The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Review

Once in a while you read a book that gives a glimpse of the beauty of life. Once a while you read a book that inspires you, that leaves you crying by the end. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (1943) is such a book. Reading it, I felt as if my valuation of man’s greatness had finally been understood by another human. I felt as though the main character, Howard Roark, really was an embodiment of that greatness.

Inventor vs. Second-Hander

In The Fountainhead, Roark is a great architect, who is also somewhat controversial. His designs go against the style of the day, and he is whipped by the media and the public. His dean does not even allow him to graduate from college. Yet to him none of that matters. The standard he lives by is the quality of his work. He doesn’t make buildings for people; he finds people who will buy the buildings he makes.

This attitude finds a great deal of resistance, especially in the Socialistic-leaning society he lived in. Through the masterful characters she creates, Rand displays a brilliant picture of one of her most fascinating intellectual ideas: The “second-hander” vs. the inventor. The inventor is the person who, through his own greatness, invents such great things as electricity and fire. The “second-handers” ridicule the inventor, yet steal their inventions. A perfect example of this concept can be seen when Prometheus stole the fire of the gods and was tortured for it.

Another perfect example was created in The Fountainhead. Roark is the inventor. Peter Keating, a competing architect, is the second-hander. He is incompetent and cannot create his own work, and so he relies on Roark. Roark allows him to do this, because Keating is viewed higher in the public eye and his buildings are allowed to be made while Roark’s buildings are not. But Keating fails to maintain the integrity of Roark’s design, a nightmare situation for an inventor. Roark will not allow this. Will he triumph, or will the second-handers trample him?

Also a second-hander is Ellsworth Toohey, a socialist. Toohey is trying to create a socialistic society. He masks his actions under the face of ideals, but really he wants only power over others. He manages to fool almost everyone, and is instrumental in turning the public against Roark. It infuriates him to see someone independent like Roark.

Gail Wynand is the owner of The Banner, a sensationalist paper that plays on public opinion. Although Wynand is viewed by most as the very embodiment of evil, as Roark says, “[he] was not born to be a second-hander.” Wynand is one of the few people who sticks up for Roark when the public persecutes him. But Toohey puts so much public pressure on him that he is forced to fold his paper if he wants to continue to support Roark. What will Wynand choose?

Rand switches through which of these four characters is the main focus throughout the book. The book is 752 pages, and it needs such a length in order to convey its message. There is a huge amount of character development, and you get to know Rand’s conception of the personalities quite well. Another huge character is Dominique Francon. Dominique is the daughter of Guy Francon, the owner of the biggest architectural firm of the world. Peter Keating works in that firm, and attempts to get close to Dominique so he can become a partner.

Dominique is an inventor, the kind of woman for Howard Roark. When she sees Roark working in a quarry she owns, she immediately senses his defiance of her authority over him; his recognition of his own greatness. Dominique is surprised to see this in a mere quarry worker, and it bothers her. Roark senses he has this power over her.

This is a complicated part of the book, where he rapes her, but knows she would enjoy it. Dominique is very frustrated by the mediocrity of the world, and has to learn how to function in it. She believes the world doesn’t deserve her, and so engages in a lot of self-defeating behaviors (some of which are sexual). Before she and Roark can be married, he makes her learn, so that she can be on his level. Roark’s confrontation with Keating – and society’s retribution for it – is her perfect test. Dominique marries both Peter Keating and Gail Wynand before eventually becoming one with her true love.

Review

Roark is the Mona Lisa of Rand’s masterpiece. She does an amazing job at describing him as the true human incarnation of greatness. He is independent, capable, and strong. Above all, Roark’s strength comes from his knowledge of his own mastery. Whether you agree with all of Rand’s ideas or not (and I certainly don’t) everyone can appreciate the triumphant picture of Roark, successful despite all the trials of the world.

I highly recommend The Fountainhead. It might be a good idea to read some of Rand’s shorter books first, such as Anthem, to make sure you like her writing style before engaging in this project. If you’re up to the task, The Fountainhead will not disappoint.

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