Comparison and Contrast With Other Literary Works

1.)		In dynamiting Cortlandt and waiting to be arrested, Roark breaks the law deliberately in order to make this a test case. In Washington and Lee's play, Inherit the Wind, high school biology teacher, Bertram Cates, also breaks the law with the conscious intent of going to court and putting the law on trial. In both cases, the hero (and/or his lawyer) fights a legal/intellectual battle in support of a moral principle. What are the similarities and differences between the struggles waged by these intellectual heroes?
2.)		In Chaim Potok's novel, The Promise, the main character, Danny Saunders, struggles with the conflict between independent living and conformity to tradition. In what ways are the battles waged by Danny and Howard Roark similar? Are there important differences in the nature and outcome of their respective struggles? Do Chaim Potok and Ayn Rand value independence equally?
3.)		In Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt, the main character, George Babbitt, is an abject conformist of the Peter Keating ilk. Compare and contrast the two characters. By using Keating as a foil to the independent Roark, does Ayn Rand achieve a deeper level of understanding than does Lewis regarding the nature of conformity?
4.)		Gail Wynand is a great man who destroys himself by means of his moral flaws. Does he qualify as a tragic hero by the definition expounded in Aristotle's Poetics? Compare his life and the causes of his downfall with one of the great tragic figures of literature, e.g., Oedipus, Antigone, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello.
5.)		In refusing to send Dominique back to Wynand, Roark will not sacrifice himself and his love for Wynand. How does this compare--in Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac--to Cyrano's choice not to tell Roxane of his love in order to honor the memory of his dead friend, Christian?
6.)		In Hamlet, Polonius urges his son, Laertes, "to thine own self be true." In The Fountainhead, Roark lives out this principle, refusing to ever be untrue to his self. In one scene in which he refuses to compromise his design in exchange for a lucrative commission, he states, "That was the most selfish thing you've ever seen a man do." Is Roark true to his self in the sense that Shakespeare means? What is Ayn Rand's meaning of being true to the self? Based on the events of Hamlet (or other of Shakespeare's plays) would the great English poet agree with Ayn Rand?