First Place

Evan Storms, VanDamme Academy, Laguna Hills, CA

In conversation with Nathaniel Janss, Howard Roark observes that reason is something that “no one really wants to have on his side.” Do the events of The Fountainhead show that Roark wants reason on his side while other characters do not? How does this issue relate to the theme of the novel?

From fire to the computer, from the first language to literature, from the first tribal laws to the American Constitution—the source of man’s progress is reason. But while reason has lifted mankind from a primal existence to its modern life, its very nature makes it something that mankind, as a whole, could never possess. Reason belongs to an individual: it is the independent use of a man’s mind based on an objective view of reality. When a man sees through his own eyes and thinks with his own mind, he uses reason. This is the independent man, whose thoughts are his own, derived from reality. When a man substitutes others’ evaluations and judgments for his own, he rejects reason. This is the dependent man, whose thoughts are derived from the minds of others. In her novel The Fountainhead Ayn Rand presents the conflict between these men: the individual, who bases his life, his work, and his happiness on reason, and the dependent man, who ignores it or seeks to destroy it.

Howard Roark begins the novel raised high on a cliff. He stands tall, strong, and alone, the perfect picture of an individual complete in himself. Roark shapes his work, determines his life, and seeks happiness with his own mind. He is the independent man—reason is his only guide.

“The creators’ concern is the conquest of nature.”  Roark is one of these creators; his goal is to use the resources of nature to create what works according to standards dictated by reality. For an architect like Roark, this means making buildings that are efficient, inexpensive, and suited to their purpose. As he says, he lets “the purpose, the site, the material determine the shape.” Roark refuses to compromise the logic of his work. He won’t use traditional styles as others demand. At the Stanton Institute of Technology, when teachers ask that a project be done in a classical style, he repeatedly builds his way and is ultimately expelled. He won’t even allow minor alterations to his work. When the Manhattan Bank Company wants to use his design with classical ornamentation, he refuses the commission. Roark builds solely with the guidance of his own mind; therefore, he builds with reason.

Roark uses his independent mind to decide the course of his life. He makes all important decisions for himself. He chooses to be an architect because of his passion to build, not because of the demands of any friend, any family member, or public opinion. Later, when the Dean of Stanton notifies him of his expulsion, he offers Roark a second chance if he agrees to follow tradition. Roark chooses to turn it down because he sees no purpose of returning, even though others consider this choice as foolish. Roark tries to succeed on the merit of his own work. He doesn’t need a prestigious diploma from Stanton, nor does he try to attract clients with his resume. At the beginning of his career, he deliberately avoids popular firms that could win him clients and fame but would demand that he change his designs. Roark will not defend himself by appeal to others. At the Stoddard Trial, where he is being sued for a building the client rejected, he won’t argue that he tried to please the client and follow tradition. Instead, he shows the judge his designs, using his own actions, as opposed to the actions or ideas of others, as his defense. Roark determines the events of his life with reason.

Roark has a “self-sufficient” ego. He evaluates his work and his life by the standards of reality and derives happiness and self-esteem from his own creations. This is completely independent. His evaluation is based on reality, not the opinions of others. So, even when architectural authorities and the general public mock the first house he builds, he still feels an untouched pride and happiness in looking at it. Also, others’ actions cannot affect him because they can never achieve for him or stop his achievements. When his Stoddard Temple is remodeled, the pain it causes him “only goes down to a certain point.” Roark’s happiness comes from the achievements that he creates with reason.

Peter Keating begins the novel standing in a crowd. He is surrounded by others, a picture of one faceless member of the masses. His goal is to be admired, praised, and approved of by others; so he gives up his own thoughts to do as others want. He is a dependent man—sacrificing his independent mind, and therefore his capacity for reason, in favor of the thoughts of others.

As Roark describes, “He didn’t want to build, but to be admired as a builder.” Keating blindly follows the popular, traditional styles. When he is designing his first building as chief designer at his firm, he spends hours “selecting from Classic photographs the appearance of his house.” He also copies whatever design the architectural authorities of the time are praising. So, when Ellsworth Toohey shifts his support to a more modern style, Keating stops copying traditional buildings and starts copying modern ones. Keating’s work has no logic, and therefore no efficiency. When he does actually try to make efficient, cost-effective housing for the Cortlandt project, he is so used to thoughtless copying that he cannot do it. Keating’s buildings are designed with others’ ideas.

Keating’s life is centered on others. He has no talent as an architect, so he uses others to become a famous designer. He has Roark improve his designs and then gives him no credit or pay, and he becomes an executive at his firm by insincerely flattering the firm’s leader. Because he has no independent mind, he must have others make important decisions for him. He lets his mother choose his career and later his wife. Keating’s goal is success by others’ standards, so his every action is determined by others.

Keating’s self-esteem is built on others’ opinions. He feels that he is an incompetent architect compared to Howard Roark, but when Toohey tells him that he is great and Roark is horrible, he feels “as if he had spent all his life believing that he carried a congenital disease, and suddenly the words of the greatest specialist on earth had made him healthy.”  Keating seeks happiness through others. When he becomes a popular architect, he believes that he has reached true happiness. However, because this “happiness” is only a substitution of real, independent joy for a mindless contentment with others’ approval, it can never last. Thus, when the public rejects him, he becomes miserable. Keating bases his happiness and confidence on others.

Ellsworth Toohey begins the novel giving a speech to an enraptured audience. He bends their thoughts to his will, standing as the perfect picture of a man seeking intellectual control over the masses. Toohey is a dependent man; control of others is his motive, his passion, and the focus of his thoughts. He places power above all else—including reason.

Toohey wants to control others, but the man who thinks independently cannot be controlled. Thus, he denounces reason. He tells men not to do what they believe is right, but what the collective demands. At a workers meeting, he says, “This is the time for every man to renounce the thoughts of his petty little problems, of gain, of comfort, of self-gratification.”  He condemns all independent achievements. In his book on architecture, he mentions no names because he doesn’t want to glorify any individual’s work. He even says that men should not think for themselves but thoughtlessly feel. As he puts it, “There is something higher than argument.”  All of these ideas are part of a simple message: “Do not think.”

Toohey knowingly gives up happiness and reason. He knows that he could never achieve greatness independently. So, instead of greatness, he seeks control. He condemns reason to make men mindless zombies who blindly obey him. He works for the Banner, a newspaper that panders to the masses, so that he can spread his ideas to them. Toohey is jealous of the independent men who are what he could never be—so he uses this power to tear them down. After Roark destroys the Cortlandt project, Toohey searches for evidence to condemn him at trial and creates public outrage against him.   Toohey denounces the other independent men in the story, such as Steven Mallory, in his newspaper column; as a result, they can find almost no clients. Toohey gives up achievement through reason, the source of happiness, for power over others—he is the absolute form of the dependent man.

“Form must follow function.”  Henry Cameron’s words describe the logic of Roark’s architecture. But just as The Fountainhead uses the world of architecture to highlight the nature of men, so does this architectural motto. The function of a man’s life is his goal, and it determines the form of his life, the means he uses to accomplish it. For the dependent man, the function of his life is to achieve success and power in the minds of others. Thus, the form of the dependent man’s life is the rejection of reason. For the independent man, the function of his life is to achieve success in his own mind and by his own standards. Thus, the form of the independent man’s life is reason. The Fountainhead is about the difference between these men: it shows that the dependent man could never have reason on his side, and that the independent man could never have anything else.