| The
Fountainhead Essay Contest |
| for
students of high schools and junior colleges in
India |
| 1999
Second Prize Winner: Chinmayi Sirsi |
|
|
|
Chinmayi
Sirsi, Tetrahedron
Junior College, Hyderabad
Topic
Chosen: Three quotations from
The Fountainhead
The
Fountainhead is a story about heroism. The novel is a
triumphant cry of protest against all those who insist that
life is about mediocrity. That man is destined to suffer.
The greatness of The Fountainhead lies in its ability
to inspire hope and confidence in its readers, to show how
much is possible. For more than fifty years now, people all
over the world have been looking towards this great book for
support and sanction, for encouragement and hope, for ideas
and answers. The Fountainhead applauds strength and
greatness in human spirit, giving its readers a hero they
can admire, respect, idolize and love. Howard Roark -- the
hero, the ideal man, the human being.
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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