Writers,
Danielle T. sent this excerpt from Rand's "Atlas Shrugged:"
"The great oak tree had stood on a hill over the Hudson, in a lonely spot of the Taggert estate. Eddie Willers, aged seven, like to come and look at the tree. It had stood there for hundreds of years, and he thought it would always stand there. Its roots clutched the hill like a fist with fingers sunk into the soil, and he thought that if a giant were to seize it by the top, he would not be able to uproot it, but would swing the hill and the whole of the earth with it, like a ball at the end of a string. He felt safe in the oak tree's presence; it was a thing that nothing could change or threaten; it was his greatest symbol of strength.
"One night, lightning struck the oak tree. Eddie saw it the next morning. It lay broken in half, and he looked into its trunk as into the mouth of a black tunnel. The trunk was only an empty shell; its heart had rotted away long ago; there was nothing inside---just a thin gray dust that was being dispersed by the whim of the faintest wind. The living power had gone, and the shape it left had not been able to stand without it."
Danielle had the following to say about the excerpt:
"This reminds me of a person or a nation which outwardly looks and seems strong, moral, good, benevolent, etc. yet inwardly is rotten and weak. The blackness of a heart has no power to stand. I don't know if she had this intent, but this is my take on it. I LOVE that last sentence. By the way, I don't buy into objectivism."
What do you think about Rand, her writings or this excerpt?
~Nancy
Danielle T. sent this excerpt from Rand's "Atlas Shrugged:"
"The great oak tree had stood on a hill over the Hudson, in a lonely spot of the Taggert estate. Eddie Willers, aged seven, like to come and look at the tree. It had stood there for hundreds of years, and he thought it would always stand there. Its roots clutched the hill like a fist with fingers sunk into the soil, and he thought that if a giant were to seize it by the top, he would not be able to uproot it, but would swing the hill and the whole of the earth with it, like a ball at the end of a string. He felt safe in the oak tree's presence; it was a thing that nothing could change or threaten; it was his greatest symbol of strength.
"One night, lightning struck the oak tree. Eddie saw it the next morning. It lay broken in half, and he looked into its trunk as into the mouth of a black tunnel. The trunk was only an empty shell; its heart had rotted away long ago; there was nothing inside---just a thin gray dust that was being dispersed by the whim of the faintest wind. The living power had gone, and the shape it left had not been able to stand without it."
Danielle had the following to say about the excerpt:
"This reminds me of a person or a nation which outwardly looks and seems strong, moral, good, benevolent, etc. yet inwardly is rotten and weak. The blackness of a heart has no power to stand. I don't know if she had this intent, but this is my take on it. I LOVE that last sentence. By the way, I don't buy into objectivism."
What do you think about Rand, her writings or this excerpt?
~Nancy
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