Erica, please take the following as evidence that I read the books ...
... after you tell me the significance of the bracelet made from Rearden metal in AS, and you correctly identify the character who always refers to Howard Roark as "Red" in the Fountainhead ... Erica, let me put it to you in this way:
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The bracelet is made of Rearden Metal, and it has many meanings, but I think the main ones are as follows.When Rearden gives it to his wife Lillian at a party she, in front of everyone, despises and insults it as a crude materialistic thing. But Dagny, overhearing that it is made of Rearden's revolutionary metal, immediately asks for it from Lillian, who gives it to her. She puts it on and wears it proudly for the rest of the evening.
So I think it stands for the spiritual meaning of thought and production, and symbolizes Rearden's own estimate of his work. The bracelet's fate points up the very different natures of Dagny and Lillian, and the conflict of Rearden both in the area of work and that of sex.
Mike is a construction worker and as I recall he is the one who calls Roark "Red."
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... and, if that still doesn't convince you that I've read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, then let me put it to you in another way:
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Bracelet: There are several meanings to that bracelet. Rearden had taken 10 years to develop Rearden metal and the bracelet was the first thing he made out of it. He forged it out of the first heat. It was a gift to his wife, Lillian, as a gift of the best within him. The position of his wife was high honor in his mind, so she was the one to be the beneficiary of all his productive work, especially his best. (He also had misgivings when he thought about Lillian, though.)
As the bracelet also was a chain, Rand used this symbol a lot to denote both bond and shackle. I will let your own imagination run with that one.
Hank gave Lillian the bracelet at a party in front of a lot of people. To him, it was a sacred moment. Lillian mocked it, saying now she could walk around New York with jewelry made out of the same stuff as girders, truck motors, etc. Hank's mother scolded him for not getting her diamond jewelry instead. Everyone called him selfish for doing that.
In a later party scene where Dagny was present, Lillain made a statement that she would trade that bracelet for a common diamond one, but nobody would make the trade. Dagny called her on it and offered her to swap it for her own diamond bracelet. Lillian was forced to trade to keep face. Hank got mighty pissed with Dagny, but this was what made him aware of the fact that Dagny had the hots for him. Later, after the nooky started, he was glad she did that.
The shackle to him (his wife's view) became a bond to him (Dagny's view). This metaphor can go much deeper.
The guy in The Fountainhead who called Roark "Red" was a minor character, a construction worker named Mike. He had a face like a bulldog.
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... and, if you're STILL not convinced that I've read these books, well then let me put it to you in still DIFFERENT terms:
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When Hank Rearden invented his Rearden Metal, he had links for a bracelet cast from the first pour and presented it to Lillian, his wife, as a tribute to her. She was a complete anti-life character in the book (although Hank did not understand this at this point in the story) and her mission was to destroy Hank's greatness and bring him down to her level. She not only didn't appreciate the gift, she wore it to a dinner party, displaying and talking about it as though it were a symbol of both her husband's stupidity in his understanding of human nature, as well as his overblown ego. At one point she says to someone that she would gladly exchange it for a real piece of jewelry. Dagny, who at this point in the story was an admirer of Hank but not yet his lover, watched this disgusting display and, finally having had enough, marched over to Lillian, removed her very expensive diamond bracelet and asked her if she would honor her offer. Lillian was taken aback because she had not anticipated that anyone would be so rude as to follow up on her suggestion, and she didn't want to lose this valuable item which she could use as a weapon against Hank. However, she was caught in her own trap and had to pretend to willingly exchange the bracelets. The bracelet acts as a metaphor on many levels as a chain that binds the various characters together, both through love as well as hatred.
As far as The Fountainhead goes, I have vague recollections of the references to 'Red', but it was not by any of the major characters. I believe one of the low-class, but decent and honest construction workers whose company Roark enjoyed may have referred to him as Red, but don't hold me to that. The reference was not very important in the book, but was a device used to show a friendly familiarity between the characters.
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So, you see? I MUST have read these books if I know so much about these fine details!
Right?
:-))
Ed
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