The Fountainhead

In spite of Gail Wynand’s individualism and creative spirit in The Fountainhead, he compromises these values in his work and succumbs to the power of the people, believing this double identity to be his only option in achieving the power he seeks. A simple credo governs Gail Wynand’s life: I Do run things around here. Originally a statement affirming his drive to rise above, this assertion quickly becomes a measure of Wynand’s self-worth—a self-worth based entirely upon his power over others. His deep respect for the greatness of mankind and the integral dignity of the independent man is made irrelevant in his life by a single, core fallacy: the futility and inevitable demise of integrity.

On a tenement rooftop at age sixteen, Gail Wynand decides to conquer “the city where he [does] not run things” through the power of the written word (Rand 405). Working diligently and for his own purposes, young Wynand shows promise toward becoming a selfish creator and a moral man. [Perhaps you could add a bit here to describe what a selfish creator is… how that makes a moral man?]But with Wynand’s first self-righteous stand against corruption comes the devastating blow to his belief in honest men. [To what does this refer?] The true Gail Wynand dies, and the man who takes his place holds an unshakable contempt for integrity and the victimhood it presupposes. In Wynand’s mind, integrity will only make him a victim to the very forces he swore to conquer. [Why?] He sees a dichotomy between success and self-respect, and when he forces himself to choose between the man he wants to be and the things he feels he needs to prove [These things he “needs” to prove…is this referring to “conquering” the city? Proving his success to others through powe...

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... creates victims [yeah, this will be stronger once you go into more detail above about why he came to believe that integrity is impossible/dangerous] , Gail Wynand chooses to abandon his, and makes himself a victim anyway. By pandering to the lurid whims of the people, Gail Wynand makes himself a slave, dependent upon public approval and compliance. He never gets what he desires out of the bargain because he is no longer capable of desiring anything. Roark and Wynand are very alike—neither one was “born to be a second-hander”—but one fundamental inverse separates them (663). Wynand lives only for the control that others will grant him; he lives for everything except his own integrity and chooses not to commit suicide because he can find nothing worth dying for. Roark, on the other hand, claims, “I could die for you. But I couldn’t and wouldn’t live for you” (608).