Tuesday, April 21, 2009

blog 4

3. Wynand chooses Roark to build his home because he is in love with Roark's purpose and work. Wynand has a particular purpose for building this home, which generally revolves around both a tribute and a protective barrier for Dominique from the rest of society. Wynand finds Roark fitting to do the job because all of his designs are made for a specific purpose, and there is never anything useless in his buildings. Wynand wants every single part of the house to represent and encase Dominique, which he knows Roark will be able to do if given free reign over the plans. In a more symbolised sense, however, it is fitting for Roark to build the tribute to Dominique because he is, indeed, in love with her. Although Wynand loves Dominique, I don't think that at first he realized that it would take someone who shared that with him in order to build what he was asking. The essence of their bond dwells with ideals and perceptions. They are complete opposites, in a sense, but they think alike, as well. While Wynand is after power, Roark is simply after having his work constructed, but both of them see the differences between creators and second-handers. Both of these men are in love with Dominique, and while it is easily apparent to Roark, it was hidden from Wynand. Their bond is only understandable once many of the factors have been brought to attention, but it is very deep and very apparent. While they respect each other, they both have their own intentions and plans to carry those intentions out.6. Roark's design for the Cortlandt Homes is altered because the design went through Keeting, and Webb and Prescott knew that Keeting would be easy to step all over. Keeting has always given in to what others wished of him as to avoid being seen as rebellious or argumentative. Webb and Prescott were not aware that the design was created by Roark, but they stepped in to partner with Keeting and altered the design in order to, in a sense, give it a gilded appearance. The society in which this took place affected the outcome in various ways. The specific area for which the design was made was very poor and declined, hence the building was meant to be low rent and cost efficient. The society did not know the plans, the original design or who it was by, therefore they did not make even a notice when the plans began to change. Roark was away with Wynand at the time, so he could not enforce Keeting to stand up. Although Keeting did make efforts to stop the changes being made, he was ineffective for quite a few reasons. Keeting had never stood up for himself, and this once-in-his-life action probably seemed more like a joke than it did a real request. He had never cared before, so people didn't value his opinion. He had become a failure, so people didn't respect his wishes, judgement or threats.11. Roark is saying that individuals have conquered while second-handers have copied. Independent minds have created things, while dependant minds have simply been praised for making duplicates. He is saying that creators rise to the occasion, while followers copy stuff and expect it to be used even in a time when it is not needed. Roark is an individualist, and every part of his designs carry purpose and dignity, while say, Keeting, for example, always relied on past works and got help in almost everything he was challenged with. Roark's work has purpose and makes sense, while Keeting's work is simply praised because it was praised in the past. 12. Rand makes the point that anything can happen if you have your business in order. From the beginning of the book, Roark was expected to be a failure, but he ended up winning. In various places his work was always recognized and praised, because there were other people that thought like him. She makes the point that if you stick to what you started out with, you can achieve the corresponding goal that you set. Rand makes the point that success can be achieved even in the most heinous situations.Toohey failed at life. While he was a twisted collectivist, he was considered evil throughout the whole book. Toohey manipulated people and looked for power, while Roark used nothing but himself and looked for his buildings to be useful. Toohey was bad, and he lost. Roark was good, and he won. The power of evil can be used to manipulate and hide the truth, but with the power of good comes realizations that show the truth and everything real. Rand makes the point that the power of good is stronger than the negative power of collectivism.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

blog 3

1. Wynand has one set of morals that he uses, but his newspaper uses an opposing set. Wynand choose to follow societies rules and morals, while hiding his real self from everyone. Therefore, he created the biggest newspaper in the U.S. by backstabbing He discovered that putting corrupt stories into print made better sales than good samaritan stories.Wynand has forced himself to go along with the corrupt collective society around him, and, by doing this, causes himself emotional pain. He has entered a secret depression from the long-term effects of his lifestyle and is on the verge of suicide.Dominique saves him from his spiral of death and prolongs , inevitable.


2. why did Toohey presents Wynand with the statue of Dominique. His intentions benefit himself as well as Wynand and Dominique. First of all, Wynand benefits because he falls in love with Dominique and marries her. Dominique benefits because she sees Wynand as someone who is more of a threat to her true love, Roark. Later on, though, she sees him as Roark who merely acts corrupt like Keating and Toohey.But for Toohey, the benefits are far better. He wishes for Wynand to be happy and distracted. He hopes both of these wishes will be furfilled simultaneously. The distraction will give Toohey a chance to initate a coup on the Banner. Ironically, Toohey wants Wynand to be happy, and he wants to take over the Banner as well, two things that contradict each other. Like I said, Toohey's intentions are complex.Wynand falls in love with Dominique.


5. Dominique realizes that Wynand has the qualities of a perfect man. Because of this, she sees him not as torture for not finding perfection, but as a similar person to Roark. Her conflicting emotions make her question her knowledge of Toohey. Because she sees the real Wynand, she tells him what she feels.Her presence with Wynand is strange. She tries to treat him as she did Keating, but she occasionally treats him like Roark. These conflicts, in turn, make her wonder how she didn't know the real Wynand beforehand. She realizes that Wynand is Roark, except he chose to hide his individualist self and played by societies rules. This threw Dominique off after she married him.Dominique visits Roark for a variety of purposes, some obvious and others unnoticeable.


6. Dominique visits Roark because she wants to give him another chance. She asks him to give up architecture because she doesn't want the world to see his work. Roark refuses to accept her wishes because he realizes that she doesn't want him to follow his dreams ,she wants him to not furfill his dreams and live. Roark doesn't want society, or even Dominique, to force him to give up his individualism. Dominique visits Roark for other reasons. One is because she yearns for his presence, even though she had been torturing herself by marrying Keating. Another reason is because she truly can't forget him, as evident when she sees Wynand as Roark. Dominique's meeting with Roark is questionably one of her greater moments in the story, as her entire purpose and intentions are revealed in one scene