The Fountainhead
A novel by Ayn Rand
The Pursuit of Obsession
Each character in The Fountainhead has a deep obsession with some person or idea present in their lives. Most of these obsessions, although not necessarily noticeable to the naked eye control the majority of the decisions each of the characters make. In most cases forcing them to make drastic life changes in order to support them.
Main Characters of the Novel
Howard Roark
Howard Roark is obsessed with architecture. Not the traditional replication of the styles of previous eras, but rather the expression and realization of his own extreme modernistic ideas. No matter the cost to his reputation he continues to follow in his beliefs, eventually making a name for himself in the face of all opposition. His obsession simultaneously gives him life and takes it away, without is architecture he is nothing but a lifeless husk, living without purpose.
Peter Keating
Peter Keating is obsessed with the approval and praise of other as well as the fame it entitles. Since childhood he has let others including his mother, control his life in order to earn their appraisal. Although he has a general idea of what he wants with his life he does not have the fortitude to enact it, and in effect has been living a life of his mothers design. Even using the creative power of Roark's to design a building for him to which Keating was given the credit for.
Dominique Francon
Dominique Francon has an obsession with Howard Roark. Unable to find a purpose in her life she has devoted herself to the pursuit of starving the world. Withholding the potential she believes can be abused by the selfish people that she is constantly being approached. She sees the potential Howard has to change and create, and the people that wish to use his creative power for their own selfish desires. In order to stop this, she does all in her power to sabotage his career to show him the evils of the world.
- A picture of Howard Roark looking out onto the Cosmo-Slotnick building he designed for Peter Keating
- Picture of Dominique observing Howard as he fixes her mantle during a low point in his career
The Ayn Rand Self-Obsessed Cult Has Run Amok!