The Fountainhead, Compare/Cont
In Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead, there are 2 kind of attitudes and characters which pull from each other and make up the conflict of the story. There is Howard Roark the independently thinking artist, and protagonist of the story, and Henry Cameron, the man who had values like Roark, but sold out on his beliefs. There is Peter Keating, the "second-hander, who takes credit for Roark's work, and is more worried about what other people think then of what his own beliefs are. He is similar to Ellsworth Toohey, a parasite to Roark, but worst then Keating because he is not after success in some career, but rather after power and the destruction of others. Gail Wynand and Dominique Francon are the most unusual and difficult pair in the book. Gail Wynand is the industrialist of the story, and with his industrial strength, he finds the way to beat people down with it. Dominique Francon has an inner conflict with herself, with her beliefs in strength and power or honesty and power colliding with each other. Howard Roark's morality and determination are what makes him the story's protagonist. The novel centers around the opposition to him from many people. However, Roark never backs down from the opposition and at the end event
Peter Keating was the complete opposite of Roark. He would rather appeal to the public then use his own judgement when making a decision. He also is the type that deceives and manipulates people. A fine example of this can be found on page 60 where Howard Roark was the only individual in The Fountainhead. This was a reason for his unpopularity with the rest of the characters in the book. No one was willing to accept change. Cameron was a victim of a weak determination, and he wasn't ready to be disliked in the same method Roark was. Wynand, although he had good intentions, carried them out in the improper way. This holds true for Dominique as well. Keatling's free loading second-handedness finally is revealed at the end, and he gets displayed as the fraud that he is. Toohey's evil attempts to ruin Roark are also defeated at the end, when the court acquits Roark of the dynamiting. Toohey could not shackle a creater such as Roark, who was willing to fight proudly in what he believed in. Peter says to Katie, "You see, Katie, you don't know me. I'm the kind that uses people. I don't want to use you." He designs by copying masters of the past, and whenever he needs help, he asks Roark, then takes all the credit for himself. His work was mediocre, and very practical, yet he was successful because he appealed to what the public had been brainwashed
Some common words found in the essay are:
Peter Keating, Gail Wynand, Howard Roark, Dominique Keatling's, Cameron Cameron, Katie Katie, Howard Roark's, Pre-Civil War, Roark Roark, Dominique Francon, peter keating, gail wynand, wynand industrialist story, wynand industrialist, takes credit, power destruction, industrialist story, bring roark, industrial strength, people dominique, roark opposition,
Approximate Word count = 930
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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