Summary:
Reviews The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Examines the conflicting personalities of characters Roark and Keating. Reveals how their different perspectives affect the outcome of the book.
The Fountainhead
Peter Keating and Howard Roark had many different thoughts and ways as to how to govern each of their own lives. Most of the story revolved around their beliefs and ideas. Peter Keating's weak and undeveloped self esteem tremendously set the path for his failure. Howard Roark's self reliance and uncorrupted ideas may have negatively affected him at the beginning of the book, but were the key to his eventual career and life success. At the beginning of the book, Keating did not know whether to accept a position at a very prosperous architectural firm or take a prestigious scholarship at a very prominent school of architecture. After being confronted with such offers he decided to ask for Roark's opinion and in response Roark said that Peter should make his own decisions without the assistance of others. Through this, one could see how Keating was not capable of doing things for himself but for the sake of others, and how Roark was a man who believed in himself and cared less for what others thought of him. This event triggered the development of events which forever changed Keating's and Roark's lives.
Peter Keating's weak identity and reliance on other people's opinions and manipulations such as his mother's and Ellsworth Toohey's caused his future failure in life. Mrs. Keating's awareness of Peter's weak and senseless ways of thinking made it easy for her to manipulate her own son into taking the position at the architectural firm. One believes that if Peter would have made his own decision and had accepted the prestigious scholarship he then could have had a greater possibility of not being easily influenced and corrupted by others, one thing which greatly contributed to his fall and failure. Ellsworth Toohey, a man who despised the achievements of people and dedicated his entire life to crushing their talents and ambitions, easily manipulated and corrupted Keating through his hypnotic language and ideas of selflessness. Keating's lack of self reasoning made him a prime target for Toohey, who was mainly responsible for his destruction. Through these events one could see how Keating could have been a better person if he only had what it took to do things on his own without the help and desperate need of others.
Howard Roark's ability to think for himself and strong self identity may have caused him a lot of years of struggle in the beginning but eventually made him successful person. His ideas and terminology of a fair and self dependent society created a fortressed wall against envy and corruption. He proved this in various events of the story, such as when he helped Keating design his buildings, when he sustained himself as he discovered that his only true love, Dominique, had married another man, and when he destroyed the Cortlandt project because he could not stand to see it corrupted after Peter had promised him to keep its originality. Howard believed in the idea that only the uncorrupted and independent could be triumphant, something he proved as he created his designs which demonstrated his capabilities as a self being and uniqueness in society. One believes that Howard's independence and incorruptibility were very handy when it came to surviving in a society where the corrupt and envious outnumbered those like Roark who believed in doing things the right way no matter what it took and what was risked.
One could see how life ultimately rewarded Howard, because everybody whose lives were affected by corruption or whose lives were on the brink of destruction changed in a positive manner when they met him. People such as Gail Wynand, who initially had sought power so he could rule the incompetent and corrupt but in acquiring wealth became like them, restored his faith in humanity when he met Roark. People such as Stephen Mallory, who was a talented but disappointed sculptor who felt alone and misunderstood due to the world's rejection of his work, eventually regained his self confidence through his work on Roark's buildings. Finally, Howard also made Peter Keating realize the error of how he handled challenging situations in life, but was condemned to live the rest of his life in misery. By changing these individuals it is crystal clear that Howard's good deeds and incorruptible ideas are a dominant force in society.
One believes and there is no doubt that Peter Keating's weak and undeveloped self esteem eventually was the main factor which finally caused his corrupted and envious world of success to crumble. Howard Roark's independence and incorruptible ideas where the main factors for which he became the successful person he was by the end of the book. If Peter would have developed a stronger self esteem he would have had the chance of becoming a triumphant person as well, but since he let the desire for wealth and power take control of him he was left with nothing but memories of his corrupted past to reflect upon. Howard Roark's assertive thoughts with regards to society made him change the lives of many people in society making it possible for him to act according to his own principles of a fair and well developed society.
This is the complete article, containing 861 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
