Understanding the Novel’s Theme

1. Since the novel is deeply philosophical, it is important for the student to learn definitions for the book’s relevant philosophical terms.

   1. independence: reliance on one’s own thinking in the search for truth, and on one’s own effort to support oneself. To Ayn Rand, independence is fundamentally a cognitive concept. It means the willingness to think, to go by one’s own best judgment, to never accept a claim as true merely because others believe it. Independence does not preclude cooperation or friendly relations in human society, e.g., Roark’s cooperative work, in different forms, with Cameron, Mallory, Mike Donnigan—and his close relationships with several, notably Dominique, Cameron and Wynand. It is important for the student to recognize that independence is not the rugged individualism of the type that entails survival by oneself in the wilderness or mountains. The best examples of independence are the great men of the mind who have discovered new truths, often in the teeth of intense social opposition, and have consequently carried mankind forward, e.g., inventors like Robert Fulton, innovative architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, scientists like Marie Curie, entrepreneurs like Henry Ford.

   2. dependence: permitting other people to dominate one’s thinking and one’s life; a refusal to think, a willingness to derive one’s beliefs uncritically from others, either by means of blind obedience or an equally blind rebellion. Both conformists and non-conformists, each in their own way, are examples of dependency.

   3. conformity: living in unthinking adherence to the judgment, the standards, the values of others. In the novel, Peter Keating is, of course, the outstanding example of this.

   4. individualism: the philosophy of man that emphasizes the reality and cognitive efficacy of the individual. Individuals are real, not splintered fragments of the group; they can and should be autonomous thinkers, not molded playthings of “social conditioning.” Politically, individuals must be free to act on their own thinking and live their own lives. The political/economic system that is the logical culmination of individualism is limited Constitutional government and laissez-faire capitalism, because it is this system alone that protects the rights of the individual. Howard Roark is, of course, an outstanding fictional representative of individualism.

   5. collectivism: in contrast to individualism, the philosophy of man that emphasizes the reality and cognitive efficacy of society as a whole. Only the group is real, only the group’s beliefs determine truth. The individual is merely a fragmented chunk of the whole, whose thinking is conditioned and controlled by the beliefs of society. Individuals have no rights. Politically, the state is all-powerful and the individual must unquestioningly obey the will of society. The political/economic system that is the logical culmination of collectivism is socialism in some form, whether National Socialism (Nazism), Communism or Fascism. In the book, Ellsworth Toohey is the leading advocate of collectivism.

   6. first-handers: those independent thinkers who face nature directly and thereby survive first-hand, i.e., by their own effort. These are the individuals who discover how to make fire, how to grow crops and domesticate livestock, how to cure diseases, how to build homes, etc.—and also those who use their own minds to learn from the innovators, and are therefore able to live productively.

   7. second-handers: those dependent persons who, in one form or another, are not productive, do not survive by means of their own mind or effort, but who, rather, survive second-hand by leeching off of others. There are many types of second-handers—criminals, family bums, welfare recipients, military conquerors, political dictators, social climbers (like Keating) and others.

2. Ayn Rand states that the theme of The Fountainhead is: individualism vs. collectivism, not in politics but in men’s souls. Explain fully what she means.

3. The central conflict of the novel is the contrast of and conflict between first-handers and second-handers. Using both examples from the novel and from real life, examine the nature of this conflict.

4. Related to the theme is the relationship of the moral and the practical. Wynand and Dominique both believe that men of integrity have no chance to succeed in society, that only the corrupt make it to the top. Based on their view that men must choose between corrupt success and noble failure, they make different choices. Wynand opts for success by any means while Dominique chooses to pursue no values in a world in which success would require her to sell her soul. Roark, on the other hand, rejects the belief that men must make such a choice. He believes that morality and success stand in direct, not in inverse, proportion to each other, that success is achieved not by compromising one’s soul but by remaining true to it. Based on events in the story, analyze Ayn Rand’s thinking regarding the relationship between the moral and the practical.