Which man ultimately prospers: the man of integrity or the hypocritical and immoral man? In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand questions the relationship between the moral and the practical. Many people in real life - as well as Gail Wynand and Dominique Francon in the novel - believe that practical success requires the individual to betray his own moral principles. Some say you have to "play the game"—that is, conform to the principles of your company or profession if such conformity will lead to practical success. Yet in The Fountainhead, Rand builds a compelling argument that this cynical view is wrong. The character of Howard Roark is the author's argument against the idea that moral bankruptcy allows for practical success and that there is an inversely proportional relationship between the two realms. He is ultimately successful because he adheres to his morality and refuses to compromise the integrity of his buildings or the conception of his projects in the face of harsh consequences such as poverty and prison. The character of Peter Keating is the author's argument that moral bankruptcy leads only to destruction, and even Gail Wynand, who has the ability to think independently and build values, is destroyed by betraying her own principles. The novel demonstrates that, through the development of characters and plot, the only way for man to achieve happiness and practical success is to be moral. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Howard is an independent, creative genius with a clear sense of self and the potential to gain insight into humanity without abdicating autonomous thought. Rand demonstrates that he is both moral and practical through the development of the plot. When the board of directors of the Manhattan Bank Building wants to change his design, Roark rejects the proposal for the new design, calling his behavior "the most selfish thing you ever saw a man do." Despite the consequences of poverty, he gives up a lucrative and publicity-generating assignment to defend the integrity of his project, and calls this "selfishness." Howard adheres to his values ​​throughout the course of the novel, and because he does not abdicate his values ​​and free will, he is able to put his thoughts and values ​​into practice. For him, the integrity of the project is much more important than the money or recognition that will come from the commission. By staying true to his values ​​and judgment, Roark is true to the deepest core of himself. This is selfishness in its highest and best sense. Symbolizing courage and strength, he is fully committed to the artistic integrity of each of his projects and would rather take a laborer's job in a granite quarry than compromise on the smallest detail of his building. He is also practical, and, demonstrating his practicality, Roark, more than any other characters in the novel, is a giant of supreme competence, excelling in every aspect of construction. By the end of the novel, he has achieved considerable commercial success and, on his own terms, established himself in the field of architecture. Roark's buildings, his latest business success, and his happiness are the result of living by his thinking. To achieve practical success, one cannot betray one's mind. Rand suggests that moral virtue is a requirement of practical success, not an obstacle to it. Peter Keating, on the other hand, is a conformist. He abdicates his judgment and lets other people define his actions and his life. In this regard, he is Roark's foil. While Howard might end the "Peter Keating" section morally strong and financially bankrupt, Peter ends up financially strong and morally bankrupt.bankruptcy. However, at the end of the "Howard Roark" section, Howard is morally strong and, consequently, practically and financially strong, while Peter Keating is both morally and practically bankrupt. In all important decisions in his life, Keating yields to the coercion of an antagonistic society, for he lacks the strength of character necessary to stand up to his own judgment. Keating desires prestige above all else, and while he and his ambitions would be considered selfish in the conventional sense, Ayn Rand demonstrates how he has an altruistic status-seeking nature. He sacrifices and renounces all desires and values ​​for status and almost completely renounces autonomous thinking. A selfish man, Ayn Rand argues, must be faithful to his values ​​and the thinking he does to form them. Gail Wynand publishes vulgar tabloids that oppose Roark's principles, but she also loves man's nobler achievements and owns a private art gallery. His private life is the product of his choices, while his professional life depends on the worst public opinion. Gail Wynand is a man with the mind, talent, and drive to do great things, but he brings disaster upon himself through his own mistakes. According to naturalist premises, Wynand mistakenly chooses to believe that a man can dominate or be dominated. He believes that most humans are corrupt and mindless, and as an intelligent and competent man he can only survive by achieving society's conceptions of power, money, influence, and readers. But in the process, he, like Keating, betrays his own mind. Wynand is a man of contradictory thoughts and actions, which ultimately lead to his downfall. When he defends Roark in The Banner, he fails to understand that vulgar people cannot appreciate morality and faces the fact that his concept of control was a dangerous speculation. It collapses as quickly as the stock market collapsed in 1929, because it betrays itself to such an extent that it decisively gives in to coercion and fails to redeem its principles beyond Howard's conception of the Wynand Building. The novel suggests that the only power a man should seek is that of his own mind and body, his own spirit and his own heart, and that seeking it through others will have disastrous consequences. Because Wynand did not express his morals to those who could seriously appreciate morality in journalism, he was defeated by society. Not appreciating Howard's statement, "Don't give up," Wynand submitted his own will to that of the masses. Dominique Francon believes that the majority of men have no interest in living up to man's highest nature and that this unthinking majority has all the power in society. She acts like a philosophical pessimist, believing that good people don't stand a chance in this world. It significantly exemplifies the premise of Ayn Rand's malevolent universe: that the world is closed to the aspirations of good men and that only evil holds power. She is a person who believes the conventional view, and although she loves Howard and his genius, she sees no hope for his survival. He teams up with Toohey to destroy him before society can, in his acts of mercy. “We say we are moles and we are against mountain peaks,” admonishes the court and the gallery at the Stoddard trial, stating that the temple must be torn down to save it from the world, not the world from it. Because of Dominique's fear that an antagonistic world will erase all traces of noble men, creative works, and pursuit of positive goals, she refuses to pursue values ​​or goals. Thanks to his ability to think independently, he will be able to see the error of his pessimistic philosophy and to.