All right, I think Rand has tricked me about the nameless worker. If so, good for her.
This was enough of a continuation of the last chapter; it felt somewhat like Rand had put in an artificial, forced break so she’d have ten chapters in each part.
Chapter summary: Francisco shows up at Dagny’s apartment. There’s more exchange about ethics and such. Hank shows up, and there’s a confrontation. Franscisco leaves, Hank and Dagny continue to argue. The doorman shows up with a letter from Quintin: He’s not going to accept any more money for working for the motor because he doesn’t want the looters to get it. He’ll continue working on it in his spare time. Dagny goes to Utah to talk to him. Meanwhile, Eddie discovers that Hank and Dagny have been sleeping together, leading to his own realization that he loves her, too. We end on a conversation that suggests that the nameless, voiceless worker is someone far more important than a bystander (after all, the chapter title is in reference to him).
I don’t think there’s much new here to comment on. A lot of repetition of existing themes, especially ones already hashed out in the previous chapter. It felt to a certain extent like Rand was forcefully putting her characters together in certain configurations to have certain conversations. Character development, I suppose.