The Fountainhead Essays

The Fountainhead: The Primacy of the Individual in the Modern Jungle Ayn Rand’s magnum opus The Fountainhead centers around the narrative of Howard Roark, an aspiring architect who defines success on his own terms. Rand captures the common struggle of trying to find one’s place in society where everything is already manufactured to endorse conformity. The Fountainhead explores concepts of morality and reason through complex character arcs that challenge what it means to be an individual. Rand establishes

In the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Roark is a character that goes unchanged unlike others throughout the book. He focuses on himself and his work with no account for others or their opinions. He is hardly influenced by anyone; he thinks for himself and doesn’t let others dominate his life regardless of what they think of him and his work. Dominique on the other hand is quite the opposite, all she did was let others dominate her life. Her only independcy was not letting anyone change her mind or call

In Ayn Rand’s Novel “The Fountainhead”, Toohey exhibits a type of selfish selflessness behavior due to the fact that his actions contradict his perplexing words. He tries to cover his true self with a blanket of sugar coated words, because he wants to seem so low, that people feel bad for him then in return he manipulates them into doing things for him without them knowing. This is also why he thinks of himself as selfless, because the other party doesn’t know what is truly happening. Even though

one’s self. It was crucial for him to continuously ruin his life, as well as others, to make a point about his beliefs. From refusing the Manhattan Bank Building contract to stealing Gail Wynand’s wife, Roark has always been a selfish man. In The Fountainhead Roark repeatedly makes the mistake of refusing and giving happiness in hopes of denouncing altruism and praising selfishness. He starts off as a college student who messes up his chances of a bright future by getting expelled for his rebelliousness

Ayn Rand in her novel, The Fountainhead, evokes innovative thoughts within the readers who dare to question the ideas of selfishness and altruism that often lie outside of the popular views of morality. These ideas remain to be contradictory to many of her readers. Roark is the embodiment of multiple ideas and values that are collectively known to be immoral, yet his poised and determined nature makes his readers rethink their beliefs. For example, in chapter 18 the reader must decide whether or

self-importance and objectivism. In order to actively communicate her philosophies with other Russian citizens as well as the rest of the world, Rand became a writer, with The Fountainhead being her first major novel. Her principles can be identified through the actions of Howard Roark, the protagonist of The Fountainhead, who personifies Ayn Rand’s ethical beliefs. Howard Roark portrays what can only he described as Ayn Rand’s image of the “ideal man.” Through

Ellsworth Toohey is a complex character in Ayn Rand's novel "The Fountainhead." He is a newspaper critic who is a supporter of collectivism and who tries to manipulate public opinion to promote his ideals while being in the background. Toohey's explanation of his actions is that he wants to help people by promoting collectivism and destroying individualism. He claims that he wants to create a society where everyone is equal and has no competition. However, his true motivation is to gain power and

Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead features two main characters, Peter Keating and Howard Roark, who are selfish in their own ways. While Peter Keating is willing to completely sacrifice his own beliefs in order to cater to others, he does so in order to make money and increase his position. Howard Roark is selfish in that he will not sway from his beliefs and decisions, even if it would benefit others. Despite being expressed in two entirely different ways, selfish is a characteristic which they both possess

is what makes corporations worth living” once said Henry Ford. It proves difficult to be an individual today and it was not much easier in Ford’s or Howard Roarks time. Ayn Rand used imagery, illusion, and pathos in the form of dialogue in The Fountainhead to show the absence and necessity of individualism in society today. The book follows Howard Roark, Peter Keating, and Dominique Francon and how they react to society’s pressure to conform and prejudice. Roark stands for the individual who is unyielding

pride, though any degree of an ego is generally frowned upon in today’s society. Through the actions of Prometheus in Ayn Rand’s novelette, Anthem and through the understanding the speech, “The Soul of an Individualist” from another Ayn Rand novel, Fountainhead, one can see that Prometheus’ actions show egotistical traits within him and consequently his self-preserving

After reading The Fountainhead and discussing author Ayn Rand at great lengths I decided to read further into Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand’s ability to surprise me continue to shock me. Her relevance today is still present not only in economics but politics as well. Political leaders like Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan have expressed their support of her ideals. The Washington Post recently posted an article about how Donald Trump is a huge Rand supporter and how his opinions and choices expresses Rand’s philosophy

In The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand individualism, collectivism and objectivism dramatizes the struggles of the characters and reinforces the immediate benefit being self-reliant in a collectivism society. The tragic hero Peter Keating lacks creatively, Keating accepts the help of others. His absence of his own vison is visible in his struggle in executing decisions, as he displays when he cannot establish at the start of the novel whether to peruse his studies or to join Francon’s firm. Roark does not

The Fountainhead “Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it — that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life — that the vilest form of self-abasement and self-destruction is the subordination of your mind to the mind of another, the acceptance of an authority over your brain, the acceptance of his assertions as facts, his say-so as truth, his edicts as middle-man between your consciousness

Your prediction on Peter and Howard make logical sense. As a reader, we come to sense a pattern in books and stories in general. The protagonist suffers to make it out on top and the antagonists eventually falls in humiliation. The Fountainhead has yet to display any evidence that Rand is trying to break this mold. And isn't that ironic? Rand is talking about originality yet writes the book in the most cliche way. Of course, we must keep in mid that Rand cares little for unique storytelling and only

Ellsworth Toohey and Gail Wynand, despite being somewhat rivals throughout points of the novel, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, share fairly similar mindsets in the regard that they are both actively working in the collectivist outlook to life. Having both come from childhoods which greatly influenced their mindsets, Ellsworth’s being manipulation and mediocrity and Gail’s being conformity to the point of slander, their actions are alike in that they both fight to gain power over others at all costs

held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers.” (Rand, p.71). Similarly, in communism and collectivism, people are expected do things for the group rather than themselves. Just as Equality’s invention of light was rejected, Rand’s novel The Fountainhead was also rejected by many publishing

The main antagonist of the novel The Fountainhead even states his desire for unity and obedience, however these promises are the attractive face of an ugly manipulative whole. Nationalism is a driving force behind control. It provides a sense of gratitude and debt to the government. It sparks

The contrast between Howard Roark´s and Peter Keating´s core beliefs emphasizes The Fountainhead´s message about Individualism, or the belief that focusing solely on one's happiness can lead that person to their most fulfilling life, and how often by pursuing individualistic liberation people often come face to face with judgment, ridicule, and oppression by society, as a result. Howards and Peters differanting choices, often to the same problem, strengthens the belief that living a life not your

Collectivist Society: The idea that people should prioritize the good of society over the welfare of the individual. Collectivism-- relating closely to the word collection—has to do with the political theory that put the group before the individual. The book Anthem by Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society that is very different from our society in America. The council in the book makes strict laws on how one should never exceed the rest of the population in any aspect; everyone must

In Ayn Rand's renowned novel "The Fountainhead," Ellsworth Toohey is a complex character who presents himself as selfless, advocating for altruism and self-sacrifice. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Toohey's actions do not align with his professed beliefs, and he engages in self-sabotage. This essay will explore Toohey's actions of self-sabotage and analyze whether the author agrees with his assessment of motivation. Toohey is portrayed as a cunning and manipulative character