YMMV / The Fountainhead

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • There is a considerable amount of debate on whether Dominique was actually raped by Roark, or whether she was acting out a fantasy, with his compliance, and was the one truly in control at the time. In BDSM circles, this is commonly referred to as "topping from below"; where the "submissive" is actually in control, "writing the script" as it were, and the "dominant" is simply following along, playing a role created and maintained by the sub. In fact, consensual "rape fantasies" are more often initiated by the person playing the "victim" role, than the the one playing the "rapist". This interpretation would seem to be borne out by the very similar, but more obvious, example set by Dagny Taggart's more clearly dominant role in Atlas Shrugged.
  • In the wake of events such as the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11, Roark could convincingly be branded a domestic terrorist (even back then, blowing up a building was very much treated harshly. Terrorists had already done so by that point)
  • Peter Keating can be variously seen as a Classic Anti Hero, a deconstruction of the Classic Anti Hero or a Type II Anti-Villain, especially at the end.
• Anvilicious: Whilst this book is nowhere near as anvilicious as Atlas Shrugged, the book is not subtle about its message, except possibly for a reader that has almost no familiarity with the ideas and debates Rand is dealing with. Howard Roark does have an extensive Author Tract at the end explicitly lining out all of Rand's principles.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Toohey's little monologue about his true aspirations.
    • There is a very good reading of it here. One of the best Hannibal Lectures you'll ever hear.
• Spiritual Successor: The novel can be seen as one to Also sprach Zarathustra, and an attempt to imagine how the archetypal situations that Nietzsche describes in broad strokes might play out in practice. Howard Roark's creative genius and independent spirit embody the ideal of the Übermensch that Zarathustra urges his disciples to strive towards, while each of his foils can be compared to one of the types of people that Zarathustra warns them to be wary of — Peter Keating can be seen as the "last man" whose sight makes everything small, Toohey as the tarantula that bites its superiors in the name of equality, and Gail Wynand as the performer in the marketplace, with his readers being the poisonous flies that the performer attracts. It should be noted that Rand denied any direct influence of Nietzsche's philosophical ideas on hers, although she did admit to admiring his writing style.
• Strawman Has a Point:
  • Dominique at one point tells him if he marries her and gives up architecture, stopping her wedding to Gail Wynand, then they could have a happy, ordinary life. Roark thinks it's a Moment of Weakness and is amused by it. She's actually got a point that Roark is being an Icarus, trying to reach for the sun repeatedly.
• He's devoted his life to being an architect and it's noble of him to work towards his dream.
  • Ellsworth Toohey writes an editorial decrying Roark for blowing up the Cortlandt project. Apart from insinuating that Roark deserves the death penalty for this act, Toohey doesn't really say much that the average person would disagree with about a terrorist act. Destroying a thousand people's chance for a better life because his design was slightly altered makes Roark look like a petty, spiteful narcissist, not an uncompromisingly heroic visionary.
• Values Dissonance: Let's just say that the chapter dealing with the mentally handicapped children moving into the rebuilt Temple of the Human Spirit can be very uncomfortable to read for modern audiences.
• The Woobie:
  • Ironically, Peter Keating becomes one later in the book, the poor bastard... In fact, his turn-wife Dominique picks up on this fact and pretty much does give him that hug he so badly needs... but he needs it even more as the book progresses even further.
  • Poor, poor Catherine...