Society and Class - Themes, The Fountainhead | The Fountainhead - Summary, Themes and Characters - Novels PDF Download

The Fountainhead sticks out like a sore thumb in the American literary tradition of celebrating the underdog. Granted, Roark is a poor underdog, and persecuted to boot. So how is Rand abandoning the "Yay, underdog!" stance, exactly?

Well, usually in underdogs stories the baddie is the rich dude. Capitalism and selfishness is portrayed as none too great: think of Ben Stiller's sleazy, rich character in DodgeBall: An Underdog Story, or the wealthy, pampered Apollo Creed in Rocky. But Rand is all for capitalism and wealth. For example, the character of Wynand isn't seen as evil because he's rich or because he's a conspicuous consumer. His character flaws revolve around his lack of individualism; he bows down to society too often to be a true hero.

And just as wealth is exalted, poverty is looked down on. Take a look at Katie's vicious attitude toward the people she is supposed to be helping with her social work.

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

This novel celebrates wealth and doesn't see anything wrong with having it; it judges characters more on how they behave and not on their class affiliation.

Society at large is depicted as kind of dumb and pathetic here; society falls for Toohey's lies, after all.