The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead, is supposedly groundbreaking, but in reality is not. It opens with a suspenseful scene, a man standing on the edge of a cliff, only to be disappointed in finding out that he actually was going for a dive. You would suppose that such a novel would keep the reader intrigued to always turn the page, but the long “heroic” descriptive speeches about life and how people are “second-handers” tends to be quite boring. Ayn Rand writes the novel with such perfect formal diction, giving the reader the opportunity to read and understanding all of the perfectly relatable underlying meanings; including the notorious theme of Objectivism, which Rand originated herself. Yet Ayn Rand mistakenly is so repetitive in the novel, that you basically are reading about the same thing for 700 pages. The formal diction gives way to such a dry tone, and anticlimactic scenes which have no results.

The novel depicts a man, Howard Roark, on a journey to succeed as an architect by his own rules, and the way which he believes is best. He fearlessly goes against society and creates beautiful buildings that go against the traditionally excepted buildings of the past. Roark struggles, but never shows it, nor gives up. He most importantly stands by his values and belief of what a true architect is, making him a man of integrity, which Ayn Rand obviously believes all men should be like. She continually puts him in the situation of rejection, again, and again, and again. It becomes ridiculous, and the reader gets the message that he would rather starve (literally), than go against his beliefs and draw a building which a bit too traditional for his modernistic and creative taste. On the other hand, you have Peter Keating, the foil to Roark and his opposite in every way. Keating is obviously destined for failure, and Roark is destined for success, but Ayn Rand just had to force the reader into waiting 700 pages to finally see what actually happens.

Ayn Rand just seemed to try to make this novel a bit too groundbreaking. She even includes a rape scene, which the female actually enjoyed? It’s absolutely ridiculous. The scene basically encourages men to rape girls. Although, I must say, it was nice of Rand to include dramatic irony; I definitely didn’t see that coming. Of course, after this scene, the book goes right back to its boredom, but now with a love interest on-hand, which makes no sense because the man is a rapist. It’s amazing what Ayn Rand encouraged in such a scene, its horrible advice. Obviously, The Fountainhead isn’t the best book ever written, but it definitely does stir up trouble in the worst ways, because it’s otherwise dry and more of a page skipper rather than a page turner.

Despite the dry-ness of the book, there are some lessons to be learned. If you tend to wonder about human logic, and why people feel the need to be accepted by others, then there’s one book you need to get the concepts necessary ground into your head, and that’s The Fountainhead. But if you’re an individual, who doesn’t care about what others think and you find yourself to be very independent, then don’t go near The Fountainhead, you don’t need it.