Howard Roark In Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead

Morals are defined many ways, by many different people. The denotation is a person’s standards of beliefs as found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Morals are displayed in The Fountainhead as something much more personal. Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead, has given a direct display of her idea of a morally perfect character. This character, Howard Roark, has many admirable qualities and many qualities that are seen lacking. Ayn Rand’s reasoning behind Roark’s character and an analyzation of said character are complex discussions with many different views. Rand describes Roark as the morally ideal person. I believe she does this because Roark is demonstrated as never compromising his beliefs for money, women, or other worldly luxuries. He continues to do his work to the best of his ability in his own style. There are few parts in the book where Roark does compromise slightly, by drawing the skeleton of the buildings and then giving them to Keating to embellish. Even by taking a job with Snyte and drawing a small part of the ‘modern’ building. Yet, after he does this he always feels as though his building was made into a disgusting display to a point where he can barely look at it. Morals, as discussed in the opening paragraph, are defined as beliefs that one does not back down from. They set their own standards. Roark would have rather worked in construction, than making false
Ayn Rand places the main character as the head of moral ambiguity and it is demonstrated in her writings of him. To the other characters he represents their guilt and corruption and how he refuses to fall to their level. In doing so, he demonstrates qualities that are admirable in society and qualities that are less admirable. It truly is for the reader to decide. Morals are for no one person to decide upon, they are individual choices that shape our lives. It is for the own individual to decide the shape they