The idea of not giving into anyone, of not letting anyone affect one’s own decisions and beliefs, builds a strong personality. In The Fountainhead, Howard Roark has the same, uncompromising personality. No matter what others think of him or do to him, he does what he thinks is right. Similarly, when Ellsworth Toohey asks Roark what Roark thinks of Toohey after everything Toohey does to him, Roark merely says “But I don’t think of you,” (Rand 401) in order to show that nothing bothers Roark, a trait of his personality. The brief exchange between Toohey and Roark clearly depicts the theme of individuality as Roark’s line expresses the true meaning of the theme.
The theme of the novel has a deeper, underlying meaning to it. Rand tries to promote …show more content…
Roark was asked to create traditional models at the Stanton Institute instead of modern ones. When Roark said he would not change his ideas, he was expelled. Even the Dean had told him that Roark would be able to come back, but Roark denied the offer because that meant he would have to change his ideas. During that encounter, Roark said “It’s past. There’s no point in discussing my choice of subjects now,” which shows that Roark does not care about the past and what has happened (Rand 9). This statement ties in with the second part of the theme, which is to not let anything bring one down. He was untouched by what had happened, only about himself and how he had to keep moving on. This situation is the same situation as the one with Toohey during which Roark shows that no one matters to him and rather he cares about doing what he feels is right and deciding what to do …show more content…
Toohey had belittled Roark numerous times in The Banner which led to Roark not receiving any jobs and loosing the temple assignment. As a result, once the temple was completed, Roark went to see the final result where he conversed with Toohey. Toohey tried to anger Roark by reminding him of the past, in order to hurt Roark’s image even more. But Roark said he did not think about Toohey without showing any passion (Rand 401). This line clearly depicts the theme of individuality. It shows that even after Toohey took away Roark’s job and ruined his image in society, Roark did not care at all because he did what he felt was right. Roark did not give in to society. Roark showed Toohey that Toohey was not significant enough for Roark to think about Toohey. Roark ignored Toohey similar to the way he ignored all the articles that insulted him, his professors and the Dean. Roark felt that if he gave in to Stoddard’s demands, he would be at the same level as Toohey and hence would be corrupted. However, the characteristic of not being influenced shows how individuals like Roark are stronger and see themselves as elevated above everyone else, simply due to their strong personality which never lets them