Chapter 2. The Chain.
Characters
Hank Rearden: of Rearden Steel, also called Henry
Lillian Rearden: Hank’s wife
Philip: Hank’s brother
Paul Larkin: Hank’s friend, failing businessman
Hank’s elderly mother also appears in the chapter, but she is never named.
Mrs. Beacham, a friend of Lillian’s is mentioned. She came to dinner to meet Hank, but he was late and missed her.
Crossover: Memories
In chapter 1, we learned that Eddie loves memories. He enjoyed the brightness and sunshine associated with his childhood memories. “It seemed to him as if a few rays from it reached into his present: not rays, more like pinpoint spotlights that gave an occasional moment’s glitter to his job, to his lonely apartment, to the quiet,progression of his existence.” Eddie depends on his memories to light up the present and get him through the day.
In chapter 2, we learned that Hank Rearden”despised memories as a pointless indulgence.” Rearden is an extremely hard worker. He doesn’t make it home for dinner. He doesn’t have time for hobbies, feelings, or wasted time. He sees memories as pointless. The past cannot be changed or altered. It can only be revered, honored, regretted… Rearden doesn’t have the time for such pointless indulgences.
Who is John Galt?
Rearden and his friend, Paul Larkin, are talking. Rearden asks “What’s wrong with this world?” Larkin replies with “Why ask useless questions? How deep is the sea? How high is the sky? Who is John Galt?” Rearden sits straight up, “No,” he said, “No. There’s no reason to feel that way.”
Rearden will not accept the feelings of futility that the rest of society does. He is a man of action and will not accept that nothing can be done, that nothing will change.
Symbolism: Bracelet of Rearden Metal
The bracelet is made of the first batch of Rearden Metal. “The links were heavy, crudely made, the shining metal had an odd tinge, it was a greenish-blue.” It represents ten years of hard work and the product of his creative and industrious mind. Rearden takes pride in his work. He loves his job. He does it because he loves it and enjoys it. He wants someone to understand and appreciate all the of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into Rearden Metal. Rearden wants to share his love and fruit of his hard work with someone.
On the walk home, he mentions giving the bracelet to his wife. But, he realizes that he is thinking “of an abstraction called “his wife” — not of the woman to whom he was married.” Rearden wanted to give the bracelet to the abstracted wife, knowing that the abstraction would feel about the way he does, that the abstracted wife would love it, would understand and appreciate it and all of the hard work that went into the bracelet. However, he realizes the difference between the abstracted wife and his own. He realizes that his actual wife, Lillian, may not appreciate it, may not understand, and may not care.
When he gives Lillian the bracelet and tells her what it is, she, along with the rest of his family, is demeaning and mocks him. Lillian says, “Henry, it’s perfectly wonderful! What originality! I shall be the sensation of New York, wearing jewelry made of the same stuff as bridge girders…” Both his brother and mother call him conceited and selfish. All three are looking at the bracelet as it actually is, not what it represents and how much it means to Rearden.
At the end of the chapter, Rearden agrees to give money (cash so no one will know it came from him) to one of his brother’s charities. Larkin believed that Hank shouldn’t have given it to him, to which Lillian responded, “But you’re wrong, Paul, you’re so wrong! What would happen to Henry’s vanity if he didn’t have us to throw alms to? What would become of his strength if he didn’t have weaker people to dominate? What would he do with himself if he didn’t keep us around as dependents?…” She picked up the bracelet, and held it in the light, “A chain,” she said, “Appropriate isn’t it? It’s the chain by which he holds us all in bondage.” Now, Lillian shows the belief that the bracelet is nothing more than a chain to tie her to Rearden. She acts as if they are all held there against their will, that they are his puppets and his slaves. But, is that the truth?
The Real Hank Rearden
Lillian acts as if she is there against her will, that she is a puppet and slave and Rearden, that he is holding her in bondage. But, is that the Rearden we see? Rearden is constantly ridiculed and mocked. Lillian gets Rearden to commit to being there for a party on December tenth, their wedding anniversary, three months away. Philip, in a “childishly blatant” hint and insult in one, gets Rearden to donate money to a charity, Friends of Global Progress. Rearden doesn’t donate to help the charity, he donates to see his brother happy. At home, Rearden is not in control. His family hints, tricks, mocks, and takes whatever they want.
In this chapter, we learn about the relationship between Rearden and Larkin. Larkin “came for advice, he asked for loans at times, but not often; the loans were modest and were always repaid, though not always on time… Watching Larkin’s efforts, Rearden felt what he did when he watched an ant struggling under the load of a matchstick. It’s so hard for him, though Rearden, and so easy for me. So he gave advice, attention and tactful, patient interest, whenever he could.”
Does this sound the like the conceited, selfish, anti-social man who his family claims he is? Hank takes the time to help and loan money to a fellow businessman and gets nothing but friendship in return. It doesn’t advance his business or help him in any way.
Rearden is selfish — he is motivated by own virtues, values, thoughts, beliefs, and happiness. However, he is not uncaring the others, he is not cruel. In her nonfiction book, The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand explains the difference between the definition of selfish and its popular use: “The meaning ascribed in popular usage to the word “selfishness” is not merely wrong: it represents a devastating intellectual “package-deal,” which is responsible, more than any other single factor, for the arrested moral development of mankind. In popular usage, the word “selfishness” is a synonym of evil; the image it conjures is of a murderous brute who tramples over piles of corpses to achieve his own ends, who cares for no living being and pursues nothing but the gratification of the mindless whims of any immediate moment. Yet the exact meaning and dictionary definition of the word “selfishness” is: concern with one’s own interests. This concept does not include a moral evaluation; it does not tell us whether concern with one’s own interest is good or evil; nor does it tell us what constitutes man’s actual interests.” (Click here to read the rest of the online excerpt.)
Possible Journal Entries/Discussion Questions
1. Who is John Galt? I’ve already read the book once, so I cannot do this. I wish I could. Every chapter (or two or three or five or however many), write about your response to the question, “Who is John Galt?” Discuss the meaning of the phrase and how it changes, the rumors around it, the characters who say it and those who refuse to say it. As the story progresses, the phrase evolves and what we, the readers, think about it changes. Write every so often to record your change in thoughts and discuss the evolution of the phrase.
2. The bracelet also evolves and changes. It symbolizes different things to different people at different times in the book. Discuss how each character views the bracelet and what it means to them and how this changes throughout the story.
The English Student 