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Created page with 'The '''Taggart Bridge''', in Ayn Rand's novel ''Atlas Shrugged'', was a railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi River that became, in the last years of t...'
The '''Taggart Bridge''', in [[Ayn Rand]]'s [[novel]] ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', was a [[railroad]] [[bridge]] spanning the [[Mississippi River]] that became, in the last years of the [[strike]] called by [[John Galt]], the last remaining railroad connection between the eastern and western halves of the [[United States]]. When the detonation of [[Project X]] destroyed this bridge, the populace panicked and the country descended into [[anarchy]].
{{spoiler}}
== Building ==
Nathaniel Taggart, founder of the [[Taggart Transcontinental Railroad]], built this bridge in the second half of the nineteenth century. For reasons that the novel does not describe, the Taggart Bridge eventually became the only remaining Mississippi River crossing in the entire country.
== Economic decline ==
As the [[economy]] of the United States deteriorated rapidly, under the stress of so many talented individuals abruptly quitting and vanishing, the Taggart Bridge remained the symbol of all that was left of the American economy. While [[Dagny Taggart]] was staying at [[Galt's Gulch]] in June of 1929, [[John Galt]] warned her that, if she stayed in the Gulch permanently, he would inform her of the "eventual" collapse of this bridge. On her last day in the Gulch, [[Midas Mulligan]] pleaded with John Galt not to return to [[New York City]] in this last year, saying that the Taggart Bridge would collapse, and [[anarchy]] would surely result in that event. Dagny abruptly said that the bridge would ''not'' collapse on her watch, and that was her signal that she had decided to return to "civilization."
In the weeks that followed, [[politics|politicians]] from [[Mr. Thompson]] on down repeately expressed their fears that "if anything happens to that bridge," the society over which they held the power would die, and their power would die with it. And with that power would go their own chances of personal survival.
== Project X ==
[[Project X]], the infamous [[weapon of mass destruction]] built by the [[State Science Institute]], was located in [[Iowa]] about a hundred miles west of the Bridge. Thus the Bridge was at the eastern limit of the Xylophone's range.
In the last fall of the strike, [[Robert Stadler]], the (nominal) Director of the Institute, drove west into Iowa in a vain attempt to seize Project X for himself and rule it as his private feudal domain. But when he arrived, he found a renegade [[militia]], led by [[Cuffy Meigs]], in control. The two men struggled physically over the controls, and in the process Meigs yanked one lever too many.
The Xylophone's [[sound]] rays struck out in all directions and flattened everything within the hundred-mile range. The Taggart Bridge was cut in half. With the western half went the first six cars of a fast freight train.
News of its collapse spread swiftly. [[Dagny Taggart]] witnessed the aftermath in [[New York City]]. Nearly every resident loaded his belongings onto the roof of his automobile and attempted to drive out of the city—for without reliable railroad service, no city could survive long, especially New York.
Shortly after that, power failed from one end of "Megalopolis USA" to the other.
== Aftermath ==
The novel does not make clear exactly how John Galt and his fellow strikers restored the economy following the collapse. Dagny Taggart, in her efforts to rebuild Taggart Transcontinental, would certainly have rebuilt this bridge—and probably built it of [[Henry Rearden#Rearden Metal|Rearden Metal]].
{{endspoiler}}
== Typology ==
The Taggart Bridge, in this novel, is a [[Literary type#Allegorical types|type]] of any particular part of the old order to which people will cling, when perhaps they should relinquish it and trust [[God]], or in [[Ayn Rand]]'s philosophical scheme, their own judgment, rather than the judgments and achievements of others. One cannot build a new order without destroying the old. The Bridge is, therefore, a crutch, and when it fails, the rest of the economy fails with it. Dagny Taggart recognizes that failure as her cue to join the strike, and the ordinary citizens recognize that the old governmental order, in which they had reposed so much trust, cannot help them.
{{nb Atlas}}
[[Category:Literary Figures]]
{{spoiler}}
== Building ==
Nathaniel Taggart, founder of the [[Taggart Transcontinental Railroad]], built this bridge in the second half of the nineteenth century. For reasons that the novel does not describe, the Taggart Bridge eventually became the only remaining Mississippi River crossing in the entire country.
== Economic decline ==
As the [[economy]] of the United States deteriorated rapidly, under the stress of so many talented individuals abruptly quitting and vanishing, the Taggart Bridge remained the symbol of all that was left of the American economy. While [[Dagny Taggart]] was staying at [[Galt's Gulch]] in June of 1929, [[John Galt]] warned her that, if she stayed in the Gulch permanently, he would inform her of the "eventual" collapse of this bridge. On her last day in the Gulch, [[Midas Mulligan]] pleaded with John Galt not to return to [[New York City]] in this last year, saying that the Taggart Bridge would collapse, and [[anarchy]] would surely result in that event. Dagny abruptly said that the bridge would ''not'' collapse on her watch, and that was her signal that she had decided to return to "civilization."
In the weeks that followed, [[politics|politicians]] from [[Mr. Thompson]] on down repeately expressed their fears that "if anything happens to that bridge," the society over which they held the power would die, and their power would die with it. And with that power would go their own chances of personal survival.
== Project X ==
[[Project X]], the infamous [[weapon of mass destruction]] built by the [[State Science Institute]], was located in [[Iowa]] about a hundred miles west of the Bridge. Thus the Bridge was at the eastern limit of the Xylophone's range.
In the last fall of the strike, [[Robert Stadler]], the (nominal) Director of the Institute, drove west into Iowa in a vain attempt to seize Project X for himself and rule it as his private feudal domain. But when he arrived, he found a renegade [[militia]], led by [[Cuffy Meigs]], in control. The two men struggled physically over the controls, and in the process Meigs yanked one lever too many.
The Xylophone's [[sound]] rays struck out in all directions and flattened everything within the hundred-mile range. The Taggart Bridge was cut in half. With the western half went the first six cars of a fast freight train.
News of its collapse spread swiftly. [[Dagny Taggart]] witnessed the aftermath in [[New York City]]. Nearly every resident loaded his belongings onto the roof of his automobile and attempted to drive out of the city—for without reliable railroad service, no city could survive long, especially New York.
Shortly after that, power failed from one end of "Megalopolis USA" to the other.
== Aftermath ==
The novel does not make clear exactly how John Galt and his fellow strikers restored the economy following the collapse. Dagny Taggart, in her efforts to rebuild Taggart Transcontinental, would certainly have rebuilt this bridge—and probably built it of [[Henry Rearden#Rearden Metal|Rearden Metal]].
{{endspoiler}}
== Typology ==
The Taggart Bridge, in this novel, is a [[Literary type#Allegorical types|type]] of any particular part of the old order to which people will cling, when perhaps they should relinquish it and trust [[God]], or in [[Ayn Rand]]'s philosophical scheme, their own judgment, rather than the judgments and achievements of others. One cannot build a new order without destroying the old. The Bridge is, therefore, a crutch, and when it fails, the rest of the economy fails with it. Dagny Taggart recognizes that failure as her cue to join the strike, and the ordinary citizens recognize that the old governmental order, in which they had reposed so much trust, cannot help them.
{{nb Atlas}}
[[Category:Literary Figures]]