➔ Atlas Shrugged Part I Chapter 7: The Exploiters and the Exploited - When Government Targets Success
| 7 minute read
Previous: Part I, Chapter 6 - The Non-Commercial
Longest chapter so far and the densest one. Rand packs in about five major plotlines, introduces new characters, drops huge hints about what’s coming, and ends with one of the most emotionally devastating scenes in Part I.
Building the Line, Fighting Everyone
The chapter opens with Dagny on the ground in Colorado, inspecting the construction of the Rio Norte Line. Chaos. Not the construction itself, but everything around it. Her contractor Ben Nealy is mediocre. Her chief engineer can’t think beyond copying old designs in new materials. Suppliers are going bankrupt left and right. Summit Casting goes under with half her spike order undelivered.