The Fountainhead

Rand began The Fountainhead (originally titled Second-Hand Lives) following the completion of her first novel, We the Living. While that earlier novel had been based partly on people and events from Rand's experiences, the new novel was to focus on the less-familiar world of architecture. Therefore, she did extensive research to develop plot and character ideas. This included reading numerous biographies and books about architecture,^[2] and working as an unpaid typist in the office of architect Ely Jacques Kahn.^[3]

Rand's intention was to write a novel that was less overtly political than We the Living, to avoid being "considered a 'one-theme' author".^[4] As she developed the story, she began to see more political meaning in the novel's ideas about individualism.^[5] Rand also initially planned to introduce each chapter with a quote from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose ideas had influenced her own intellectual development. However, she eventually decided that Nietzsche's ideas were too different from her own. The quotes were not placed in the published novel, and she edited the final manuscript to remove other allusions to him.^[6]

Rand's work on The Fountainhead was repeatedly interrupted. In 1937 she took a break from it to write a novella called Anthem. She also completed a stage adaptation of We the Living that ran briefly in early 1940.^[7] That same year she also became actively involved in politics, first working as a volunteer in the presidential campaign of Wendell Willkie, then attempting to form a group for conservative intellectuals.^[8] As her royalties from earlier projects ran out, she began doing freelance work as a script reader for movie studios. When Rand finally found a publisher, the novel was only one-third complete.^[9]

Although she was a previously published novelist and had a successful Broadway play, Rand had difficulty finding a publisher for The Fountainhead. Macmillan Publishing, which had published We the Living, rejected the book after Rand insisted that they must provide more publicity for her new novel than they did for the first one.^[10] Rand's agent began submitting the book to other publishers. In 1938, Knopf signed a contract to publish the book, but when Rand was only a quarter done with manuscript by October 1940, Knopf canceled her contract.^[11] Several other publishers rejected the book, and Rand's agent began to criticize the novel. Rand fired her agent and decided to handle submissions herself.^[12]

While Rand was working as a script reader for Paramount Pictures, her boss there, Richard Mealand, offered to introduce her to his publishing contacts. He put her in touch with the Bobbs-Merrill Company. A recently hired editor, Archibald Ogden, liked the book, but two internal reviewers gave conflicting opinions about it. One said it was a great book that would never sell; the other said it was trash but would sell well. Ogden's boss, Bobbs-Merrill president D.L. Chambers, decided to reject the book. Ogden responded by wiring to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you." His strong stand got a contract for Rand in December 1941. Twelve other publishers had rejected the book.^[13]

The Fountainhead was published in May 1943. Initial sales were slow, but as Mimi Reisel Gladstein described it, sales "grew by word-of-mouth, developing a popularity that asserted itself slowly on the best-seller lists."^[14] It reached number six on The New York Times bestseller list in August 1945, over two years after its initial publication.^[15]

A 25th anniversary edition was issued by New American Library in 1971, including a new introduction by Rand. In 1993 a 50th anniversary edition from Bobbs-Merrill added an afterword by Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff. According to the Ayn Rand Institute, by April 2008 the novel had sold over 6.5 million copies.^[16]

Howard Roark, a brilliant young architecture student, is expelled from the Stanton Institute of Technology for refusing to abide by its outdated traditions. Despite the determined effort of some professors to defend Roark, and the subsequent offer to continue at Stanton from the headmaster, Howard chooses to leave the school. He goes to New York City to work for Henry Cameron, a disgraced architect whom Roark admires - being formally Cameron's employee but in fact his disciple, and in effect, his adopted son. Cameron who once was architecture's modernist hero, has fallen from fame due to the fickle demands of society and his own caustic personality. His work serves as an inspiration for Howard. Roark’s highly successful but vacuous schoolmate, Peter Keating, also moves to New York to work for the prestigious architectural firm, Francon & Heyer. Roark and Cameron create inspired work, but their projects rarely receive recognition, whereas Keating’s ability to flatter and please brings him almost instant success despite his lack of originality.

Roark closes his office rather than compromise his drawings, and his ideals, to the whims of his clients. He takes a job at a Connecticut granite quarry owned by Guy Francon, whose beautiful, temperamental, and idealistic daughter, Dominique, beguiles Peter Keating. Upon the urging of his mother, Keating breaks off his engagement with Catherine to facilitate his romance with Dominique.

While Roark is working in the quarry, he encounters Dominique, who has retreated to her family's estate in the same town as the quarry. There is an immediate attraction between them. Rather than indulge in traditional flirtation, the two engage in a battle of wills which results in rape. (Author Ayn Rand said that "if it was rape, it was rape by engraved invitation."^[17]}) Not long after, Roark leaves to build the Enright House.

Ellsworth Toohey, a columnist for The New York Banner (a yellow press-style newspaper owned by Gail Wynand) and author of the popular column One Small Voice, is an outspoken socialist, who is covertly rising to power by shaping public opinion through his column and his circle of influential associates, and whose quite openly proclaimed designs are not understood or taken seriously. Toohey sets out to destroy Roark through a smear campaign he spearheads at the Banner. As the first step, Toohey convinces a weak-minded businessman named Hopton Stoddard to hire Roark as the designer for a temple dedicated to the human spirit and gives Roark carte blanche to design it as he sees fit. Roark designs the temple, with a naked statue of Dominique, which creates the first public outcry against Howard and Stoddard is (with Toohey's encouragement) appalled at what Roark has built. Toohey further manipulates Stoddard into suing Roark for general incompetence and fraud. At Roark’s trial, every prominent architect in New York (including Keating) testifies that Roark’s style is unorthodox and illegitimate. Dominique defends Roark, but Stoddard wins the case and Roark loses his business again.

Dominique believes that greatness such as Roark's should never be offered to a public unable to appreciate it, and decides that since she cannot have the world she wants (in which men like him are recognized for what they are) she will live completely and entirely in the world she has, which shuns him and praises Keating. That evening, Dominique pays Keating a visit, and makes him a one-time offer of her hand in marriage. Keating accepts, though he is engaged to Toohey's niece Catherine, and they are married that evening. Dominique turns her entire spirit over to Peter, hosting the dinners he wants, agreeing with him, and saying whatever he wants her to say. She fights Roark, and herds all of his potential clients over to the slowly weakening Keating. Despite this, Roark continues to attract a small but steady stream of perceptive, intelligent clients who see the value in his work.

To win Keating a prestigious architecture commission offered by Gail Wynand, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Banner, Dominique agrees to sleep with Wynand. Wynand then buys Keating's silence and a divorce for Dominique and Keating, after which Wynand and Dominique are married.

Wynand subsequently discovers that every building he likes is done by Roark, so he enlists Roark to build a home for himself and Dominique. The home is built, and Roark and Gail become great friends, although he does not know about Roark's past relationship with Dominique.

Now washed up and out of the public eye, Keating realizes he is a failure. Rather than accept retirement, he pleads with Toohey for his influence in favor of Keating to get the commission for the much sought after Cortlandt housing project. Keating knows that his most successful projects were aided by Roark, and he knows Roark is the only person who can design Cortlandt, due to its economical requirements. Roark agrees to design it in exchange for complete anonymity—and the agreement that it would be built exactly as he designed.

When Roark returns from a long yacht trip with Wynand he finds that, despite the agreement, the Cortlandt Homes project has been changed. Roark asks Dominique to distract the night watchman and dynamites the building to prevent the subversion of his vision. The entire country condemns Roark, but Wynand finally finds the courage to follow his convictions and orders his newspapers to defend him. The Banner’s circulation drops and the workers go on strike (thanks to Toohey's quiet conspiracy to "stack" the paper with those who agree with him, or those whom he can control), but Wynand keeps printing with Dominique’s help. Eventually the tide of public opinion rises against Wynand and most of his staff leaves in protest. Wynand is eventually faced with the choice of closing the paper or reversing his stance and agreeing to the union demands; he gives in, the newspaper publishes a denunciation of Roark over Wynand's signature.

At the trial, Roark seems doomed, but he rouses the courtroom with a speech about the value of ego and the need to remain true to oneself. The jury finds him not guilty. Roark marries Dominique. Wynand, who has finally grasped the nature of the "power" he thought he held, asks Roark to design one last building, a skyscraper that will testify to the supremacy of man: "Build it as a monument to that spirit which is yours...and could have been mine."

A brief epilogue eighteen months later shows the Wynand Building well on its way to completion. The last scene follows Dominique (now Mrs. Roark), entering the site to meet Roark atop the steel framework.

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2009)

The novel is split into four sections: Keating, Toohey, Wynand, and Roark. Peter Keating is "the man who couldn't be, and doesn't know it", whose notion of success consists of flattery and manipulation. His lack of personal integrity assists his rise to fame and fortune, but, he lives solely off the support and condolence of others, which is what leads to his demise. Ellsworth Toohey, presented as the complete antithesis of Roark, is "the man who couldn't be, and knows it", who sets out to destroy others through guilt and altruism, consciously destroying greatness and valorizing the banal and trivial. Gail Wynand is the "man who could have been", who rises from the poverty of his youth to a position of power and riches. But Wynand uses his superlative talent not to create for himself, but to control others, which leads to his loss of the only thing he cherished right from his heart. The major characters exist as foils to Howard Roark who is Rand's image of the perfect man and, to a lesser extent, to contrast Toohey, who is portrayed as absolute evil. Roark is the man who was "as man should be", who lives for himself and his own creativity, indifferent to the opinions of others. (Dominique Francon is presented as the perfect mistress for Roark. Over the course of the novel she must learn not to fear society and not to let its flaws undermine her integrity.)

The first and fourth sections are quite obviously structured as two parallel and contrasting biographies - of Roark (4th section) and of Keating (1st section): Roark is expelled from the Stanton Institute while Keating graduates as the star student; Keating goes to work in the big and prestigious office of Guy Francon, and spends his time mainly on vicious office politics in order to sweep rival after rival out of his way; Roark goes to work in the rundown office of Henry Cameron in order to learn how to build - a disciple rather than employee; Keating celebrates the achievement of a partnership in Francon's office, with all the prominent architects of America gathered to welcome him - while Roark goes off to work as a manual worker in a granite quarry, rather than pervert his ideas; Roark feels wild exultation at seeing the Enright Building erected, fully expressing his ideas and vision - while Keating feels nothing in the inauguration of the Cosmo-Slotnick Building, "a big bromide" whose only good parts were secretly designed by Roark.

From the third section on, Keating's career (and his life in general) takes a sharp downward turn, and it is Wynand - who was kept offstage in the previous sections - who becomes the foil for Roark, in a more subtle and complicated way.

[edit] Peter Keating

Peter Keating is also an aspiring architect, but is everything that Roark is not. His original inclination was to become a artist, but his opportunistic mother pushes him toward architecture where he might have greater material success. Even by Roark's own admission, Keating does possess some creative and intellectual abilities, but is stifled by his sycophantic pursuit of wealth over morals. His willingness to build what others wish leads him to temporary success. He attends architecture school with Roark, who helps him with some of his less inspired projects. He is subservient to the wills of others: Dominique Francon's father, the architectural establishment, his mother, even Roark himself. Keating is "a man who never could be, but doesn't know it". The one sincere thing in Keating's life is his love for Catherine. She is Ellsworth Toohey's niece, but Keating initially refuses her suggestion to introduce him to her uncle. He does this despite the fact that an introduction to the influential architectural critic Toohey would help his career. It is the only exception to his otherwise relentless and ruthless ambition, which includes bullying and threatening to blackmail a sick old man and unintentionally causing his death. Although Keating does have a conscience, and oftentimes does genuinely feel bad after doing certain things he knows are immoral, he only feels this way in hindsight, and doesn't allow his morals to influence current decision making. Keating's offer to elope with Catherine is his one chance to act on what he believes is his own desire. But, Dominique arrives at that precise moment and offers to marry him for her own reasons, and his acceptance of the offer and betrayal of Catherine ends the potential of romance between them. His acceptance of Dominique's offer of marriage, which would help his career far more than a marriage with Catherine, is a quintessential example of his failure to stand up for his own convictions.

[edit] Ellsworth Toohey

Ellsworth Monkton Toohey, who writes a popular art criticism column, is Roark's antagonist. Toohey is an unabashed collectivist and Rand's personification of evil (when speaking freely, he explicitly compares himself to Goethe's Mephisto, who tempted Faust to destruction). Toohey represents the stifling, decadent forces of Communalism and Socialism. His biggest threat is the strength of the individual spirit enshrined in Howard Roark. He falsely styles himself as representative of the will of the masses.

Aiming at a society that shall be "an average drawn upon zeroes," he knows exactly why he corrupts Peter Keating, and explains his methods to the ruined young man in a passage that is a pyrotechnical display of the fascist mind at its best and its worst; the use of the ideal of altruism to destroy personal integrity, the use of humor and tolerance to destroy all standards, the use of sacrifice to enslave.^[18]

Having no true genius, Toohey's mission is to destroy excellence and promote altruism as the ultimate social ideal. This is put forward in one of his most memorable quotes: "Don’t set out to raze all shrines—you’ll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity, and the shrines are razed."

Rand used her memory of the British democratic socialist Harold Laski to help her imagine what he would do in a given situation.^[19] Lewis Mumford was also an initial inspiration.^[19]

In the biography of Toohey, it is mentioned that in his younger age he aspired to become a clergyman, but abandoned religion after discovering Socialism and considering that it better served his purposes. (There is no explicit mention of what denomination the young Toohey belonged to, but a later reference by his niece Catherine to the time when she used to "go to confession in church" seems to indicate a Roman Catholic background). In that, Toohey's early career parallels that of Stalin, who had also trained for the priesthood in his young age - though Toohey's methods are much more subtle than those of the Soviet dictator, and he builds up a formidable power structure without resorting to an outright seizure of power or establishing a secret police apparatus.

Indeed, even when frankly describing the nightmare world which is his ultimate aim ("A world where the thought of each man will not be his own, but an attempt to guess the thought of his neighbor (...) Men will not work for money, but for prestige, the approval of their fellows - not judgment, but public polls") Toohey makes no mention of any overt dictatorship or coercive apparatus. Rather, Toohey's methods throughout the book suggest that such a regime might be able to retain the forms of democracy, multi-party elections and a free press, with actual power held by Toohey-like "informal advisers".

As described in his biography, Toohey had already in early childhood developed a talent for subtly manipulating his parents and elementary school class-mates in order to gain power over them. The adult Toohey - who "never sees men, only forces" (Book II, Ch. 6) - is a master schemer and manipulator who, like a chess master, can devise a gambit and predict many moves in advance. For example, Toohey sets Hopton Stoddard to hire Roark for the construction of his temple - and without having ever spoken to Roark, just by having seen Roark's buildings, Toohey is able to give his proxy Stoddard the arguments which would induce Roark to undertake the job: "It doesn't matter if you don't believe in God, Mr. Roark; you are a profoundly religious man, in your own way. I can see it in your buildings". Having seen Roark's buildings, Toohey has a good idea what kind of temple Roark would construct - and even before Roark ever heard of Stoddard and his temple, Toohey already planned how he would attack the temple once built, get it destroyed and Roark discredited, and transform it into an "institute for subnormal children".

Roark's and Toohey's being the precise antithesis of each other is emphasized by a similarity in the way that Roark's buildings are first introduced in the book ("They were the first houses built by the first man born, who had never heard of others building before him") and the way that Toohey's public speaking is introduced ("The voice spoke English words, but the resonant clarity of each syllable made it sound like a new language spoken for the first time"). Toohey in fact very much wants Roark's recognition, claiming in effect that his perception of the significance of Roark's work and then destroying it makes him the equal of its creator — a claim which Roark rebuffs in their only face-to-face encounter in the entire book (excluding Roark's trials): "Why don't you tell me what you think of me, Mr. Roark?" Roark replies, "But I don't think of you." Roark's retort is one of the most well-known lines in the book (as in the film made on its basis).^[20] As noted by Rand herself in the introduction to the 1968 edition, it was inspired by words actually said by her husband Frank O'Connor "to a different type of person, in a somewhat similar kind of context".

[edit] Gail Wynand

Gail Wynand is a powerful newspaper mogul who rose from a destitute childhood in the ghettoes of New York City to control the city's print media. While Wynand shares many of the character qualities of Roark, his success is dependent upon his ability to manipulate public opinion, a flaw which eventually leads to his loss of the love and friendship he truly cherished not from mind but heart, for the first time. Rand describes Wynand as "a man who could have been." It has been speculated that Wynand is partially based on real-life newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst since Hearst himself started by taking over his father's newspaper and spread from there. Hearst was also known as the father of the yellow journalism, which Wynand is known for in The Fountainhead. Furthermore, much like Wynand, Hearst had his own dream house constructed in California, the landmark Hearst Castle. Eventually, both real and fictional moguls sold out their empires, taking the businesses public in order to keep the newspapers from going under. Despite the obvious parallels, however, Rand states in her introduction that none of her characters were based upon real people.

[edit] Howard Roark

As the protagonist and hero in the book, Roark is an aspiring architect who firmly believes that a person must be a "prime mover" to achieve pure art, not mitigated by others, as opposed to councils or committees of individuals which lead to compromise and mediocrity and a "watering down" of a prime mover's completed vision. He represents the triumph of individualism over the slow stagnation of collectivism. Bowing to none, Roark rises from an unknown architect who was kicked out of school for "drawing outside of the lines". It is widely believed that Ayn Rand modeled the character of Howard Roark after Frank Lloyd Wright.^[21] The descriptions of the character also have much in common with her earlier writings influenced by the murderer William Edward Hickman.^[22] Roark goes on to design many landmark buildings. Roark rails against convention. He is eventually arrested and brought to trial for dynamiting a building he designed, but whose design was compromised by other architects brought in to negate his vision of the project. With a powerful speech condemning "second-handers" and declaring the superiority of prime movers, Roark prevails and is vindicated by the jury.

[edit] Dominique Francon

Dominique Francon is the heroine of The Fountainhead, described by Rand as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark." Dominique is the daughter of Guy Francon, a highly successful but creatively inhibited architect. She is a thorn in the flesh of her father and causes him much distress for her works criticizing the architectural profession's mediocrity. Peter Keating is employed by her father, and her intelligence, insight and observations are above his. It is only through Roark that her love of adversity and autonomy meets a worthy equal. These strengths are also what she initially lets stifle her growth and make her life miserable. She begins thinking that the world did not deserve her sincerity and intellect, because the people around her did not measure up to her standards. She starts out punishing the world and herself for all the things about man which she despises, through self-defeating behavior. She initially believes that greatness, such as Roark's, is doomed to fail and will be destroyed by the 'collectivist' masses around them. She eventually joins Roark romantically, but before she can do this, she must learn to join him in his perspective and purpose.

However, Dominique Francon eventually learns not to let a flawed society and misled zeitgeist inhibit her creative and emotional expression and drive, nor poison her hope in her own ideals. By the end of the novel, Dominique no longer cares what anyone thinks or does. She lives her life for herself and no one else. She learns to love and create freely and passionately, and no longer cares whether the world is worthy of her expression. She has a new world now that is hers alone. Finally, it is the act of creating, loving, and living in which she finds happiness, rather than the results of these successes, no matter how good or bad the recognition may be. It no longer matters what might happen or what others think, because the happiness she finds cannot be taken away from her. Her new world, that in which she sets the standards by which all will live in regards to any association with Dominique, is worthy of her beautiful mind and heart because it belongs to her and no one else, and is shared on her terms alone. That is, Dominique's terms as well as those with the same individualistic, objectivist and uncompromising ideals.

[edit] Architectural theme

Rand dedicated The Fountainhead to her husband, Frank O'Connor, and to architecture. She chose architecture for the analogy it offered to her ideas, especially in the context of the ascent of Modern architecture. It provided a convenient vehicle to portray her views — that the individual is supreme, and that selfishness is a virtue.

Throughout The Fountainhead, Rand's definitions of "selfishness" and "selflessness" differ from common usage. Rather than using "selfish" as a pejorative, she uses the term to mean remaining true to one's ideals against the influence of others. "Selflessness" contradicts Roark's concept of self.

Peter Keating and Howard Roark are character foils. Keating practices in the historical eclectic and neo-classic mold, even when the building's typology is a skyscraper. He follows and pays respect to old traditions. He accommodates the changes suggested by others, mirroring the eclectic directions, and willingness to adapt, current at the turn of the twentieth century. Roark searches for truth and honesty and expresses them in his work. He is uncompromising when changes are suggested, mirroring Modern architecture's trajectory from dissatisfaction with earlier design trends to emphasizing individual creativity. Roark's individuality eulogizes modern architects as uncompromising and heroic masters. A common speculation is that Roark was inspired by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright; a claim both Rand and Wright denied.^[23] However, in the book "Goff on Goff", architect Bruce Goff, a friend of Wright's claimed that Roark's character was based on Wright. He also said that Ayn Rand had asked Wright to design the sets for the movie based on the novel. Rand did, however, once commission Wright to design a summer home for her; it was never built. The most that may be suggested is that some of the descriptions of Roark's buildings resemble those of Wright: a notable example being the "Heller House" - the first of Roark's designs to be built - cantilevered over the edge of a cliff in a descriptive image reminiscent of Wright's famous Fallingwater in Pennsylvania.

[edit] Objectivism

Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, is woven into the text through its main characters. Rand writes in Atlas Shrugged: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." Roark embodies this philosophy in his quest for architectural integrity and maintaining his own design, despite the (clearly more lucrative) accepted modes of architecture.

For a more complete indication of the influence of the novel and its author, see the article, "Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism‎".

The Fountainhead received mixed reviews when it was released.^[24] There was a positive review in The New York Times that Rand greatly appreciated.^[25] The Times reviewer called Rand "a writer of great power" who writes "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly," and it stated that she had "written a hymn in praise of the individual... you will not be able to read this masterful book without thinking through some of the basic concepts of our time."^[26] There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed many of them as either not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications.^[24] A number of negative reviews focused on the length of the novel,^[27] such as one that called it "a whale of a book" and another that said "anyone who is taken in by it deserves a stern lecture on paper-rationing." Other negative reviews called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian."^[24]

Benjamin DeCasseres, a columnist for the New York Journal-American wrote of Roark as "an uncompromising individualist" and "one of the most inspiring characters in modern American literature."^[28]

Susan Brownmiller, in her 1970s work on sexual assault, Against Our Will, denounced the alleged rape scene, and Dominique's subsequent relationship with Roark, for promoting the idea that "no means yes" and that non-consensual sex occurs because the woman subconsciously agrees to it.

Assessing the novel's legacy, philosopher Douglas Den Uyl described The Fountainhead as relatively neglected compared to her later novel, Atlas Shrugged, and said, "our problem is to find those topics that arise clearly with The Fountainhead and yet do not force us to read it simply through the eyes of Atlas Shrugged."^[29]

[edit] Illustrated version

In 1945, Rand was approached by King Features Syndicate about having a condensed, illustrated version of the novel published for syndication in newspapers. Rand agreed, provided that she could oversee the editing and approve the proposed illustrations of her characters, which were provided by Frank Godwin. The 30-part series began on December 24, 1945, and ran in over 35 newspapers.^[30]

[edit] Film version

In 1949, Warner Brothers released a film based on the book, starring Gary Cooper as Howard Roark, Patricia Neal as Dominique Francon, Raymond Massey as Gail Wynand, and Kent Smith as Peter Keating. The film was directed by King Vidor. Although Rand wrote the screenplay, which was used with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end," complaining about its editing, acting and other elements.^[31]

The Fountainhead has been referenced many times in popular culture. The book often appears to suggest Objectivist-related thought or change within a character, such as with the character Janet in the 1992 motion picture Singles or the character Sawyer in the television series Lost.

In the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, waiter and future medical student, Robbie Gould, uses the book to excuse his behavior toward the resort dance instructor, Penny Johnson, and his responsibility for getting her pregnant. He tells resort guest Frances "Baby" Houseman, that "some people count and some people don't." (This is not an actual quote from the novel.) As he says this he pulls out a tattered paperback copy of The Fountainhead from his pocket, suggesting she read it. But he wants it back because he's written many notes in the margins.

The Urdu film Khudi is an adaptation of the novel slated for release in India by June 2010. The film has been directed by Ali Emran Kureshi.

Other examples of popular culture make plot-references more generally, such as when in the TV series Gilmore Girls, Rory calls Lorelai "the Howard Roark of Stars Hollow" for being ruthless in a competition,^[32] or Rory tells Jess about her love of the book and Jess expresses awe that she read it when she was only 10.^[33]

In the science fiction series Andromeda episode "The Bank of the Lethe" the character Tyr Anasazi reads a paperback of The Fountainhead. It is revealed in accompanying literature with the series that Tyr's race, The Nietzscheans (a group of genetically enhanced humans that religiously follow the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Social Darwinism and genetic competitiveness) have named their homeworld Fountainhead and its capital is a space station named after Ayn Rand.

English Britpop band The Bluetones named a track from their debut album Expecting to Fly after the novel.

The Fountainhead is read in many high school classrooms and has been a core work for the Advanced Placement curriculum.

In The Simpsons episode "Four Great Women and a Manicure", Lisa calls The Fountainhead "the bible of right wing losers".

In the epistolary novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the title character of Charlie is assigned The Fountainhead to read by his teacher, Bill, and later refers to the book as his "favourite".

In the Philip K. Dick novel and film adaptation A Scanner Darkly, a character attempting suicide picks The Fountainhead as an "artifact" to be found with his remains, his reasoning being it "would prove he had been a misunderstood superman rejected by the masses and so, in a sense, murdered by their scorn".

• Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
• Romantic realism

• Branden, Barbara (1986). The Passion of Ayn Rand. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-19171-5. OCLC 12614728. 
• Britting, Jeff (2004). Ayn Rand. Overlook Illustrated Lives. New York: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 1-58567-406-0. OCLC 56413971. 
• Burns, Jennifer (2009). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532487-7. 
• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Rand Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30321-5. OCLC 40359365. 
• Mayhew, Robert, ed (2006). Essays on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1577-4. 

• Den Uyl, Douglas J. (1999). The Fountainhead: An American Novel. Twayne's Masterwork Studies. New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-7932-9. 
• Johnson, Donald Leslie (2005). The Fountainheads: Wright, Rand, the FBI and Hollywood. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-1958-X. 
• McGann, Kevin (1978). "Ayn Rand in the Stockyard of the Spirit". in Peary, Gerald & Shatzkin, Roger (eds). The Modern American Novel and the Movies. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing. ISBN 0-8044-2682-1. 

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Fountainhead

• "Ayn Rand Novels: The Fountainhead (1943)" (Ayn Rand Institute)
• "The Literary Achievement of The Fountainhead" by Stephen Cox (The Atlas Society)
• "Howard Roark from The Fountainhead" by Chris Matthew Sciabarra (The Atlas Society)
• Annual The Fountainhead essay contest (Ayn Rand Institute)