The Fountainhead Roark Quotes

Howard Roark is a man who puts his pride above all else. He believes that what others think is not as important as what one thinks of one’s self. It was crucial for him to continuously ruin his life, as well as others, to make a point about his beliefs. From refusing the Manhattan Bank Building contract to stealing Gail Wynand’s wife, Roark has always been a selfish man. In The Fountainhead Roark repeatedly makes the mistake of refusing and giving happiness in hopes of denouncing altruism and praising selfishness. He starts off as a college student who messes up his chances of a bright future by getting expelled for his rebelliousness. Roark states to the dean of his college that,” I don’t care if you agree with me or not,” (Rand 26). This

He steals Wynand’s wife and is the main cause of The Banner being sold. All of Wynand’s success has gone down the drain after meeting Roark. However, he still has altruism and still helps Roark in the end. He agrees to divorce Dominique so that Roark can be with her. Wynand is a selfless man who loses everything to his selfish friend, Roark. When Roark goes to trial for blowing up a building that he was designing, he discusses selfishness and altruism. He argues for selfishness and against altruism, which makes everyone energetic, including the judge. The only person who is not affected in a positive way by his speech is Wynand, which causes him to leave the courtroom. This shows how Roark’s speech was not about architecture, but about him and Wynand. Roark is the selfishness and Wynand is the altruism. This speech was a way for Roark to wrongly justify all his selfish deeds that he has done to those who only tried to help him. Roark’s justification is just another selfish attempt to make his own life better. However, everything works out for Roark in the end. Selfishness ends up prevailing over altruism, which shows how the government and society are failing. Those who do selfless deeds are not always rewarded the way they should. Wynand ends up committing suicide without dying, and Roark ends up at the top, above everyone and everything. He refused to receive and give happiness, but in the end, his unjust selfishness brought him above those with altruism. That is the sad reality of how people are living in