Rearden question

[shadesofgrey]

*** Warning: Contains "Atlas Shrugged" spoilers ***

So....Rearden dates Dagny, Dagny leaves him for Galt, Rearden develops a man-crush on Galt, everyone lives happily ever after.

I've had a bit of an issue with this since I read the book. I was thinking about it in the car on the way home today and it occurred to me that this almost never happens in real life. Granted the three characters are a bit more "together" intellectually and morally than your average civilian, but still, Rearden didn't even display a fleeting sadness as I recall. I mean, that's just unnatural. Even if he realizes later that they're all better off that way, it strikes me as artificial not to even acknowledge a loss, however temporary.

This led me to think that the only reason that Rearden was so OK with Dagny leaving him was that he valued his work more than he valued her. Galt totally changed his world and opened his mind up to being "free" to live and work how he wanted, which was a giant bonus to Rearden. Dagny left him, but he seemed like..."eh, no biggie. Galt's amazing though!" Like, the positives associated with meeting Galt so far outweighed the negatives of loosing Dagny that he scarcely acknowledged it.

Thoughts?

Edited July 9, 2009 by softwareNerd
Added 'spoiler' note

[Mister A]

There's a section early on in part 3 (chapter 1 or 2) where Dagny is given the choice of living with Francesco and renewing their romance or living with Galt her current love. She leaves the choice to Galt who gently rebuffs Francesco. Rand then describes a hypothetical situation if the alternative happened with all three lovers having their values denied and desperately evading reality to ease the pain: Dagny still loving Galt while forcing herself to settle for Francesco, Francesco consciously fooling himself that Dagny still loves him and Galt sacrificing his love as a 'duty' on behalf of his friend.

Yeah, Rand's philosophy on relationships strains credibility especially when you take into account her own checkered personal life but she does have a point that a lot of reality evasion goes on in relationships. In the end, it was reality and Dagny's entitlement of choice that Rearden valued over his own feelings for her.