Personification of Objectivisim in The Fountainhead Anne Marie Mackin

Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead showcases four men who exhibit varying strength of character, resolve, and ethics to create a concise illustration of the distinct levels of objectivity that pepper the spectrum of the human character. The obvious protagonist of this literary work, Howard Roark, is an exquisite personification of Rand's philosophy, while the other three main characters are depicted in terms of their opinion of and relationship with Roark. The four parts of The Fountainhead primarily address the character for which they are named, but Roark is a vital, indispensable force throughout the novel, and characterization of the other three men would be impossible without him. By using a writing style that reflects Roark's Objectivist philosophy - absolute, unwavering, and unadorned - Rand constructs obviously simple characters to present an uncluttered allegory for Objectivism.

When we first encounter Howard Roark, his primal intimacy with the natural world is made brilliantly evident through concise, beautifully illustrative language. The Metaphysics of Objectivism, that the external world exists independent of man's consciousness and that man's task is to perceive reality, not invent it, are personified...