Howard Roark Architecture

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Living in a world confined by society’s definition of what is acceptable or not acceptable can be difficult to grasp for those who don’t have a limited mind. Howard Roark, in the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, struggles with this idea through his architecture, "The structures were austere and simple, until one looked at them and realized what work, what complexity of method, what tension of thought had achieved the simplicity. No laws had dictated a single detail. The buildings were not Classical, they were not Gothic, they were not Renaissance. They were only Howard Roark." (Rand 7). This passage defines Roark’s architecture style as truly his own, which parallels his individualistic persona. Despite his personality, Roark is faced with the challenge…show more content…
Toohey is constantly searching for power, since he has no talent to make up for it. He pulls people apart by promoting the weak and altruistic thoughts to confuse people’s sense of good and bad, which overall manipulates each person to follow him. The effects of his control are most evident in his boss, Gail Wynand, the proprietor for a persuasive newspaper in New York. Toohey essentially manipulates Wynand to use the newspaper’s influence to set society’s standards in The Fountainhead. He’ll take mediocre people and make them into a success, and intrinsically, ruin a talented person. Even with this, Toohey is regarded as an unselfish man who would sacrifice himself to better society. Toohey preaches that one must live for others, even though he knows human nature won’t allow that. Men realize they can never fully achieve this virtue, therefore they lose their self-respect making them more vulnerable. These men, like Keating, end up turning to him for answers and support because they see him as this notorious saint who will repair their souls. These people feed off the information that he writes, automatically assuming that he is always right. They applaud what he applauds. They reject what he rejects. He contorts society’s sense of value by claiming these feeble people are actually brilliant. This directly causes the talented people not to be recognized and not casting influence into society, making it

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