The Fountainhead

The Unfortunate Human Tendency to Conform (An anlysis of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and a quote from Colin Wilson) The much debated topic of the independent and dependent nature of human beings plays an interesting role in the theme and plot of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and is the main idea in the quote from Colin Wilson. Some argue that the group is redundant without first developing the individual. This is certainly Rand’s, and by extension Roark’s approach. The antagonist, Toohey promotes the group over the individual. Though it becomes clear that he might not fully believed this approach but simply use it for his own gain. At the end of act two, by stating he doesn’t think of Toohey at all, Roark contrasts the difference in the two types…

plotlines, there is one book in particular that most effectively reflect my ideals as an active thinker. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand has ended up being my all-time piece of literature I have ever laid my eyes on, and that is saying something, seeing how I’ve read books like Green Eggs and Ham. Ayn Rand’s work is practically overflowing with details which allows me, the reader, to get closer to the characters in the story. While the abundance of details would seem difficult to decipher, given…

While The Fountainhead provides an insight to Rand’s perspective regarding individualism, Atlas Shrugged is the novel where she defined her school of Objectivism which holds individualism as one of its major tenets. Individualism is the driving force which keeps the intellectuals of Atlas Shrugged committed to making their ideas work for them rather than being drawn into a system of collectivism which effectively destroys their progress and spreads it equally across the masses. The two main…

To Stand Idle and Watch Your Life Pass By, or Make a Change for the Better The quote from Colin Wilson, "The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain," relates to how people live their lives and what they do to make change for the better or sit idle while the world passes you by. The Fountainhead is the story of a corrupt world where each member of society tries to climb to the top while fighting against everyone else. It is…

As Glenn Woiceshyn illustrates that “... individuals does not mean looting others to satisfy one’s desire...Individualism, not collectivism or altruism, is the root of benevolence and goodwill among men”; Ayn Rand philosophically declared that these two distinct fundamental ways of living - individualism and collectivism- in her novel ,Fountainhead, as her themes. In Ayn Rand’s words, the theme is “ individualism vs collectivism, not in politics but in men's souls”. The Fountainhead contain…

“A house can have integrity just like a person,” (Rand 136) Howard Roark says to Austen Keller, the first client of his independent architecture firm, to describe why Austin likes Roark’s style so much: integrity and purpose. Roark is the main character of Ayn Rand’s 1943 The Fountainhead; he is a daring modern architect who does not follow the rules set by society for how buildings should be designed. The events of the story take place during the 1920’s and 1930’s in New York, Connecticut, and…

Selfishness is the pursuit and maintenance of all “the values required for human survival” (Rand 31). In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand uses the terms “selfishness” and “egotism” in distinctively different ways than most people commonly use those words. By redefining these terms, Rand is able to separate and classify her characters and people in general society, into what she considers to be two groups: first handers and second handers. The leading example of this, Howard Roark, is a struggling…

Individualism advocates that interests of the individual should achieve precedence over the state or a social group.Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance. Ayn Rand, a Russian-American novelist,a champion of individual rights , in her celebrated works Anthem and The Fountainhead upholds the cause of Individualism manifested in characters like Equality 7-2521,International 4-8818,Liberty 5-3000 and Howard Roark. The bloody…

Howard Roark in the book, “The Fountainhead”, is portrayed as a unrealistic hero. Many facts in the book as well as Ayn Rand's essay, “The Goal of My Writing”, support this proclamation. The first piece of evidence is the epoch (1920’s & 1930’s); throughout, the book the odds were always against Roark, also Ayn Rand wanted Roark to be seen as an unrealistic hero, in which she explains her reasoning for it in her essay, “ The Goal of My Writing.”. The Fountainhead takes place in the 1920’s &…

I just read the book, "Fountainhead," by Ayn Rand. The book was about capitalism, selfishness, egotism, and individualism a topic of interest in a moving forward socialistic society. The hero of The Fountainhead, Howard Roark (an architect), is selfish and egotistical in that he doesn’t compromise on being true to himself, doesn’t imitate and doesn’t look to others to approve of what he does. He bases his behavior entirely on what he considers to be in his own best interests. Mr. Roark seems…