Comparing Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, And The Fountainhead
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Ayn Rand is a Russian born American author of the mid-20th century. Her works of fiction include Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, and The Fountainhead. Through her novels she explores ideas in ethics through the actions and relationships between her characters. In The Fountainhead she uses the two main characters, Peter Keating and Howard Roark, to contrast what it means to be an authentic and an inauthentic person. Both characters work in architecture one went directly to one of the top firms while the other struggled in order to keep his artistic integrity. Rand uses these characters to show the selfishness inherent in her ethical theories. As one can gather from the reading authenticity is the most selfish act. Keating is driven by the public.…show more content… However, Toohey decided to manipulate the second-handers in order to come into a social power, that being a collective state in which he is the leader. The result of Toohey’s efforts, according to Roark, was a collective thought among the people. This would stifle all thought and advancement in society. Toohey recognized Roark’s individualism, and worked tirelessly to stifle it and create a negative opinion of him among the public. For the most part he was successful, but Roark’s truly individual work repeatedly caught the attention those that can recognize…show more content… This was the case for the climax of the play, in which Roark agreed to design a housing development to be put under Keating’s name. The main stipulation in the agreement was that it would be put up exactly as designed by Roark. Over the time of the building and design, the government, who commissioned the building, brought a couple of other highly honored architects to work on the building as well. As time went on they continually made small changes that resulted in major differences in the overall design. This led to Roark demolishing the building as it was in violation of the initial