Who Is Toohey Selfish

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In Ayn Rand's novel "The Fountainhead," Ellsworth Toohey is a manipulative character who seeks to control other characters through his use of language and deception. When he tells Keating that he is the "most selfless man" Keating has ever known, he is trying to assert his power over Keating by making him believe that he has no selfish motives towards him. Toohey is an evil person who supports collectivism and mediocre performance in order to destroy the individualist nature of the people in the book. He seeks to do this by promoting the idea that success is not achieved through individual effort, but rather through the collective efforts of society as a whole.

Tooheys behavior throughout the book shows that he is anything but unselfish. …show more content…

Ayn Rand is a defender of individualism and believes that collectivism can be destructive and ruin the lives of individuals. She paints Toohey as a villainous monster who threatens personal freedom by using his charm and intelligence (manipulation) to influence people and further his own personal agenda. I would agree with Rand's assessment that Toohey is not a selfless individual. Instead, he is a manipulative and power-hungry individual who seeks to use others to achieve his own goals. Toohey is an incredibly selfish character whose statement about himself couldn't be further from the truth. He seeks power and uses his control of others to benefit his personal needs. Toohey presents himself as a selfless and considerate person who is dedicated to serving the needs of others. However, his actions show that he is actually a selfish and power-hungry person who is willing to sacrifice the lives and happiness of others to achieve his own goals. Toohey lacks any originality or creativity, relying on the ideas and work of others to further his own goals. He has no personal vision or artistic talent of his own, and seeks to suppress the creativity and individualism of others in order to maintain his own power and influence. Overall, Toohey is a bad character because he represents the direct opposite of the values and ideals that the author, Ayn Rand, promotes in the novel. He seeks to suppress individualism, creativity, and reason, and instead promotes compliance with standards , collectivism, and