Objectivism Wiki - User contributions [en]

The Fountainhead

2009-06-18T16:55:26Z

Myself: /* {{Spoiler}} */

elrolc
'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

==={{Spoiler}}===

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves Ã¢â¬" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters like Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful newspaper mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the ghettoes of New York City to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleÃ¢â¬â¢s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: Ã¢â¬ÅDonÃ¢â¬â¢t set out to raze all shrines Ã¢â¬" youÃ¢â¬â¢ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.Ã¢â¬Â It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn RandÃ¢â¬â¢s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following TooheyÃ¢â¬â¢s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing Ã¢â¬" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the buildings. Dominique aided in the plan.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicated this book to "the noble profession of architecture".

Rand wrote the characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark to be fictional analogues to figures in the real fight for modern architecture in the early 20th century.

Keating builds in an eclectic/neo-classical/historical style and accommodates to changes suggested by others. Roark, however, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture, with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends, and its emphasis on individual creativity.

The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters." It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the International Style, of the generally politically left-leaning Bauhaus architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "Romantic individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff inherited many of Rand's manuscripts. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the Library of Congress upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in July 1991, he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return U. S. Government property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a capitulation agreement, but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041386/ ''The Fountainhead'' - the movie]
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

The Fountainhead

2009-06-18T16:53:17Z

Myself: /* Architectural theme */

elrolc
'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

==={{Spoiler}}===

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves Ã¢â¬" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters Ã¢â¬" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful newspaper mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the ghettoes of New York City to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleÃ¢â¬â¢s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: Ã¢â¬ÅDonÃ¢â¬â¢t set out to raze all shrines Ã¢â¬" youÃ¢â¬â¢ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.Ã¢â¬Â It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn RandÃ¢â¬â¢s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following TooheyÃ¢â¬â¢s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing Ã¢â¬" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the buildings. Dominique aided in the plan.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicated this book to "the noble profession of architecture".

Rand wrote the characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark to be fictional analogues to figures in the real fight for modern architecture in the early 20th century.

Keating builds in an eclectic/neo-classical/historical style and accommodates to changes suggested by others. Roark, however, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture, with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends, and its emphasis on individual creativity.

The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters." It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the International Style, of the generally politically left-leaning Bauhaus architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "Romantic individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff inherited many of Rand's manuscripts. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the Library of Congress upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in July 1991, he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return U. S. Government property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a capitulation agreement, but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041386/ ''The Fountainhead'' - the movie]
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

The Fountainhead

2009-06-18T16:50:40Z

Myself: /* Architectural theme */

elrolc
'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

==={{Spoiler}}===

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves Ã¢â¬" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters Ã¢â¬" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful newspaper mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the ghettoes of New York City to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleÃ¢â¬â¢s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: Ã¢â¬ÅDonÃ¢â¬â¢t set out to raze all shrines Ã¢â¬" youÃ¢â¬â¢ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.Ã¢â¬Â It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn RandÃ¢â¬â¢s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following TooheyÃ¢â¬â¢s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing Ã¢â¬" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the buildings. Dominique aided in the plan.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicated this book to "the noble profession of architecture".

The characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark are fictional analogues to the real fight for modern architecture in the early 20th century.

Keating builds in an eclectic/neo-classical/historical style and accommodates to changes suggested by others. Roark, however, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture, with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends, and its emphasis on individual creativity.

The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters." It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the International Style, of the generally politically left-leaning Bauhaus architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "Romantic individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff inherited many of Rand's manuscripts. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the Library of Congress upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in July 1991, he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return U. S. Government property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a capitulation agreement, but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041386/ ''The Fountainhead'' - the movie]
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

Anthem

2006-03-27T22:02:59Z

Myself: /* 2112 */

[[Image:Anthem_book_cover.jpg|right|Anthem]]
'''''Anthem''''' (ISBN 0451191137), first published in [[1938]], is a science-fiction [[novella]] by [[Ayn Rand]].

''Anthem'' is a look into the future results of the [[socioeconomic]] trends of the beginning of the [[20th century]] -- a distant future-world where mankind has entered another dark age. This is a dark age for the [[ego]], as well as [[technology]]. It describes a dark age born from mankind choosing [[socialism|social]] values of equality and brotherhood as replacements for the [[capitalism|productive]] values of achievement and individuality.

The [[protagonist]], Prometheus (also named Equality 7-2521 and The Unconquered at various stages in the story) lives within this [[dystopia]]. He is the only individual left, as everyone else in his society has surrendered their life to the state. ''Anthem'' narrates the events in his life that led to his escape from society and repossession of his freedom.

== Plot synopsis ==
{{spoiler}}

Equality 7-2521, writing in a tunnel under the earth, explains his background, the society around him, and his Transgression. His exclusive use of [[first-person plural]] (we and they) to refer to himself and others is immediately obvious. He recounts his early life. He was raised in the Home of the Infants, then transferred to the Home of the Students, where he began his schooling. At the latter, he realised that he was born with a curse: he is eager to think and question, and unwilling to give up his self for others. He excelled in math and science, and dreamed of becoming a Scholar. However, the Council of Vocations assigned him to the Home of the Street Sweepers.

Equality decides that diligently working as a street sweeper will repent for his Transgression. He works with [[Internationalism (politics)|International]] 4-8818 and [[Trade_union|Union]] 5-3992. International is exceptionally tall, and a great artist. Union, "they of the half-brain," suffers from [[epilepsy]].

However, he remains curious. One day, he finds the entrance to a tunnel in his assigned work area, and explores it, despite his colleague's protests that an action unauthorized by a council is forbidden. Equality realises that the tunnel is left over from the Unmentionable Times, and is curious about it. Every day, he enters the tunnel and undertakes [[Scientific method|scientific experiments]].

Working outside the City one day, by a field, Equality meets and falls in love with a woman, Liberty 5-3000, whom he names "The Golden One".

Continuing his scientific work, he rediscovers [[electricity]] and the [[lightbulb]]. He decides to take his inventions to the World Council of Scholars, so that they will recognise his talent and allow him to work with them. However, his absence from the Home of the Street Sweepers is noticed, and he is arrested and sent to jail, from which he easily escapes.

The day after his escape, he walks in on the World Council of Scholars, and presents his finding to them. They are horrified, and reject it because it was not collectively created or authorized by a Council. When they try to destroy his invention, he takes it and flees into the forest outside the City.

After living in the forest for several days, Equality stumbles upon the Golden One, who has followed him from the City. They embrace, and struggle to express their feelings to each other, as they have no knowledge of the word "I". They find and enter a house in the mountains, and decide to live in it.

Whilst reading books from the house's library, Equality and Liberty discover the word "I", and understand the word's sacred value and the individuality it expresses. They give themselves new names from the books: Equality becomes Prometheus, and Liberty becomes Gaia. As the book closes, Prometheus talks about the past, wonders how men could give up their individuality, and charts a future in which they will regain it.

==''Anthem'' and ''We''==
''Anthem'' bears notable similarities to [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]]'s novel ''[[We (novel)|We]]'' which also influenced Aldous Huxley's ''[[Brave New World]]'' and [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''. Like Zamyatin, but unlike Huxley or Orwell, Rand had some experience of the Soviet system, and was a native [[Russian language]] speaker. Both were also one time residents of [[St Petersburg]]/[[Leningrad]].

''We'' was published before ''Anthem'', in [[1920]], and Rand would have been able to read it before it was translated into English. In fact she left Russia six years after "We" was published (Rand boasted that she had beaten both Orwell and Huxley into print with ''Anthem'') ''Anthem'' was first published in English in [[Britain]], in 1937, just after [[Yevgeny Zamyatin|Zamyatin]] died in [[Paris]]. ''Anthem'' was written seventeen years after ''We''.

'''Similarities'''
*The narrator speaks in the first-person plural, rather than the first-person singular, i.e. "We" rather than "I", at least to begin with.
*People have numbers, rather than names. Although this particular Hive/Ultra-Communist set up has been much copied since in [[science fiction]], it was not so common when Zamyatin was writing.
*Both novels take the form of a secret journal or diary.
*The narrator is a male, who is influenced positively by a female character.
*The society raises children away from their parents, but the hero sends his pregnant lover out to the forest to bear the child.

'''Differences'''
*''Anthem'' takes place in a regressing society, ''We'' involves the setting off of a space craft to new worlds.
*Rand's characters win, but ''We'''s undergo medical treatment.
*''Anthem'''s society has fuller control over its subjects.
*''Anthem'' is serious, whereas, ''We'' is more satirical.

== Copyright status ==

According to the introductory text of the [[Project Gutenberg]] edition, ''Anthem'' is in the [[public domain]] in the United States due to a failure of the rights-holders to renew its [[copyright]] at some point in the past. It is still under copyright in countries party to the [[Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works|Berne Convention]], and will be until [[2033]]. It is the only one of Ayn Rand's novels to be in the public domain in the United States, because she began her writing career after [[1922]].

== 2112 ==

The concept piece ''[[2112_(album)|2112]]'' by [[progressive rock]] band [[Rush_(band)|Rush]] has a story that very strongly parallels "Anthem" (although, perhaps naturally, the protagonist of 2112 discovers a [[guitar]] instead of a light bulb). The liner notes of the album acknowledge "the genius of Ayn Rand" as a source of inspiration.

[[Neil Peart]], lyricist for [[Rush_(band)|Rush]] said that 2112 wasn't based directly on Anthem, but inspired by it; he said that he didn't notice that they were so alike until afterwards, and so thought that it was necessary to give references. Through his success as a lyricist and drummer in pop culture, Neil Peart has become one of the biggest popularizers of Rand's ideas, although that was not the purpose of ''2112'' or his song "Anthem" on their earlier album ''[[Fly by Night]]''.

Even though it was a successful album and came out a few years before her death, there is no widely known record of [[Ayn Rand|Rand]] commenting on the album. In fact, there is no evidence that she was ever aware of its existence. She had gone on record saying that she doesn't like rock music.

== External links ==
* [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-anthem.asp Book outline]
* [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/1250 The Project Gutenberg E-text of Anthem]
* [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/anthem/complete.html Annotated E-text]

The Fountainhead

2006-03-26T22:54:42Z

Myself: /* The novel */

'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

==={{Spoiler}}===

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves â€" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters â€" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful [[newspaper]] mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the [[ghetto]]es of [[New York City]] to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleâ€™s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: â€œDonâ€™t set out to raze all shrines â€" youâ€™ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.â€ It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn Randâ€™s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following Tooheyâ€™s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing â€" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the erected buildings. Dominique, who aided in the plan, is seriously wounded in the explosion.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicates this book to "the noble profession of [[architecture]]". She chose the architectural profession for the [[analogy]] it offered to her ideas, especially in the context of the rise of the [[Modern Architecture|Modern Movement]] in architecture. In her hands, this profession becomes a convenient vehicle for propagating her views — that the ego is supreme, and [[individualism]] and [[selfishness]] are virtues to be treasured.

The characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark are placed in antithesis to each other. Keating still practices in an [[Neoclassicism|eclectic/neo-classical/historical]] mould even when the building [[typology]] is modern like a [[skyscraper]] and is therefore dishonest and imitative. He is also accommodating of changes suggested by others. This mirrors the various eclectic directions and the general willingness to adapt at the turn of the [[twentieth century]]. Roark, however, rejects history, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends and its emphasis on individual [[creativity]]. The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters". It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous [[United States|American]] architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]] and [[Philip Johnson]], although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[1932]], Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the [[International Style]], of the generally politically left-leaning [[Bauhaus]] architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "[[Romantic]] individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, [[Leonard Peikoff]] inherited many of Rand's [[manuscript]]s. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the [[Library of Congress]] upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in [[July]] [[1991]], he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return [[Federal government of the United States|U. S. Government]] property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a [[capitulation agreement]], but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*{{imdb title|id=0041386|title=The Fountainhead}}
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

The Fountainhead

2006-03-26T22:53:52Z

Myself: /* Plot synopsis - Warning *Spoilers* */

'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

{{Spoiler}}

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves â€" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters â€" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful [[newspaper]] mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the [[ghetto]]es of [[New York City]] to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleâ€™s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: â€œDonâ€™t set out to raze all shrines â€" youâ€™ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.â€ It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn Randâ€™s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following Tooheyâ€™s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing â€" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the erected buildings. Dominique, who aided in the plan, is seriously wounded in the explosion.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicates this book to "the noble profession of [[architecture]]". She chose the architectural profession for the [[analogy]] it offered to her ideas, especially in the context of the rise of the [[Modern Architecture|Modern Movement]] in architecture. In her hands, this profession becomes a convenient vehicle for propagating her views — that the ego is supreme, and [[individualism]] and [[selfishness]] are virtues to be treasured.

The characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark are placed in antithesis to each other. Keating still practices in an [[Neoclassicism|eclectic/neo-classical/historical]] mould even when the building [[typology]] is modern like a [[skyscraper]] and is therefore dishonest and imitative. He is also accommodating of changes suggested by others. This mirrors the various eclectic directions and the general willingness to adapt at the turn of the [[twentieth century]]. Roark, however, rejects history, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends and its emphasis on individual [[creativity]]. The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters". It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous [[United States|American]] architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]] and [[Philip Johnson]], although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[1932]], Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the [[International Style]], of the generally politically left-leaning [[Bauhaus]] architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "[[Romantic]] individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, [[Leonard Peikoff]] inherited many of Rand's [[manuscript]]s. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the [[Library of Congress]] upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in [[July]] [[1991]], he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return [[Federal government of the United States|U. S. Government]] property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a [[capitulation agreement]], but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*{{imdb title|id=0041386|title=The Fountainhead}}
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

The Fountainhead

2006-03-26T22:52:07Z

Myself: /* Plot synopsis */

'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

{{Spoiler}}

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves â€" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters â€" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful [[newspaper]] mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the [[ghetto]]es of [[New York City]] to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleâ€™s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: â€œDonâ€™t set out to raze all shrines â€" youâ€™ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.â€ It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn Randâ€™s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following Tooheyâ€™s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing â€" and why.

===Plot synopsis - Warning *Spoilers*===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the erected buildings. Dominique, who aided in the plan, is seriously wounded in the explosion.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly after his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicates this book to "the noble profession of [[architecture]]". She chose the architectural profession for the [[analogy]] it offered to her ideas, especially in the context of the rise of the [[Modern Architecture|Modern Movement]] in architecture. In her hands, this profession becomes a convenient vehicle for propagating her views — that the ego is supreme, and [[individualism]] and [[selfishness]] are virtues to be treasured.

The characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark are placed in antithesis to each other. Keating still practices in an [[Neoclassicism|eclectic/neo-classical/historical]] mould even when the building [[typology]] is modern like a [[skyscraper]] and is therefore dishonest and imitative. He is also accommodating of changes suggested by others. This mirrors the various eclectic directions and the general willingness to adapt at the turn of the [[twentieth century]]. Roark, however, rejects history, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends and its emphasis on individual [[creativity]]. The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters". It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous [[United States|American]] architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]] and [[Philip Johnson]], although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[1932]], Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the [[International Style]], of the generally politically left-leaning [[Bauhaus]] architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "[[Romantic]] individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, [[Leonard Peikoff]] inherited many of Rand's [[manuscript]]s. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the [[Library of Congress]] upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in [[July]] [[1991]], he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return [[Federal government of the United States|U. S. Government]] property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a [[capitulation agreement]], but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*{{imdb title|id=0041386|title=The Fountainhead}}
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]

The Fountainhead

2006-03-26T22:48:35Z

Myself: /* Plot synopsis - Warning Spoilers */

'''''The Fountainhead''''' is a [[1943 in literature|1943]] [[novel]] by [[Ayn Rand]] (ISBN 0452283760). The book was Rand's first major success and its [[royalties]] and [[film|movie]] rights made Rand famous and financially secure. The book was rejected by 12 [[publisher]]s before a young editor at the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you". ''The Fountainhead'' was made into a [[Hollywood]] film in [[1949 in film|1949]], with [[screenplay]] by Rand herself.

The book's title is a reference to a quote of Rand's: "Man's [[ego]] is the fountainhead of human progress."

==The novel==

{{Spoiler}}

The hero is Howard Roark, a hard working, aspiring architect whose plans and goals are waylaid at every end by "the hostility of second-hand souls". His pleasure is in the act of creation, and his calm, reserve, and selfishness are woven together into a person Rand means for us to admire and emulate.

The story is also about Dominique Francon, a woman torn between two loves â€" not of men but of power, pleasure, and a self-dominance she grows to understand through her relationship with Roark. Roark and Dominique first see each other while the former is working in a quarry owned by the latter's father. He later comes to her home and rapes her, an event that leaves Dominique filled with a possessiveness for Roark that drives her into the arms of another man.

Gail Wynand, a newspaper mogul who raised himself by the bootstraps from the ghettoes of New York City, believes himself to be the highest of men. He has the power to do anything, command anything. Until, that is, he meets Roark, a man whom he helps to destroy. Wynand, after seeing a naked statue of Dominique sculpted by Steven Mallory, a friend of Roark's for one of his buildings, the Stoddard Temple, falls in love as much with the woman as the artistry of the statue. Dominique and Gail are married.

There are many other characters â€" Henry Cameron, Roark's mentor who was destroyed by "the system"; Peter Keating, a colleague and friend of Roark whose only individuality is a direct reflection of others; Ellsworth Toohey, the man whose power is directly proportionate to the number of times he says he is unimportant.

Cameron is a former architect who, at one time, enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when his practice of originality becomes rejected in favor of reproducing classic architecture, his firm slowly dies and eventually becomes nonexistent; Cameron and Roark being its last employees. His philosophy in architecture is something that Roark has based his own philosophy on, to an extent, which is why, at the outset of the novel, Roark is so determined to work for him.

===Major characters===

====Howard Roark====

Howard Roark is the hero of the novel, whom Rand portrays as a paragon of [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivist]] ideals. He is an aspiring [[architect]] with a unique, uncompromising creative vision, which contrasts sharply with the staid and uninspired conventions of the architectural establishment. Roark takes pleasure in the act of creation, but is constantly opposed by "the hostility of second-hand souls" and those unwilling or afraid to recognize his creative ability. Roark serves as the basic mold from which the protagonists of Rand's other great novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', are cast.

====Dominique Francon====

Dominique Francon is the heroine of the novel, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark". She is the daughter of a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect, and it is only through Roark that her love of power, pleasure, and self-dominance meets a worthy equal.

====Gail Wynand====

Gail Wynand is a powerful [[newspaper]] mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the [[ghetto]]es of [[New York City]] to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent on public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his destruction. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been".

====Peter Keating====

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. Keating's creative abilities are miserably inadequate, but his willingness to build what others wish him leads to temporary success. He is subservient to the wills of others - Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it", according to Rand.

====Ellsworth Toohey====

Rand describes Toohey as "a man who never could be, and knows it." Toohey is an architectural critic for Wynand's paper who uses his influence over the masses to hinder Howard Roark. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist, who styles himself as representative of the will of the masses. Having no true genius that such innovators as Roark possess, he makes himself excellent by manipulating the masses to believe that mediocrity is excellent. Toohey serves as the primary villain in the novel, and the gravest enemy of Objectivist ideals. Toohey is also the only character in the novel to have political goals. He is attempting to establish a Communist dictatorship in America by altering peopleâ€™s view of excellence; to destroy that which is great and spread the word that altruism is the ultimate ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: â€œDonâ€™t set out to raze all shrines â€" youâ€™ll frighten man. Enshrine mediocrity, and your shrines are razed.â€ It is in this that makes Ellsworth Toohey Ayn Randâ€™s most evil villain; unlike the characters in ''Atlas Shrugged'', who are really just blindly following Tooheyâ€™s religion, Toohey knows exactly what he is doing â€" and why.

===Plot synopsis===

Keating and Roark attend the same prestigious architectural school. Keating graduates at the top of his class (with scornful assistance from Roark) and eventually becomes a prominent partner at the firm of Guy Francon, Dominique's father. Roark, however, is expelled from the school for refusing to allow the curriculum to dictate how he should create. Roark finds refuge with Henry Cameron, an architect who shares Roark's vision but whose career has been destroyed by his own unwillingness to compromise.

While Keating and Francon find great success for a time reproducing [[classic]] [[architecture]], Roark labors in Cameron's dying firm. Cameron, defeated by society, soon dies, and despite some initial commissions, Roark is unable to sustain his own firm, and takes a job at a granite quarry. It is here that he catches the eye of Dominique Francon, who was impressed with Roark simply by virtue of his appearance and the way he carried himself, illustrating Rand's belief in [[love at first sight]]. Dominique later has Roark come to repair her fireplace (which she purposefully broke) in order to learn more about him. Dominique maneuvers Roark to her house, and allows Roark to [[rape]] her (this scene has been described as "rape by engraved invitation"), beginning their love affair. Roark soon receives an important commission and returns to New York.

Keating has fallen in love with a plain young woman, but his mother convinces him to submit to Guy Francon's desire for Keating and Dominique to fall in love. Dominique badgers Keating into marrying her rather than the woman he truly loves, as a way of testing Roark. In addition, Dominique embarks on a quest to hinder Roark's professional career, because she feels that the world is unworthy of Roark's creations.

In the meantime, through the machinations of Ellsworth Toohey, Roark receives a commission to build a temple to the human spirit. Roark creates a building with a nude [[statue]] of Dominique as its centerpiece, aware that he is falling into a trap. Toohey convinces Roark's client that the building is in bad taste and poorly designed, and when Roark refuses to alter the building he is sued for damages. Roark proudly refuses to offer any defense, and the money he loses in the suit is used to destroy the artistic integrity of his building.

Again through the work of Toohey, Dominique and Gail Wynand meet, and Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Dominique, in an effort to further test Roark and to punish Keating, divorces Keating and marries Wynand. Wynand happens across photographs of the temple in its original form, and is aghast when he learns that his own newspaper played a crucial role in the building's destruction. Eventually, Roark meets Wynand, and the two men become friends, although Wynand is unaware of Roark's relationship with Dominique.

The climax of the novel is precipated by Keating's desperate request for Roark's help in designing a government major housing project he wished to gain a commision for; Roark agrees to design the project, but on the condition that Keating not allow any changes to the design to take place. Keating makes a valiant effort, but is unable to prevent his associates from altering Roark's design, and the buildings aren't built according to Roark's wishes. Roark, in a calculated move, blows up the erected buildings. Dominique, who aided in the plan, is seriously wounded in the explosion.

With Roark soon to stand trial for the crime, Wynand insists that his papers defend Roark to the fullest. However, Toohey's influence prevails, and the popularity of Wynand's papers plunges precipitously. Eventually, Wynand allows his board of directors to override his policy by joining the public opinion that Roark is a criminal, a move he realizes is suicidal for his pride and personal integrity, and his papers regain a portion of their popularity. Shortly following his policy reversal he shuts down the Banner and liquidates a large part of his media empire. Following Wynand's betrayal of Roark, Dominique finally accepts the parameters of her love for Roark, and leaves Wynand.

Roark, at his trial, expounds at length about why he acted as he did, explaining the role of the first-hander and the mind in achievement, essentially speaking in Rand's voice. Roark is acquitted. The novel ends with Roark accepting a final commission from Wynand to build a skyscraper, as a monument to who Roark is and who Wynand could have been.

==Architectural theme==

Ayn Rand dedicates this book to "the noble profession of [[architecture]]". She chose the architectural profession for the [[analogy]] it offered to her ideas, especially in the context of the rise of the [[Modern Architecture|Modern Movement]] in architecture. In her hands, this profession becomes a convenient vehicle for propagating her views — that the ego is supreme, and [[individualism]] and [[selfishness]] are virtues to be treasured.

The characters of Peter Keating and Howard Roark are placed in antithesis to each other. Keating still practices in an [[Neoclassicism|eclectic/neo-classical/historical]] mould even when the building [[typology]] is modern like a [[skyscraper]] and is therefore dishonest and imitative. He is also accommodating of changes suggested by others. This mirrors the various eclectic directions and the general willingness to adapt at the turn of the [[twentieth century]]. Roark, however, rejects history, searches for truth and honesty and tries to express these in his works. He takes an uncompromising stand when changes are suggested in his buildings. This mirrors the trajectory of Modern architecture with its origins from dissatisfaction with earlier trends and its emphasis on individual [[creativity]]. The celebration of Roark's individuality can be seen in parallel with the eulogizing of modern architects as uncompromising and heroic "masters". It is likely that the character of Roark is based on the famous [[United States|American]] architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] - though Rand herself denied this.

If Roark is Wright, then it is reasonable to propose that his nemesis Ellsworth Toohey is a composite of [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]] and [[Philip Johnson]], although the image of Toohey is a lot more blatantly negative, and it is shown that he is aware of this in a conversation he has with Peter Keating. In an exhibit at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[1932]], Hitchcock and Johnson first lauded Wright as a precursor to what they dubbed the [[International Style]], of the generally politically left-leaning [[Bauhaus]] architects. A few years later, they revised their view of Wright, seeing him as a "[[Romantic]] individualist".

==Library of Congress dispute==

As Ayn Rand's heir, [[Leonard Peikoff]] inherited many of Rand's [[manuscript]]s. During her lifetime, Rand had apparently made a comment at one point saying that she would donate her manuscripts to the [[Library of Congress]] upon her death, a bequeathal she later had reservations about.

The Library of Congress had no reservations, though. They continued to pester Peikoff about the manuscripts, and even resorted to demanding that he present them to the library. He considered his options, but after a heart attack in [[July]] [[1991]], he decided to turn over the manuscripts as Rand's initial, though reserved, wish had been. He had his assistant box all of the manuscript pages except for two--the first and last pages of ''The Fountainhead''--which he had framed. In their stead, he had the pages photocopied so that the manuscripts would be "complete". An appraiser went through the manuscripts and notified the Library of Congress about the replacement pages, but the Library of Congress replied that it was of no consequence.

Some years later, Peikoff held an interview in his home with a reporter from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and when asked about the pages (which had been framed and hung on the wall of his office), Peikoff joked about having "stolen" them from the Library of Congress. This apparently went into the article, and not long after that the Library of Congress contacted Peikoff and demanded that he return [[Federal government of the United States|U. S. Government]] property.

After consulting with his lawyer, Peikoff determined that there was not much he could do about his situation. While perhaps he had a right to keep the papers and even though they were legally his (his argument is that he had never donated them to the library, so they had never been property of the U. S. Government), and even though he might win a lawsuit against the government, the process would be long and expensive. So he signed a [[capitulation agreement]], but supplied the condition that the Library of Congress must come and retrieve the pages themselves. This retrieval was videotaped by a friend.

Peikoff's personal narrative of the story and video of the manuscript pages' retrieval can be found on his website, [http://www.peikoff.com Peikoff.com].

==Film version==

The film made in 1949 is based on the book and stars [[Gary Cooper]] as Howard Roark, [[Patricia Neal]] as Dominique Francon, [[Raymond Massey]] as Gail Wynand and [[Kent Smith]] as Peter Keating. The film was directed by [[King Vidor]], with the screenplay written by [[Ayn Rand]].

==External link==

*{{imdb title|id=0041386|title=The Fountainhead}}
*[http://www.atlassociety.com/membersonly/cox_the_literary_achievement_of_the_fountainhead.asp The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead]
* [http://jeffcomp.com/faq/parody The Fountainhead starring Skull Force], a parody.

[[Category:1943 books|Fountainhead]]