In Atlas Shrugged Part 2, we see how many great achievers have disappeared. Dagny Taggart suspects that some destroyer is behind it all. But who is the destroyer? And what is his purpose? That's a mystery. And she suspects that the iconic question, "Who is John Galt?" is not just an expression of despair and resignation, but has some real connection with all the disappearances. David Kelley, a consultant to the Atlas Shrugged movie, provides insights into this scene as well as the attempt of Starnesville to have each person work "according to his ability" and also pay each person "according to his need."

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PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: For full transcript go to : http://www.atlassociety.org/atlas-shr...

Hello. I'm David Kelley. I'm a senior fellow at the Atlas Society and a consultant to the Atlas Shrugged movie. Toward the end of the film, Dagny is on a Taggart Transcontinental train that has stalled somewhere in the middle of nowhere. She speaks with a workman as he tries to repair the train, and he tells or a fascinating story.

Are you the only one still working?

I don't know. Could be. I got my job to do.

Any idea what the problem is?

Uh, seems like an ECU malfunction. Hey, you're Dagny Taggart.

Depends. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, that's great. I'd say, wow.

Where did you get the hat, Jeff Allen?

Those were great days for a while.

What happened at Twentieth Century Motor Company?

Who is John Galt?

I wish I knew who started that expression.

That, that might have been me.

What?

Well, me or somebody else who worked at the plant back in Starnesville, Wisconsin. He used to work there.

What happened there?

Well, Mr. Starnes passed and his heirs took over. It wasn't worth a lick. They had this big plan about how they were going to run the place, and we were all going to belong to each other like a big family. And the idea was that everybody would work to the best of his ability, but be paid according to his needs. That's when John Galt stood up and said he'd have no part in it.

How would they know whose needs came first?

Now, that is a rub isn't it? Yep. It fell apart pretty quick. The best workers had to work harder and the needy got needier. Worker turned against worker.

What happened to John Galt?

I just remember when he walked out. He swore that he was going to, he was going to put an end to the whole thing once and for all. He said, "I will stop the motor of the world." I mean, what kind of thing is that to say, really? But I tell you something. Ever since that day, every time I saw the lights go out and some factory close, I thought about that man. I thought maybe that's him, then what he said, stopping the motor of the world.

May I please borrow your truck?

What's to borrow? It's your truck.

Thanks.

In terms of the plot, Jeff Allen's story ties together the threads of part two, the mysteries that Dagny's trying to solve. She's been trying to find the inventor of a motor that she and Hank Rearden found in the abandoned Twentieth Century Motor factory. She can tell it's a revolutionary new form of energy. She's desperate to try to make it work. She's hired a physicist to try, but she knows the best solution would be to find the inventor, but he has disappeared.

Many other great minds, great achievers have disappeared too. Dagny suspects that some destroyer is behind it all. But who is the destroyer? And what is his purpose? That's a second mystery. And she suspects that the iconic question, who is John Galt? is not just an expression of despair and resignation, but has some real connection with all the disappearances.

So when Dagny hears Jeff's story about what happened at the Twentieth Century Motors, she realizes that all of her questions are connected. There was an actual person named John Galt. He worked in the place where she had found the motor. He might have been the inventor. And when he left, he said he would stop the motor of the world, which is what the destroyer has actually been doing.

Etc,,..

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