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Why was John Galt afraid to let Dagny see him?

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rameshkaimal

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The following is a dialogue between Galt and Dagny in Atlas Shrugged:

“'I've seen you many times since,' he said, quietly, steadily, but a little more slowly than usual, as if he could control everything except his need to speak.

'Where have you seen me?'

'Many places.'

'But you made certain to remain unseen?' She knew that his was a face she could not have failed to notice.

'Yes.'

'Why? Were you afraid?'

'Yes.' He said it simply, and it took her a moment to realize that he was admitting he knew what the sight of his person would have meant to her.

'Did you know who I was, when you saw me for the first time?'

'Oh yes. My worst enemy but one.'”

Why does Galt say he was afraid? And if he was afraid, why does Dagny think when she first sees him that his face bore no mark of fear (or pain or guilt)?

Edited by brian0918
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Why does Galt say he was afraid?

As he says: she is his worst enemy; the only one with the power to destroy him. Afraid, after seeing her, that he would not be able to resist her. This is a main (probably the primary) theme throughout the book: it is only the good that has any power. It is only the good people, by giving their sanction to the evil, that can thwart his plan and ultimately destroy the world and him.

And if he was afraid, why does Dagny think when she first sees him that his face bore no mark of fear (or pain or guilt)?

Because he loves her. He is supremely confident in his judgement and she is not evil, she has just made an error of knowledge. For instance, my mother goes to church but she is not evil, in fact she is a great person and a tremendous value to me, she has just made an error.

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I think Galt is admitting his fear of what seeing him would do to Dagny.

If Galt lets Dagny see him (and know, as a consequence, who he is and what he's doing to the world) it would lead to a conflict in her between fighting against him to save her railroad (which he's destroying) and falling for him since he's the man she has been longing to meet all her life. Since Galt loves her, he would not want her to have such a conflict.

And if there's no mark of fear on Galt's face when Dagny eventually sees him in the valley, it's because he does not let fear as such (including the fear of being seen by her) affect his sense of life so much that it shows in his face.

To elaborate, this is what he tells Dagny (in the climax) when she comes to see him in his garret unaware she's being followed by Mr. Thompson's men:

"Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them."

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I think Galt is admitting his fear of what seeing him would do to Dagny.

If Galt lets Dagny see him (and know, as a consequence, who he is and what he's doing to the world) it would lead to a conflict in her between fighting against him to save her railroad (which he's destroying) and falling for him since he's the man she has been longing to meet all her life. Since Galt loves her, he would not want her to have such a conflict.

Except that he thinks she would be better off abandoning her railroad, the same way he abandoned his invention and D'Anconia abandoned his copper company. Galt's major role in the first half of the book is to convince people just like Dagny that their passion is actually serving the enemy, and Dagny is the one person he would most like to convince. If she were to truly come to understand what that society is like (as she does eventually), there would be no conflict between being with Galt and being devoted to the spirit of the railroad, because in this case acting in the spirit of the railroad requires abandoning Taggart Transcontinental. Thus, there would be nothing to fear.

I concur with Marc's explanation above. For Galt, sticking to his purpose required a definite course of action, and he would be tempted to abandon that course for Dagny if they met before the time was right.

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In the dialogue, right after Galt answers 'Yes' to Dagny's question 'Was he afraid?', Miss Rand writes that it took Dagny a moment to realize Galt was admitting he knew what the sight of his person would have meant to Dagny. So, given that sentence, isn't Galt afraid of what Dagny's seeing him before the time was right do to her, rather than him?

Interestingly, Dagny does see Galt before the time was right (by following him into the valley when Quentin Daniels quits and joins him) but goes back to the outer world to save her railroad (though by that time she has already fallen in love with Galt.)

And since her decision to remain outside the valley enables the looters to watch her since they know she's not one of them, they are able to trace Galt's whereabouts when, because of her love for him, she goes to his garret to see him.

So, her seeing Galt before the time was right, does lead to a chain of consequences that eventually endangers Galt's life.

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