The scarcity if egotism in collectivists is seen in The Fountainhead by second-handers, such as Peter Keating. A second-hander is someone who does not have original thoughts or ideas. Keating often comes to Roark for critique on his architecture sketches. Roark then redoes the entire sketch for him, incorporating his stylistic aesthetics, and Keating takes credit for it by submitting it as his own. Rand narrates:
Then he worked for hours, sometimes all night, while Keating sat and watched. He forgot Keating’s presence. He saw only a building and his chance to shape it. He knew that the shape would be changed, torn, distorted. Still, some order and reason would remain in its plan. It would be a better building than it would have been
Then he worked for hours, sometimes all night, while Keating sat and watched. He forgot Keating’s presence. He saw only a building and his chance to shape it. He knew that the shape would be changed, torn, distorted. Still, some order and reason would remain in its plan. It would be a better building than it would have been