This essay won one of the three Second Prize in the all India The Fountainhead Essay Contest 1999.
When Roark said in the courtroom, "Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value, what a man is and makes of himself, not what he has or hasn't for others", he summarized the whole philosophy in these handful of words. To Roark, independence meant everything. From this one value of his arose all his other values and qualities. To him, there was no substitute and no alternative to independence. He held no authority above the judgement of his mind, he held no one higher than himself. Roark felt a fundamental indifference towards others -- he cared two hoots about what the world thought of him.
The people Roark chose as friends and comrades all shared this basic quality - independence. His teacher, Henry Cameron, was a fiercely independent man. So were Steven Mallory, Austen Heller, Mike Donnigan and Gail Wynand. Roark's only hallmark of a man was his independence, or the lack of it. His 'enemies', the men who hated Roark, yet recognised his greatness, were all dependents and parasites. Peter Keating thirsted for greatness in other's eyes. Ellsworth Toohey made power over others his primary goal. Those were the men whose goals, ambitions and purpose were driven by others.
From his independence rises Roark's individualism, his selfishness, and his superiority. He finds it incomprehensible that people demand that he sacrifice his interests for those of others, that he give up what he knows to be true and right for other's definitions of truth and rightness. His relationships are based on the principle of trade and on the principle of sacrifice.
An incident in The Fountainhead illustrates Roark's independence and his total disregard for conventions. Keating is surprised when Roark refuses to join the A.G.A., just as he had refused to join the fraternity at Stanton. Roark tells him -- I won't join anything at anytime. I don't like being helped in being an architect.
It was this integrity of his which led him to dynamite the Cortlandt Homes. He had designed it because he wanted it built the way he had designed it. When this did not happen, it was only fair that he destroy the evil which he had unknowingly helped create. It was only fair that he claim his right.
Everything Howard Roark is rises from this fundamental quality of independence -- to depend solely upon himself to fulfill all his needs and desires, to pursue hi happiness, to live his life.
Dominique Francon was the woman who loved Howard Roark. She had always felt a careless indifference towards the world. She had never allowed anything to touch her, to hurt her in anyway. She detested the world and never sought anything from it -- until she met Howard Roark. Now, she wanted and needed the world. She needed to protect Roark from what she believed to be inevitable -- his destruction. Her tremendous devotion and love of Roark forbade that she suffers in his presence, but she felt that suffering was unavoidable and inevitable.
She married Peter Keating after she defended Roark at the Stoddard trial. She told him, "I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest, for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between."
Every action of Dominique was prompted by this loathing for compromise. She had decided that the world would make it impossible for Roark to survive and to win, so she refused to allow herself happiness. Dominique would not live her life as a compromise. Where is the compromise between pain and joy? If she had to suffer, she would do it completely, without the pretense of happiness.
The one word that describes Peter Keating best is 'mediocre'. The other is 'parasite'. A man without ability, originality, or courage, a man who would take any direction -- as long as others were taking the same, a man who would do anything -- as long as a majority approved of him.
"When I'm with you", he said to Roark, "it is always like a choice. Between you and the rest of the world. I don't want that kind of choice. I want to belong."
There lies the essence of all Keating's desires and goals -- he wanted to belong. Peter Keating knew that Howard Roark was different, that there was a fundamental, basic difference between Roark and the rest of the world. And he also knew, like everyone of the characters in The Fountainhead - that it was Roark who was right, it was Roark who was true.
Keating's desires to be great in the world as he saw it drove him time and again to Roark for help -- from his first house to the Cortlandt Homes. It was this desire that drove him to Toohey for comfort and reassurance.
Keating knew there was a choice involved because Roark had to fight against the rest of the world. His total belief in himself, his total disregard for conventions and his absolute love for his work and his life made Keating feel that Roark and the rest of the world could not coexist.
We all have to make that choice -- between The Fountainhead and the rest of the world. A choice between life as Roark saw it and life as Keating and Toohey saw it. A choice between life as it "ought to be" and life as it is.
The Fountainhead is more than a story about heroism. It is a story about a way of life. It will continue to be the most inspiring book of all times and will continue to hit readers with its immortal philosophy and tremendous courage. It will continue to offer answers. The choice is ours.
Copyright 1999. Liberty Institute, New Delhi
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