Atlas Shrugged is the culmination of Rand's dramatization of Objectivist themes, particularly in her concern for the exceptional individual and his relationship to society. In her 1964 Playboy interview, Rand declared, "What we have today is not a capitalist society, but a mixed economy — that is, a mixture of freedom and controls, which, by the presently dominant trend, is moving toward dictatorship."
In this novel, Rand describes an American society slowly moving toward an authoritarian government. This society is typified by four types of people:
John Galt, the producer who creates wealth and prosperity; Eddie Willers, the man who works to the best of his ability and appreciates the contributions made by the producers; James Taggart, the leech who tries to profit from the accomplishments of the producers, even if it means the.....
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