Is Atlas Shrugging? Summary and Analysis

In this chapter, Rand compares the events in Atlas Shrugged to the events of current times. She poses the question of whether the novel is historic or prophetic and claims that if it is historical, then it has to be prophetic. People commented to Rand that current events were like the things discussed in the book. "The political aspects of Atlas Shrugged are not its theme, but one of the consequences of its theme. The theme is: the role of the mind in man's existence and, as a corollary, the presentation of a new code of ethics—the morality of rational self-interest" (Chapter 15, p. 150).

The book presents the conflict between two antagonists with opposing points of view. Rand refers to one as 'reason-individualism-capitalism' and the other as 'mysticism-altruism-collectivism.' The conflict between them is political, economic...