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Dominique in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand


            Infatuation is when your head and your heart are foolish and they fall for the one who gives you this overwhelming blow of passion. Some synonymously call it love, but the ecstasy that holds you will feel much greater than that. It's madness that is eccentric and inviting in the most alluring sense; the type of madness that comes with a motive. This idea can be recognized in Ayn Rand's novel "The Fountainhead," with Dominique Francon and her infatuation to destroy Howard Roark. However, Dominique's motive does not stem solely from the feelings he's imposed on her heart. She admires Roark's freedom and she perceives him too eminent to be subjected to a world not worth his greatness. That fact, along with the glory she believes to see within Howard, is why Dominique sets out to deface the prestige of her lover Roark. .
             We are told that "selfish emotions are not ones that lead to happiness " according to Ellsworth Toohey, the man who crusades against individualism" (321). Roark defies this statement because he will never sacrifice himself for the pleasure of others, yet we must admire this of him as Dominique does. Toohey believes that all men are equal and that one shall not surpass the other. What must be known about Roark is that he cannot equal anything but his fullest potential, and that is nowhere near any other man. Roark is depicted as an architectural genius generally unappreciated by the men of his trade. He is separated from them as they work to satisfy clients, and he works to make a difference with integrity as the driving force. This creates two types of man. There are men like Peter Keating, one of New York's most acclaimed architects, who only know how to make a living by benefiting themselves from the help of others, and then there are men like Roark who pursuit towards personal happiness through devotion. Roark's objective is honest and coincides with how "the creator lives for his work"" (679).


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