1. Create a Web site to introduce The Fountainhead to other readers. Design pages to intrigue and inform your audience, and invite other readers to post their thoughts and responses to their reading of the novel. 2. Choose a scene from the novel and dramatize it for other classes. The […]
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1. In what sense is Howard Roark “selfish”? In what sense are Ellsworth Toohey and Peter Keating “selfless”? Discuss the revolutionary nature of Ayn Rand’s thinking on this issue. 2. Explain what is meant by the terms “first-hander” and “second-hander.” How does the conflict between men of these clashing methods […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for The Fountainhead
altruism a moral theory urging an individual to sacrifice his values and happiness in order to serve others. Here, it is the code advocated by Ellsworth Toohey. benevolent universe premise Ayn Rand’s belief that the world is open to the achievement of values and happiness by good men and only […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for The FountainheadCritical Essays Ayn Rand’s Writing Style
The subtlety of Ayn Rand’s style can be understood by examining a representative scene. Near the end of Part One, Roark is offered the commission to design the Manhattan Bank Building. It is a major commission at a time when he needs it desperately, but the board wishes to alter […]
Read more Critical Essays Ayn Rand’s Writing StyleCritical Essays The Literary Integration of The Fountainhead
The manner in which Ayn Rand integrates the theme of The Fountainhead with other literary elements is important. The theme of The Fountainhead is the contrast of, and conflict between, persons of independent functioning and those of dependent functioning. The plot is an ideal vehicle by which to present this […]
Read more Critical Essays The Literary Integration of The FountainheadAyn Rand Biography
Personal Background Ayn Rand was born Alisa Rosenbaum in 1905 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Rand was raised in an upper-middle-class, European-oriented family, in the midst of the mysticism and nationalism of Holy Mother Russia (the fervent faith in Christianity, in the sinfulness of man, and in the moral mission of […]
Read more Ayn Rand BiographyCharacter Analysis Gus Webb
Gus Webb is an avant-garde architect, another of Toohey’s followers, whose buildings are mere collections of boxes piled on one another. He lacks all standards of design, even borrowed ones; his stacks of boxes disregard all questions of a building’s function, its needs, its practical requirements. Like Lois Cook, Webb […]
Read more Character Analysis Gus WebbCharacter Analysis Lois Cook
Lois Cook is an outstanding example of the meaning of nonconformity. She defies social belief in beauty, attractive living quarters, and even personal hygiene. In this regard, she is far worse than Guy Francon, for he uncritically follows the best of society’s norms where Cook rebels against them. Worse than […]
Read more Character Analysis Lois CookCharacter Analysis Catherine Halsey
Catherine Halsey is a victim of Ellsworth Toohey and a perfect example of Toohey’s ghastly method of power-seeking. Early in the story, Katie is a sincere, good-natured girl, genuinely in love with Peter Keating. Though she had not been a great high school student, she planned on going to college, […]
Read more Character Analysis Catherine HalseyCharacter Analysis Guy Francon
Guy Francon is a mediocre architect who attains commercial success by consummate mastery of the social graces. Handsome, well-groomed, impeccably dressed, charming, and debonair, Francon wines and dines prospective clients at New York’s most exclusive restaurants. He offers the public impressive Greek columns and showy white marble fronts; his work […]
Read more Character Analysis Guy Francon