The Acquisition Of Power In Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead

The infatuation with acquiring power often “cuts both ways”, causing harm to all parties involved, as was exemplified by the characters in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. Both Gail Wynand and Ellsworth Toohey tirelessly devoted themselves to the acquisition of power over the public while fiercely competing with one another. The public, like a wave, is constantly moving closer towards its impending shore; with glimpses of pomp and circumstance, gathering new ideas and tossing others upon the sand. And while the waves are predestined to come upon the shore, in a whimper do they effortlessly recycle back into the ocean. Public opinion may be susceptible to influence [to a degree], but both Wynad and Toohey were ignorant to the thought that man

Toohey is the picture of a man who never had a chance and knew it. Similar to Wynand, characterized as an “underdog” when they were young and born a feeble boy with limited physical strength, Toohey never attempted to ameliorate his lack of physical capabilities; instead, he found strength in his diction. Fortunately for his sake, Ellsworth took advantage of his mature thinking as a method of dominating his fellow peers. While he never once spoke an original thought, he painted a picture of power with his eloquence. Toohey forged a picture which he entitled “Collectivism.” Ellsworth strove to eliminate all original thought from society because he feared the power of an unimpeded soul. A man in control of his own being can not be enslaved; this directly posed a threat to Toohey’s “universal slavery” (639). As if he was constantly living through his childhood, Toohey attempted to regress the minds of society to the basics of elementary learning, such as sharing and taking turns- the basics of altruism; in doing so, Toohey established a preponderation over the masses. Ellsworth quickly recognizes the threat to his power seen by Roark, who lives by his own ego; but, Ellsworth fails to grasp that the opinion of the masses can and will not affect Roark. Howard Roark was neither a part of the wave of public opinion nor could he be drowned by