Who is your favorite Atlas Shrugged couple? I know John Galt is the ideal man and everything but at the end I wanted Dagny to stay with Francisco because he’d waited so long for her. 
I included evil couples as well just to be democratic.
Go Francisco!
I am going to be the Maverick in this thread and say Jim and Cherryl. Never has anyone so masterfully demonstrated the destruction of a rational mind at the hands of evil than Ayn Rand’s depiction of Cherryl Taggart. Cherryl’s scene when she spends the night weeping at Dagny’s feet had me as moved as the moment when the Wet Nurse died and when Eddie Willers collapsed in front of the train. It drove me to tears, because I know that all too often rational but ignorant minds are ruined by the bully tactics of a few evil men.
In terms of which man was right for Dagny, I have to say Galt, but I loved Hank’s character dearly and throughout the book I had found that I was screaming at the page pleading Hank to not give in. I was so devastated when they blackmailed him out of his Readin metal. so If I hadn’t already clicked the Jim/Cherryl button, Dagny and Hank would have been my tag. I loved seeing Hank happy.
I saw the Lillian and Jim affair coming from a mile away. Ayn Rand was so masterful in creating consistent characters I knew those two were just made for each other.
Who is your favorite Atlas Shrugged couple? I know John Galt is the ideal man and everything but at the end I wanted Dagny to stay with Francisco because he’d waited so long for her.
My favorite Atlas couple isn’t on the list, but that’s because they didn’t get together in the novel – but might have afterwards.
I’m talking about Francisco and the novelist/fishwife in the valley. In fact, both of of those characters were based on real people who were a real couple for more than fifty years. There was once a joyful, handsome man with a Roman profile and a clever sense of humor – how would you say “Frank O’Connor” in Spanish – who was married to a novelist who had “dark, disheveled hair and large eyes.”
I voted Ragnar and Kay. There’s not much information about their couple. But it seems the most stable couple.
Dagny and John Galt maybe the perfect couple, the hero and heroine meeting (and mating ) but their romance is still young.
At first Ragnar and Kay’s relation seems a Hollywood parody. A pirate and an actress, like the gangster and gangster girl friend. Then you discover their real character. A philosopher and a very talented actress. It’s the love they have for each others intelligence and talent that holds them together, not the glamour of most sho-bizz couples.
I voted Jim and Lillian-- this relationship demonstrated that even when joining forces, evil is nonetheless reduced to sputtering impotence in the face of greatness (Dagny and Rearden).
And I find it funny that so many people voted for Francisco – but I’m not surprised. He’s just got that “cool” factor going on; he was far and away my favorite character in AS.
My favorite Atlas couple isn’t on the list, but that’s because they didn’t get together in the novel – but might have afterwards.
I’m talking about Francisco and the novelist/fishwife in the valley. In fact, both of of those characters were based on real people who were a real couple for more than fifty years. There was once a joyful, handsome man with a Roman profile and a clever sense of humor – how would you say “Frank O’Connor” in Spanish – who was married to a novelist who had “dark, disheveled hair and large eyes.”
That’s an awesome tidbit! Thanks!
Besides Galt and Dagny, I would say Sebastian D’Anconia and the woman he left in Spain, after spitting in the face of the Inquisitor, to make his fortune, and then sent for her to join him–or did he go and get her? The waiting for one’s love until the circumstances are ready for love, is quite beautiful. Roark waited for Dominique many many years too.
Americo.
P.S. Betsy, that was very beautiful what you related, Thank you.
My favorite Atlas couple isn’t on the list, but that’s because they didn’t get together in the novel – but might have afterwards.
I’m talking about Francisco and the novelist/fishwife in the valley. In fact, both of of those characters were based on real people who were a real couple for more than fifty years. There was once a joyful, handsome man with a Roman profile and a clever sense of humor – how would you say “Frank O’Connor” in Spanish – who was married to a novelist who had “dark, disheveled hair and large eyes.”
I had always thought the novelist/fishwife must have been based on Ayn Rand.
May I ask where you got this information? Did Ayn Rand herself ever state that the fishwife was based on her?
I had always thought the novelist/fishwife must have been based on Ayn Rand.
May I ask where you got this information? Did Ayn Rand herself ever state that the fishwife was based on her?
Yes she did. This is also mentioned in Shoshana Milgram’s delightful and informative lecture on “The Spirit of Francisco” available here.
I chose John Galt and Dagny.
Galt was cool, quiet, brilliant, and always in control. The man behind the scenes who saw the furthest. A tremendous awe inspiring genius who actualized so much of his potential. Someone like that has more to offer in depth and breadth than the others, who obviously are amazing in their own right.
I loved Francisco for the sheer fun and flair of the character, but there is something fun about having a supreme level of control over your life, as Galt did. It’s not automatic. It takes continuous thought and effort.
A couple I would have liked to see was Cheryl and Eddie Willers. Two casualties of a war beyond their understanding, they were nevertheless good and decent people.
I vote for Dagny and Hank. I loved the way they endured and grew through such hard times.
edit: ignore me, I am dumb
I would have to say John and Dagny. As they are the best characters in the whole novel as far as I am concerned, and they represent the union of two people whom represent the ‘highest within us’. Out of everyone in the book, despite their earlier conflicts and differences, they are the I consider to be the most right for each other.
And besides, their past conflicts made it all much more interesting…
Behind them, i would say Dagny and Fransisco. They would have made a good couple perhaps, but I think their pasts and diverging futures would have made things abit more difficult in the end.
I knot it ought to be Dagny and John or Henry…but I simply LOVED Francisco! He was…unbelievable. In fact, I’m certain I’ll be more like Francisco than any of the other characters when I grow up.
I liked Hank and Dagny the most… simply because Hank was the person who was converting me to reason as I read - Galt was the climax of that, but I felt as if my deliverance had come from Rearden.
I voted Dagny and Hank. I was in tears when Hank was searching for the wreckage of her plane and she called to him from under the rays… where he couldn’t see her…
A couple I would have liked to see was Cheryl and Eddie Willers. Two casualties of a war beyond their understanding, they were nevertheless good and decent people.
:lol: agree!
I liked Hank and Dagny the most… simply because Hank was the person who was converting me to reason as I read - Galt was the climax of that, but I felt as if my deliverance had come from Rearden.
Me, too. Galt was the more perfect character in that he did not make the same mistakes in his thought processes as Rearden – but it was Rearden’s struggle and eventual discovery of the truth that I empathized with most, and that made me fall in love with him. Not to mention that the description of Hank and Dagny’s romance is the most fleshed-out of any of them – we know where he takes her to dinner, the gifts he buys that make her feel like a woman, and what they feel when they sleep together for the first time. Seeing their romance in such detail made it my favorite of any in the novel.
Dagny and Fransisco rock.
Latins make the best lovers anyway. 