Greg Salmieri and Ben Bayer discuss the following questions for Part II, Chapter 6, of Atlas Shrugged: “Miracle Metal.”

  • Question 1: What policy decisions are reached in the meeting described at the beginning of the chapter, and for what reasons?
  • Question 2: What things elicit emotional responses from the various characters in the first scene? What do these responses reveal about the similarities and differences among these characters?
  • Question 3: Why does Dagny quit? How are her behavior and mood like and unlike those of other characters who have left their jobs?
  • Question 4: What has Rearden learned, and how has he grown, since damning himself and Dagny after their first night together? What further steps does he take when he is confronted by the Gift Certificate?
  • Question 5: Why does Rearden sign the Gift Certificate? Do you think he was right to have done so? How would Dagny and Francisco evaluate the decision?
  • Question 6: What other questions or observations do you have about Part II, Chapter 6?

 

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