You were asked to have three points for discussion on The Fountainhead. We only managed to scratch the surface during our limited class time. Please share one of your points and opinion on that point, and then feel free to respond to as many posts as you want, but you must respond to at least two of your peers.
DIRECTIONS:
You were asked to have three points for discussion on The Fountainhead. We only managed to scratch the surface during our limited class time. Please share one of your points and opinion on that point, and then feel free to respond to as many posts as you want, but you must respond to at least two of your peers.
16 Comments
Edward Byers
8/31/2016 05:42:12 pm
One of the points that I took from the novel, "The Fountainhead" was the idea that brilliance cannot be suppressed. Throughout the novel Howard Roark struggled to practice his ideals in architecture, while the majority of society did not share his ideas. From his beginnings at the university, we was an outcast, eventually sent away due to his radical ideas that did not match the ideas of the time. After this with his work with Henry Cameron, he experienced a life with almost no money, little food, and no recognition. However, as Roark continued his journey, eventually finding a client and working for himself, he managed to make a little money, only to find a lack of clients that appreciated his work. Also, with Roark's growing fame of design that didn't match "society's" opinions, the media (Ellsworth Toohey), began to blast Roark for his work. It seemed throughout the novel that the world was against Roark, however he persevered through all of the obstacles in his way. In the end we see the success of Roark through the change of architecture from the old way to a new, modernistic style - one that Roark was one of the first to successfully use - even after the multiple attacks on the way of construction.
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Hannah
9/1/2016 07:28:14 am
I agree with your points about how brilliance can not be suppressed. During Roark's whole journey, all forces and odds were against him. He was constantly struggling and always seen as the crazy guy, but in the end result, it was Roark, the man with brilliance, who was the most successful.
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Connor
9/1/2016 04:35:14 pm
I think your view of the book is very accurate, pin pointing the important facts. To go along with it, Roark was never worried about not getting enough work, because he knew he could always retreat back to the quarry and do that type of work. Rand explained to us how much Howard Roark enjoyed working at the quarry and the feeling of sheer exhaustion due to it. As long as he was free to do the work he loved, no man could tear him down.
Holmes
9/1/2016 06:47:07 pm
A very good point to bring up Edward. It is those with the drive, the passion, the determination, and the belief in themselves that change and evolve our world. It is the men and women of the mind, who never give up on their beliefs and their morals who shape our society, yet at the same time they are taken for granted and often chastised or condemned.
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Sierra anderson
9/1/2016 07:54:17 pm
I recently started taking psychology and it made me think about the different characters in The Fountainhead and how incredible complicating and confusing they are. Well, I was wondering if this was a non-fiction work, would the characters be as complicated and complex, or, would they be more stable and consistent in their actions.
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Holmes
9/6/2016 01:10:35 pm
Roark is set up as an exemplar, so yes, he would be like an Einstein or DaVinci if he were are nonfictional character. There is the social-psychological need to belong, but we select the groups we desire to belong to. In this case, Roark, Dominique, Henry Cameron, and those of the same ilk naturally bond. Men of genius are rarities and generally do not fit into mainstream society.
Hannah King
9/1/2016 07:24:51 am
One of the topics I noticed in "The Fountainhead" was how Howard Roark was very successful and had good ideas, but yet he constantly allowed Peter Keating to assign his name to them. I was curious to why Roark consistently agreed to help Keating without getting any credit to his name. I was very puzzled by why Roark agreed to help design the final housing development even with his terms of not changing design, because he puts all o the work into it while Peter Keating gets the benefits. I think that Howard Roark may have done this because he knew that if he didn't do it, Keating would not figure it out on his own, but it still surprised me how he was so okay with Keating signing his name to Roark's work.
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Edward Byers
9/1/2016 02:11:50 pm
I believe that Roark did not need to sign his name to his works, as society would know that Roark had created these wonders. The elements of Roarks were were so incredibly wonderful and specific that no one who understood the nature of his work would be able to deny that they were indeed Roark's creation.
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Connor Smith
9/1/2016 04:03:26 pm
Although this is a confusing part of the story, I have always believed that Howard Roark just wanted his work out in the world no matter what. His goal in life was to construct buildings that were his creation without any changes made. From his view, the more buildings that were seen created by him the happier he was. It was as if the more buildings he displayed, the better the chance that someone would see his 'antidote' for the disease of other buildings, and want the cure for themselves. As for Peter Keating, Roark did not care one bit for him, but Roark knew he could also use Peter for his own purposes.
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Holmes
9/6/2016 01:15:09 pm
I could not really have said it any better myself. Have you seen the film Trumbo? If you are not bothered by, can overlook or get beyond the heavy use of foul language, the story is excellent.
Sierra Anderson
9/1/2016 08:08:58 pm
I think that Roark is acting like one of those graffiti artists that want to make it about the art and not the artist. I think he wants his buildings out there, but knows that he can’t get the clients he would need to achieve that. So, he uses Keating to get his buildings built.
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Connor Smith
9/1/2016 03:46:07 pm
A topic that I was uncertain of was the issue of Keating dating Toohey's nephew Kate. As we all know, she was deeply in love with Keating and knew he would always venture back to her, but what was Toohey's true feelings about it? Was he just using Kate as a way to gain control over Peter, to satisfy his own want of more power? As Toohey understood the potential in Keating, did he only allow the relationship to carry on because he did not care, or for his own needs?
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Edward Byers
9/1/2016 03:52:36 pm
I agree, it is quite peculiar. It seemed that Toohey never really paid Kate much mind, often referring to her as silly and childish. However Toohey was also a power hungry control freak so it is also likely that he used Kate as leverage against Peter. This also directly correlates with the lack of surprise when Peter left Kate to marry Dominique, something that Toohey also must have predicted due to his remarkable understanding of Dominique when compared with the rest of society.
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Hannah
9/1/2016 04:04:55 pm
I also have to agree that their relationship was quite odd. I also found it interesting from Toohey that when Keating left Catherine, he simply did not seem to care. As he was one of the only people who was close with Katie, I would have thought that normally he would have tried to console her and give her support. This might suggest like Edward mentioned that he was able to saw it coming, or he simply didn't care.
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Sierra Anderson
9/1/2016 08:17:33 pm
I think that Toohey didn't care about his niece at all. Like most of you said, he was a power-hungry tyrant who knew no boundaries. I think it's ridiculously evil that he made his niece think that she was a horrible person because she thought evilly of unfortunate people. He made her believe that to be truly self-less is to be truly happy and when she did that, it broke her spirit. I think he is as bad a a parent who abuses a child for sport.
Holmes
9/6/2016 01:21:30 pm
Toohey was a highly manipulative character who only sought to bring everyone down to the nadir of their being and in society. Everyone would be worthless if Toohey had his way. Unfortunately for them both, Peter and Kate were weak characters who could not think for themselves - they were too concerned about pleasing others.
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