Heroism in Ayn Rands The Fountainhead Essay -- Ayn Rand Fountainhead

Heroism in The Fountainhead The Fountainhead is a story or so heroism. The novel is a triumphant cry of stand against wholly those who insist that life is about mediocrity. That man is destined to suffer. The enormousness of The Fountainhead lies in its ability to inspire hope and confidence in its readers, to show how much is possible. For more than fifty years now, people all over the world have been looking towards this great book for put forward and sanction, for encouragement and hope, for ideas and answers. The Fountainhead applauds strength and greatness in human spirit, expectant its readers a hero they can admire, respect, idolize and love. Howard Roark -- the hero, the ideal man, the human being. When Roark express in the courtroom, Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value, what a man is and makes of himself, not what he has or hasnt for some others, he summarized the whole philosophical system in these handful of words. To Roark, independence m eant everything. From this whiz value of his arose all his other values and qualities. To him, there was no substitute and no alternative to independence. He held no authority above the judgement of his mind, he held no one higher than himself. Roark felt a fundamental indifference towards others -- he cared devil hoots about what the world thought of him. The people Roark chose as friends and comrades all shared out this basic quality - independence. His teacher, Henry Cameron, was a fiercely independent man. So were Steven Mallory, Austen Heller, Mike Donnigan and Gail Wynand. Roarks only hallmark of a man was his independence, or the need of it. His enemies, the men who hated Roark, yet recognised his greatness, were all dependents and parasites. Peter Keating thirsted... ...ife as Keating and Toohey saw it. A choice between life as it ought to be and life as it is. The Fountainhead is more than a story about heroism. It is a story about a way of life. It get out encompa ss to be the most inspiring book of all times and will rest to hit readers with its immortal philosophy and tremendous courage. It will continue to offer answers. The choice is ours. Works Cited and Consulted Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York Dutton, 1995. Maslow, A.H. (1968) Toward a Psychology of Being. New York Van Nostrand. Peikoff, Leonard. The Philosophy of Objectivism, A Brief Summary. stein and Day, 1982. Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. New York Plume, 1994. Rogers, C.R. (1980) A Way of Being. Boston Houghton Mifflin Walker, Jeff. The Ayn Rand Cult. Carus Publishing Company, 1999