Examples Of Howard Roark Idealism In The Fountainhead

Howard Roark may be regarded as an unrealistic hero because he possesses too many qualities of an ideal man.He has prefered qualities such as individuality, emotional and mindful intelligence, integrity, moral stature and practicality. It is unrealistic for a man to possess all of these qualities at once. His lack of character flaw also makes him seem surreal. Roark was made as an ideal man, but the ideal is often not able to exist fully in a physical form. However, it was purposeful for Roark to be ideal, and not realistic.Howard Roark, being the ideal and unrealistic man he is in “The Fountainhead” was purposeful because of Ayn Rand's tendency and preference to write about ideal characters. In her essay, The Goal Of My Writing, Ayn Rand writes,

“There is a passage in The Fountainhead that deals with this issue: the passage in which Howard Roark explains to Steven Mallory why he chose him to do a statue for the Stoddard Temple. In writing that passage I was consciously and deliberately stating the essential goal of my own work

Then, they go on a journey of self realization to improve their insight and morals. This makes Roark an unrealistic man because he starts out with that self realization, he doesn't need to have some sort of epiphany to find his morals.Throughout The Fountainhead, one main theme is Howard Roark’s exceptional moral and practical qualities. But these exceptional qualities are not something he gains throughout the book, these qualities were already present. His lack of flawed character causes him to seem surreal. A man does not realistically have perfect morals and intelligence, no one is that pure. Ayn Rand's writing purposefully pushed the mind’s barriers on what one should perceive as an ideal man. Howard Roark was neither a superhero or a realistic man, he was somewhere in between.This all leads him to be perceived as an unrealistic sort of