In all actions and thoughts, Howard Roark never relinquishes his integrity: the central, guiding component of his life that Rand stresses is of utmost importance for any moral life. Roark maintains this integrity in the face of numerous challenges in his career that attempt to force him to compromise the guiding principle of his work: his soul. Culminating in the dynamiting of the Cortlandt building, Roark behaves utterly selfishly, nonetheless.
From an objectivist standpoint, this is functional morality, and the ideal for a human as the principle of one’s life should lie in the fulfillment of one’s happiness. Demonstrated by characters like Peter Keating, compromise and selflessness lead only to utter destruction of the soul and of personal happiness. Roark, however, experiences his eventual triumph as an architect, as content as he was in the opening scene in which he laughs at all obstacles that he knows he will face.
As such, it is Roark’s selfishness in order to preserve the integrity that is most sacred to him that Rand presents as the only approach to life worthy of emulation. Roark’s happiness stems from his absolute fidelity to his personal desires. This deleteriousness of the alternative is often underscored by Roark’s foil, Peter Keating. Keating, having already betrayed his personal desires to the social climbing wishes of his mother, is inherently uncertain about the path that his life should take, conditioned already to relinquish such an important decision to others.
Expressing doubt at his options after college, Keating questions Roark about the path he should take. Roark responds “You’ve made a mistake already. By asking me. By asking anyone” (33). Keating’s path to destruction however, was set long ago. Lacking the commitment to his integrity and to his work that Roark has, Keating works only for the “second hander’s delusion-prestige” (607), as he ingratiates himself to the masses, basing the worth of his work on the opinion of others.
Personal worth as dictated by the nebulous opinion of others inevitably leads to a devaluing of the self as general public opinion represents humanity’s lowest common denominator. Encouraged by various philosophies and religions that advocate sacrifice (of possessions and of independent faculty of thought), the masses that consume Wynand’s daily have no real basis for any of their preferences outside of the equally senseless opinions of others. Public opinion, therefore, relies on senselessness.
As Toohey gloats to Dominique “Reason can be fought with reason. How are you going to fight the unreasonable? ” (346). Toohey’s role as the architect of such public opinion through the consolidation of the immense power that is inherently available over unthinking masses puts him effectively in control of Keating’s career, and many like his. To maintain his role of power, Toohey weaponizes the mediocrity of Keating’s career. By lauding Keating as “great,” other true, great minds are discredited.
Men of great creative power such as Roark are dangerous to such a society that Toohey works to maintain. In a world full of people for whom “the cave and sticks are the limit of [their] own creative capacity” (281), Roark’s genius is an affront to all; like the heroic statue designed by Mallory that made “people seem smaller and sadder than usual” (222) the achievements of the true individual serve to highlight the baseness of the majority. As such, men like Keating must placate the masses with tradition, providing an easily attainable lowest common denominator.
Unfortunately for Keating, this necessitates him being utterly replaceable in the eye of the public, a tragedy for him when this occurs as his selfworth is based solely upon the “prestige” given by mass appreciation. As Rand demonstrates through the arc of Keating’s life from college to middle age, the reliance upon for value is senseless, and destructive. By juxtaposition of Keating and Roark, Rand demonstrates the necessity of Roark’s unwavering selfishness, allowing Roark to maintain his integrity and, therefore, happiness in fulfillment of the only moral purpose in life.
Such integrity can only be built upon the fulfillment of one’s personal standards. Roark truly embodies a dedication to this, as is evidenced by his calm and inner peace when faced with even that which is most painful to him, such as the temporary closing of his architecture office. Even though closing his office means the halt of Roark’s true passion in life, which, for an egotist, is the paramount goal of existence, Roark feels pain that only goes “down to a certain point” (480). Roark is incapable of feeling total destruction as he never compromises in his morals.
Choosing to work in a quarry rather than compromise in his ideals before other architects, Roark never loses his personal integrity, allowing him to weather the worst challenges of life. Later, when Roark is capable of giving shape to the fantastic shapes that he conceives, Roark reaches the deep, personal satisfaction in his work that Keating is never able to achieve through the admiration of others. Roark’s close friend Mick even goes as far as to remark that “it’s indecent to be so happy! ” (135).
Capable of such happiness, and incapable of complete destruction, Roark’s steadfast dedication, though difficult at times, to his integrity is truly the only option to maintain his happiness. Unfortunately, the dedication to and the love of one’s work is often a great liability, making integrity one of the most difficult possessions to keep. As Howard remarks to Keating as he begs for help, “To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life.
If I asked you to keep your soul-would you understand why that’s much harder? ” (577). The difficulty in not “selling one’s soul” by remaining an individual is the inherent self doubt and fear that plague most of humanity. Such fear is a result of the detrimental flaw of necessitating public approval for self-esteem. With unanimity in the public, each person, by espousing the spirit and opinions of the public, is able to maintain approval, and therefore self-esteem.
To veer away the senseless preferences asses necessitates discovering personal values and codes, a thing that Peter Keating’s pitiful return to painting proves nearly impossible to do later in life after having “soldout. ” As the narrator remarks after one of Keating’s early meetings with Roark to plagiarize his work, “Others gave Keating a sense of his own value. Roark gave him nothing” (73). Such a relationship with other humans is degrading to oneself and to others. For this reason, morality is obtained by a selfish devotion to personal happiness, without the need of the subordination of others.
As Rand advocates, humans are ends in themselves, not merely ends for other humans to boost their ersatz facade of self-esteem. Such facades are shown to be even more debased in the presence of true passion and integrity. It is for this reason that Henry Cameron warns vehemently Roark to not pursue a career in architecture. Cameron knows that the public will be inherently hostile to a man of greatness like Roark, (though it is such men of greatness that progress society in the first place) and will try obdurately to ruin such a career.
Roark, however, true to his personal desires, persists, in a choice that maintains his devotion to the self, a noble moral pursuit. Such devotion to the self, which Rand stresses is a prime quality to be emulated, is shown to triumph morally over the opposite of this: altruism. is shocking at first for many readers as Rand lambasts altruism, a traditional “moral” for contributing to the degeneration of society. Altruism encourages destruction of the self to reach the lowest common denominator, and it is at this ow point that humanity stagnates as creators are necessary for any progress. As Roark defends himself in the Cortland Homes Trial, ‘When the first creator invented the wheel, the firstsecond hander responded. He invented altruism. ” Such a system, though immediately beneficial to the second-hander, corrupts internally. Second-handers, such as Keating, lack the respect that the creators do as their integrity is based upon other second-handers, in effect, a vacuum.
Lacking any true selfrespect, the existence as a second-hander leaves one vulnerable should one be abandoned by the other second-handers, such as in Keating’s fall from grace. As Keating now lacks all semblance of integrity, Roark is profoundly disturbed by the fact that Keating moves him to feel pity for him, a “monstrous feeling” (583) as the acknowledgment of such a debased human is painful for those who have not sunk so low. The only reason for which Roark’s selfish approach to life should not be emulated is for reasons of pure practicality.
In the face of amorphous and overarching public opinion, it is easy to compromise on personal desires and settle for the substitute of integrity, the “headless monster” (638) of prestige. However, though it is the easy path, it is also the most destructive path. Eliminating individual desires eliminates the opportunity for true personal happiness. Howard Roark knew that being an architect would come with much hardship, but realized the alternative of submission to the public to be a much worse fate. In total, the only approach to life worthy of emulation is one that maintains integrity.