How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Section.Page). We used the 50th Anniversary Edition published by Signet Books in 2007.
Quote #7
"There were screams coming from the cars. Passengers were breaking windows. Engineer Scott struggled frantically to make the engine start, but collapsed at the throttle, overcome by the fumes. Fireman Beal leaped from the engine and ran." (2.8.1.122)
The final moments of the Taggart Tunnel disaster are some of the most terrifying in the whole book, especially since the entire disaster was the result of incompetence and corruption.
Quote #8
She realized how often she had glanced back at that headlight. So long as it remained in sight, she had felt as if a life-line were holding them anchored safely; now they had to break it and dive into...and dive off this planet, she thought. (2.102.35)
The headlight here symbolizes civilization and the present, while the darkness Dagny walks into represents not just the past but a sort of "alien" world of horror.
Quote #9
[A]n impersonal, unthinking, unembodied machine, of which none was the driver and all were the pawns, each to the degree of his evil. Dr. Stadler gripped the edge of the bench; he felt a desire to leap to his feet and run....He moved the field glasses from his eyes. He was looking at an empty prairie. There was no farm; there was nothing in the distance except a darkish strip that looked like the shadow of a cloud. (3.3.3.64-9)
Project X is terrifying, representing the brute power and fear that the government in Washington wield over people.