Resumo de The Fountainhead

'The Fountainhead' is Ayn Rand's first novelistic representation of her
philosophy of Objectivism. It is the story of Howard Roark, a brilliant
architect who is constantly condemned by the voices who control public
opinion. These nefarious creatures seek the power to mold public
thought, and subjugate the masses by degrading everything that is good
and great about Man's acheivements, and glorifying the crass, the
crude, the ostentatious.

We are gripped in throes of agony at the unjustice of it all, and
wonder at how Roark remains untouched amidst the corruption: He stays
true to his craft and his principles, only building his creations as
they should be built-- in harmony with the landscape, and as tribute to
Man's greatness.

There are many 'villians' in the story: Roark's teachers who expel him
from school, Peter Keating who passes off Roark's creations as his own,
the general public who simply parrot the opinions they read in the
papers. But the most despicable one of all is Ellsworth Toohey.
Toohey's aim in life is to "collect souls". He slowly and insidiously
degrades his victims' self-respect. He offers advice in the guise of
friendship, but actually leads them down the path of self-loathing and
unhappiness, so that their only source of comfort and companionship
comes from him. Toohey recognises Roark's genius, but seeks to demean
and destroy it. He is dangerous to Toohey because his buildings exalt
and inspire, hence undoing the standards of mediocrity that Toohey
worked so hard to impose upon others.

Thankfully, there are some who appreciate the creations of Howard
Roark. Austen Heller and Roger Enright both commission Roark to work
for them, enabling Roark's firm to survive. However, his stauchest
supporter is Dominique Francon, who also becomes Roark's lover. She is
bitter and cynical about the world and its weak malleability, and
believes that the public does not deserve to behold the purity and
greatness of Roark's work.

In the end, the reader is left with a tumult of emotions ranging from
horror and disgust at Ellsworth Toohey, denial and disbelief at the
plasticity of public opinion as portrayed by Ayn Rand, but also hopeful
because one knows that people like Roark and Dominique do exist in the
real world.

Resumos Relacionados