The Fountainhead earned Rand a lasting reputation as one of history’s greatest champions of individualism. Roark struggles to endure not merely professional rejection, but also the enmity of Ellsworth Toohey, beloved humanitarian and leading architectural critic of Gail Wynand, powerful publisher and of Dominique Francon, the beautiful columnist who loves him fervently yet is bent on destroying his career. The “living example” of egoism is Howard Roark, “an architect and innovator, who breaks with tradition, recognizes no authority but that of his own independent judgment.” Roark’s individualism is contrasted with the spiritual collectivism of many of the other characters, who are variations on the theme of “second-handedness” - thinking, acting, and living second-hand. The Fountainhead serves as an excellent introduction to both Ayn Rands writing and her philosophy of Objectivism. However, when reading the first chapter of the book, I began to feel a connection with the characters. Having been previously warned of this somewhat insane, entirely selfish philosophy, I entered the book with an indisputable bias. a new definition of egoism and its living example.” She later states its theme as “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul the psychological motivations and the basic premises that produce the character of an individualist or a collectivist.” Written in 1943, 'The Fountainhead' introduced new views on Rands philosophy, Objectivism. In her first notes for The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand describes its purpose as “a defense of egoism in its real meaning.
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