66 pages • 2 hours read
Ayn RandThe Fountainhead
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1943A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Ayn Rand’s Life and Works
Ayn Rand was born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum in Russia in 1905. The 1917 Communist Revolution saw her father’s prosperous pharmaceutical business confiscated by government authorities, instilling in Rand a lasting hostility toward collectivist philosophies and government intervention in matters of economy and private property. She moved to the United States in 1926 and was impressed by the improved quality of life she experienced, compared with her time in the USSR. She supported the ideals of radical individualism and laissez-faire capitalism and opposed any altruistic ventures or socialist reforms—such as Roosevelt’s New Deal—which she perceived to threaten those foundational American values. Rand’s own experiences and convictions heavily influenced the messages and themes of her fictional works.
Prior to her success as a novelist, Rand worked as a screenplay writer in Hollywood, where she met her husband, Frank O’Connor. The couple married in 1929 and remained dedicated to each other until O’Connor’s death in 1979. O’Connor worked as an actor, rancher, artist, and homemaker, moving across the country and changing his occupation as the needs of his wife’s career dictated. He was unfailingly supportive of Rand and her work, consistently providing her with emotional and practical support. Rand dedicated The Fountainhead to her husband and has cited O’Connor as the primary inspiration and model for the idealized male protagonists of her novels.
The Fountainhead was Rand’s first published novel and major literary success, although it received generally unfavorable reviews from critics and gained much of its popularity through word of mouth. Similarly, Atlas Shrugged (1957) received harsh criticism almost without exception upon its publication, but nonetheless, it topped bestseller lists and still remains one of the most influential novels of the 20th century. Following the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Rand dedicated herself to nonfiction writings, developing and promoting her systematic philosophy of objectivism until her death in 1982.
Philosophical Context: Objectivism
Rand’s fictional works showcase the themes and values that she makes explicit in her later nonfiction essays, which were dedicated to her systematic philosophy of objectivism. Roark is the ideal objectivist hero, and his ultimate victory and vindication in The Fountainhead function as an argument in favor of Rand’s own philosophical convictions. Objectivist philosophy supports laissez-faire capitalism and promotes the pursuit of one’s own happiness and satisfaction as the ultimate moral virtue. Objectivism argues that there is an objective reality that can be discovered through observation, and it enshrines rational thought as humanity’s greatest tool. It also repudiates any act of altruism or charity, as well as violence or the violation of individual freedoms.
Rand deliberately defied established philosophical traditions and associated academia when creating her objectivist philosophy. Consequently, her arguments do not abide by the fundamental rigors of the discipline or comply with the basic standards of mainstream philosophical discourse. Critics of the philosophy also note that objectivism does not acknowledge the prior contributions of celebrated philosophers or of foundational philosophical arguments. While many experts and academics cite these omissions as reasons to reject objectivism as a valid philosophical stance, the very essence of Rand’s philosophy regards the idea of ideological scaffolding as anathema. Despite widespread criticism over the years, objectivism has gained a range of proponents among laypeople, particularly those working in finance or business, with several international organizations dedicated to the advancement of Rand’s philosophy and works.
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By Ayn Rand
