furthermore, these people went so far as to decimate the very core of Hank’s existence. His brother lobbied vehemently for Wesley Mouch and his gang of looters. His mother rebuked him repeatedly on his way of living and his way of thinking. His wife went further and quite haggardly blackmailed him into signing the gift papers.

Hank’s clairvoyance had seen the picture of his family disenchanted with him and in fact jealous of his achievements. Then why did he let himself be tied in chains and held in clutches to be devoured by these (un)civilized, hypocritical, (im)moral  animals of (un)wise judgment.

The root of such behavior lies in the fact that these relationships existed at a very elementary level of existence.

The elementary stage is the possession of raw information as to have the knowledge of how to live a fulfilling life. At this stage you know what(?) but don’t know why(?). You perform actions mechanically without the knowledge of your motive, seldom putting your heart into activities. This existence though a necessary first step is bereft of emotions and attachments for anybody or anything whatsoever.

That’s where Hank Rearden stood with his mother, brother and wife.

To go beyond the elementary level would require the understanding of the underlying concepts. In addition to the factual knowledge you get to the heart of things and discern the why(?) behind questions. This succeeds a natural thirst to know which thereby attaches emotions to activities.

To exemplify this scenario, let’s compare Hank’s relationships with Lillian and Dagny. Did Hank love Lillian? Certainly not! However, the same cannot be said for Dagny. Or for that matter he loved having sex with Dagny but his copulation with Lillian was only mechanical ‘to fulfill his basal needs’. He respected and loved Dagny while abhorred Lillian.

Here again, that which is the end cannot be used to attain an end. Sex isn't the means. Therefore, sex can’t be a commodity.

Dagny's relationship with Hank was at an emotional level. Both had the characteristics to take it to the next level but for Hank’s naivete. Hank described his relationship with Dagny as reparation of his basal needs.

A bruised animal loses its sense of judgment. Concurrently, Hank’s despondent and perfunctory relationships lead him to the idiosyncrasy of equating himself to a dog and Dagny to a bitch.

In stark contrast to his personal life was his professional life.

Rearden Metal and Rearden Mills were everything Hank wanted himself to personify. At the emotional level you often make judgments in fits of emotional turmoil. Retrospectively, these aren't the best decisions taken. To go beyond the emotional level, you need to take things to the realization level.

His mills were his existence. He knew unerringly what, when, why, how, where things worked at his mills. He took account of every worker recruited, every ounce of metal poured, every megawatt of electricity used and every second of what he and his men did at Rearden Mills. He could take on the role of every one of his employees from the clerk, to the operating-engineer, to the strategist, to the financial-planner, to the human-resources-manager to the researcher.

He embodied his mills.

 Success is an anticlimax at this stage. Long lasting legacy, happiness and contentment ensue.

Hank Rearden gave in to the demands of Wesley Mouch and his gang of looters.

Rearden metal was his lifeblood, the essence of his life! He gave it up for his ‘basal needs’?

Oh Dagny, my Dagny!

 “There are no contradictions. When there’s one, check your premises!
Because one of them is wrong! “
                                                  

Therefore when Rearden made love to Dagny, it wasn’t to satisfy animal instincts. Rearden realized that and that’s why he ‘gifted’ his metal and his mills to Wesley Mouch.

Given the stature of his feelings and the development of his soul, why then did Dagny not end up with him?
Although there were more reasons to the happening, here we’ll analyze Rearden’s side of reasons.

            Every action has equal and opposite reaction.
            In any compromise between food and poison, poison always wins.

Rearden’s concept of soul-body dichotomy destroyed his mills and almost execrated him on self-assumption of misplaced guilt. He regarded sensual pleasures, the society despicable; abhorred it vociferously but lost track of his ideology when, in a rather ignorant fashion, described his ‘affair’ with Dagny as basal. Thereby, he ensnared himself in a vicious circle; by ridiculing the way the society functioned as abominable and superficial on one hand and using the rules, he despised, to discern his own relationships, on the other.

“Soul and body are different, antagonistic entities with contradictory characteristics.”

This thought process of the multitude originates from deep-rooted subconscious beliefs and flourishes because of the kind of environment we live in. It’s cowardly to think in this fashion and often destructive. Rearden learnt it the hard way.

According to Indian scriptures, the soul has no attributes. For it to reach salvation, it has to live the life of a human being, sometimes several, and make progress in various stages to eventually become ‘One’.
            The world is God’s creation. Often there are things science cannot fathom and logic cannot explain.
            “Believe so that you may understand! “
The very idea of the structure of the world is to ‘live’. The way you live and the way you think depend upon the quality of your character.

            There was a boy, Nachiketa. In this epoch, two parallel civilizations flourished in India. One belonged to the angels and the other to the demons. The demons had devised new methods of war and would soon become invincible. These had to be learnt as soon as possible. Nobody was ready to let their sons go to the demons and learn their methods of warfare for fear of their sons becoming demons. Then there was Vājashravasa who sent his son Nachiketa saying,” he’d make those demons angels but he’ll not become a demon.” Nachiketa stayed with the demons for years, learnt their art of warfare, came back and defeated the demons.

Hence,
1.Development of your character is the single most important thing in life
2.Material development doesn’t last without the development of the mind.

            Rearden’s mind was truly developed and that’s why he’s a hero. His case can be concluded in sync with the following theory.

            It’s said it’s easier to go from one extreme to another than to move from somewhere around the middle to the top. For the ones who are around the centre, the price they’ve to pay for the joy of achievement over idleness is too big; something that doesn’t fit into their cloister of mediocrity.

The scenario is quite different for the elitist; they walk a really tight rope; a foot here and a hand there and they’re in a freefall.

First, they’re the subject of intense scrutiny. Second, they’re victims of an ongoing battle with self for something called ‘Perfectionism’. The obsession of being the best comes at a price. For if they achieve a goal it is ‘their’ ‘God-given-gift’. If not, they’re crucified.

An intellectual error in judgment, probably delays success doesn’t withhold it because success, I think, is bred at birth. It’s inculcated in your system, in your subconscious without your conscious knowledge of it.

There’s always a time when your clairvoyance, senses and thoughts converge to create a deadly combination called motivation to push you towards a goal; you were born to achieve.

            Hank Rearden was an elitist. Therefore, what he went through was a learning process to reach his ‘destination’. Hence, the killer tenet of soul-body dichotomy actually helped Rearden kill the very idea that was destroying his life. That’s because he had his character to fall upon when his judgment erred.