Originally posted by thirsty moore:
Mainly, I'm looking at Howard Roark and wondering how a character can be so sincere, but so distant. That Keating kid's a total punk. I haven't completely read into what Rand is getting at. It would be interesting to hear some ideas though.
I've read this book several times and still don't know exactly what she's getting at (am I stupid?), except this: be yourself, stick to your principles, don't conform. Seems pretty simple (hence the questioning of my interpretation), except her main point seems to be: But it's really, really difficult to do that and remain "selfish" in the modern world. Her definition of selfish is not to not screw everyone else over; it's more like "keep yourself happy instead of worrying about what others think of you and your choices."
Peter Keating is her example of what happens when you're not Howard Roark. Harsh.
Frankly, I know many more Peter Keatings of the world than I do Howard Roarks. I think more people (obviously)are like Keating than Roark. The elitism of this board exemplifies that (diss others when they like music you don't....not YOU specifically thirsty, just most people in general.)
Does anyone know a real life example of Howard Roark?
