Essay: Unrealistic heroes – Ayn Rand

Katniss Everdeen. Frodo Baggins. Harry Potter. All of these characters are the heroes of their own books, and they are considered to be the most recognizable literary heroes of their time. However, what gives these so-called “heroes” leverage over others such as Howard Roark? Nothing. Ayn Rand is often criticized for her creation of heroes that seem unrealistic, but as compared to the vast majority of literary protagonists, Howard Roark is very realistic and relatable to readers.

 

Rand’s main point to make in her essay “The Goal of my Writing” is that she writes and creates characters not to positively influence her audiences, but rather to project the ideal of an “ideal man”, faults and all. I believe this thought of writing and creating characters is more realistic than those of Collins, Tolkien, or Rowling in the sense that the trials that Roark faces throughout the novel are much more relatable; not just in the sense that Howard Roark’s situation takes place in a more realistic setting, but also in the sense that these are trials of the common man: failure, free will, and his struggle with lust just to name a few.

At the beginning of the novel, we are faced with Roark being suddenly expelled from university because his architectural ideas are too modern and advanced for the conservative, stone-age society he lives in. As humans, this feeling of ultimate failure is something that has happened or will happen to us at one point in our lives or another. Roark, however, does not let that stop him in his tracks. Roark knows that his ideas and designs are revolutionary and he drives on because he believes wholeheartedly that his concepts are something that should be shared with the world. Although he does continue to be shot down throughout his career by clients and potential employers and partners, Roark never lets that get to him. Many times, we as humans are dealt a series of cards that end in failure. Roark’s choice to never let the consequences that follow his choices to not conform to his peers and societal norms for architecture bog him down are an exemplary example that when faced with a difficult time to keep trucking is a factor that makes Howard Roark not only a realistic character, but a relatable one, thus making him the “ideal man that Rand talks about creating in her essay.

Another valid point that Rand makes in making Roark the “ideal man” is his objectivist sense of free will. Much like Rand, Howard Roark portrays characteristics of the objectivist lifestyle and his, sometimes overwhelming, belief that only a man’s own choices effect the outcome of his life. This becomes evident even from the beginning whenever his modernistic ideas are rejected by the architecture community, and he chooses to take the negative criticism that they give him with a grain of sand. Roark unnervingly remains in the same mindset even after he is expelled from school. Throughout the entire novel, Roark remains true to his own method of thinking making him, again, a more relatable character than most who let the thoughts of others sway their ways of thinking.