Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

John Galt

As the man behind the book's main philosophy, Galt is definitely a guide-figure to the bulk of the novel's "good" characters. Galt single-handedly starts the strike that changes the world, and he is the figure around whom the strikers gravitate. Galt's ideas inspire people to join him and adopt his morals as their own. Although he could be classed in the role of "romantic interest," we feel that his role as a guide outweighs that of a romantic interest for Dagny. In fact, the two roles are related, since, in this novel, love and romance are expressions of values.