The Importance Of Equality In The Fountainhead, By Ayn Rand

There are two types of people in the world: those who think and those who feed off of those who think. In Ayn Rand’s excerpt from her novel The Fountainhead, “The Soul of an Individualist,” Howard Roark states that every advancement in society was caused by the actions of an individual who uses his own independent thoughts, despite the horrific consequences caused at the hands of other men. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, Equality is the individual who struggled to fit in the role that was forced upon him in the collectivist society. However, his natural instincts and the desire to progress lead him to his own personal victory over collectivism. At a young age, Equality was raised to believe that the power of curiosity was a curse, and the desire …show more content…
Equality realizes this when he builds the light bulb. The light bulb gave Equality hope that the society will finally accept him for his mind, and allow him to be a scholar. However, when he shows his invention the World council calls the invention a “great evil” they fear it because Equality was able to build this with his own thinking, not with the help of his fellow “brothers” (Anthem 74). Equality was so consumed with the rage he felt because of their reaction, he calls them “damned fools” (Anthem 75). All the guilt he felt for being curious has left his body, all that it is left is the belief he has in himself to …show more content…
Equality was able to have his victory: happiness. He said it himself “ My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end.” (Anthem 95). He escaped the collectivist society that was destroying him, he was able to live for himself. Individualism beat collectivism in Equality because he realized that his “first duty [is] himself” (”The Soul of an Individualist”). His own personal victory was possible when he allowed his natural instincts to break all the chains and all the guilt that was tying him to the collectivist