isabel

Isabel Brumleve
Kacey Riley
AP Comp
5-28-2014
Literary Analysis of the Fountainhead
Prior to meeting her lover Howard Roark, Dominique Francon remained loyal to her individualistic philosophy and retained her sense of self control throughout the novel. Her natural distaste for society after a life of superiority leads her to develop further what Roark would later teach her: that some people don’t deserve to see brilliance. What other’s see Dominique as, whether irrational or strong willed, is the result of her brilliance being wrongly acknowledged throughout her life. Because of Dominique’s belief that she can only trust herself in a world of savage mediocrity, meeting Howard Roark both inspired love and resentment of him and herself.
With the unwavering resolve she is so well known for, Dominique, when first seeing Roark, stalks her desires and attacks to get what she wants. Dominique’s lust for perfection matching her own has only ever been met by two things: a statue of Helios and Howard Roark.
“Stirred by the taut lines of Roark's body, the proud, scornful demeanor of his face, Dominique pursues him. She comes to the quarry, where the workers engage in inhuman toil in the terrible heat. His look says that he not only has the right to stare at her with arrogance and unspoken intimacy, but that she has given him that right. Dominique is angry but terrified that she has no control over the feelings this nameless worker arouses in her.
She knew it was the most beautiful face she would ever see, because it was the abstraction of strength made visible. She felt a convulsion of anger, protest, of resistance- and of pleasure.”
This nameless worker, with the commanding architectural frame of a body and mind, makes her realize that humanity isn’t so terrible; as long as Roark exists, at least one member of society would fight for what is right and fight against mediocrity. Finding the long awaited equal she has always desired turns her back to the previously mentioned philosophy she has: that man’s eyes do not deserve to see perfection until it can be fully appreciated.
Her self-conflict arises from the fact that her previous tenets focused on being alone to ones’ self. Dominique states several times during the novel that she only agrees to marriage (a very intimate practice) because she must punish herself for her failures, most relating to her defeat at controlling her feelings about Roark. The difficulty in managing her genius before meeting and falling for Roark kept Dominique hungry for stability. The passion she feels is at constant odds with her hatred of self for that same passion. The fervor that envelops Francon sexually whenever she sees Howard is only followed by the after-thought of how she must defeat Roark. This punishment is also comes in the form of suffering for her writing. By forcing herself to live among those struggling to survive in a housing project, she creates work that makes her feel worthy again of being who she is. This is evident by the statement Rand makes on page 64: “At the end of two weeks she returned to her penthouse apartment on the roof of a hotel over Central Park, and her articles on life in the slums appeared in the Banner. They were a merciless, brilliant account.”
The resentment that she feels for Roark is made at the hands of her own self-hatred toward getting close to someone who resembles herself. Because she cannot protect Roark’s genius like she can her own, she is certain that he will fall to the corruption and evil that the machine hollows. When man does not live up to its highest potential, those such as Roark and Cameron and Mallory will be not only misunderstood, but outcast and vagrant. Because of the magnitude of the failure that will come to Roark for pursuing his best, it is almost considerably nobler than helping Roark with his own success. Also, helping Roark would be contrary to her beliefs totally. An action done with independence, efficiency and passion against him would please Roark more than something unexceptional to appeal to him.
Dominique Francon’s resentment shows a sort of irrationality that can be found in all great logic. While she loves Howard Roark, she must destroy him to keep his ideals whole and untouched. The resolve to be uncompromised in Roark is only matched by Dominique’s resolve to give Roark only perfection. Because of both a sense of obligation to her lover and a sense of obligation to her own ideals, she must do the contrary in defeating Roark herself. Dominique struggles to love herself and destroy Roark due to the perfection she sees in Roark and the imperfection she sees in herself, both proving the resolve Dominique Francon has for Roark’s un-perverted conviction.