More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on ayn rand's the fountainhead
Essays on ayn rand's the fountainhead
The fountainhead aynhead ap english thesis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The definition of power can mean many things. The ability to have power can control people in their sayings or actions. Power is a necessary component in any society. Leaders must be established with their power, because, when taken to an extreme, power could not be good. In the novel The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Ellsworth Toohey and Gail Wynand both spend much of their lives consciously seeking power over others. Toohey and Wynand both share the same desire to hold power over people and get power from people. Ellsworth Toohey is the villain of the novel. He seeks power throughout the whole book. Toohey is an architectural critic and spiritual power broker. He leads a cult, which has many slave-like followers and a Marxist intellectual …show more content…
preaching socialism to the masses. Toohey likes to be in charge and likes to have everyone obey him, when Roark refuses to obey Toohey, which threatens his hegemony on his own field; he dedicates himself to Roark’s destruction. Gail Wynand is a powerful publisher of offensive tabloids.
He gets his power through other people. Wynand is very independent with his work. He lives by his own judgment. Although Wynand is Roark’s closest friend, his work destroys Roark’s integrity. He will do whatever he wants to be successful whether it is to put others down, even his friends. He is successful through other people and because of other people. If it were not for the gossip of people’s personal lives, Wynand would not be in business. Ellsworth Toohey and Gail Wynand’s idea of power is the same because they are both gaining it through other people. Both Toohey and Wynand would not have the power that they do if it weren’t for other people. They rely on other people for their work and success, which is very risky. Although Toohey holds power over people and Wynand gets power from people the situations are very similar because they other use people and need people for their power. Toohey’s and Wynand’s goals and motivations contrast those of Roark because Roark does not get his power through other people; he gets power through his work. Roark is the hero of the novel. He struggles to succeed as an architect. He does everything on his own terms. He is a very independent man. He relies on no one and has no one help him with his work. All of Roark’s power is because of himself and not because of others. He builds for himself and not for
others. All together, power is a big part of the novel The Fountainhead. All of the characters strive to get it or already have it. Each character earned power in a different way but all together in similar manner. Gaining the power mostly had to do with other people, at least in Toohey and Wynand’s case. While others, like Roark, earned power all on his own with no one else’s help. Power is a necessary component to any society. People just need to learn how to control it.
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
Power, the perception of superiority over another human, is the source of many conflicts between people. Feeling inferior causes people to act beyond their normal personality. John Knowles strongly demonstrates this point in his work, A Separate Peace. In the relationship between Finny and Gene, Gene sets himself up to be inferior in the balance of power which motivates him to act irrationally to take power back from Finny.
What I have gathered from this analysis is mainly the duality of power. It is at times both
Power is held and exerted or ignored by those with the ability to act upon other people or cause an event. The scientific community held power over hospitals, scientists, and scientific progress because it can deem work valid, scientific, ethical, and otherwise. John Hopkins held power over its patients not only because they were under its care, but also because many could not pay for medical care. Individual doctors at Hopkins held power over their specific patients for the same reasons although they held more extensive powers over the specific patient. Henrietta held power over whether or not she received treatment. Zakariyya held power over the boy he murdered because he h...
However, the most ‘villainous’ character in To Kill a Mockingbird is Mr. Ewell who acts in an absolutely disgraceful manner to almost everyone he meets. First of all, he harms his daughter both physically and emotionally, traumatizing her to the point where she no longer feels loved. The fact that he can be so mean to his own blood just shows how bad of a person he is. Moreover, he goes to the absolute extreme to show his hatred towards Atticus, by verbally abusing him and then spitting on his face as a sign of ignorance. To add insult to injury, he tries to kill Scout and Jem and almost succeeds.
Power helped some people in this novel by helping them do what was right. Like George, he was the new guy, the guys still accepted him because he seemed like a kind and trustworthy person. So he never really had problems with people except Curley but Curley was just that kind of person because he thought he was better than everyone else and bigger. He also had power though since his dad owned the farm he practically could do whatever he wanted so no one really wanted to mess with them because if he wanted to he could get people canned. His dad had power over everything since he owned the farm he controlled who worked there and who did not and what kind of jobs people would do. Slim had power too because he was kind of like a leader and he was a nice guy. He was also very respectful and knew where his place was and did not run into trouble since no one had a reason to mess with him. Carlson had some power to in this book when he took control and killed Candy’s dog, “I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with.” (47)
Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
At this point, with an understanding of what power is, what it means, how it is created and the various means through which it is expressed, one can begin to conceptualise how it is that power functions within a given society. Symbolic, cultural, social and economic capital distribute and perpetuate power within a society, through a cycle of transformation whereby these capital resources can be interchanged and manipulated to the advantage of individuals who have
The antagonists in this novel play quite a significant role in this story unlike most traditional villains. The early villain in the story is Alex Goodfellow, the man responsible for putting Tom Tin’s father in debtor’s prison. Mr.Goodfellow is definitely one of the people Tom hates the most and the reason for Tom’s strong will to avenge his father. Walter Weedle is yet another antagonist who tortures Tom in is already tough situation. Together however, these antagonists turn on an internal switch in Tom to keep fighting until the end.
As when he and Roark become good friends, the resultant of that made Wynand try and stick up for his friendship with the powers that he had at the time. Even though Wynand succumbed to the pressure of the public and his friends he still tried to change the fact that the power he controlled could be used to tell the truth and not lies. Ultimately, Wynand doesn't have the brass to stand alone against society. He's weak in comparison to Roark, and his weakness helps Rand drive home her Objectivist viewpoint that caring about society in any way, shape or form, is symptomatic of spinelessness. Unlike Gail, Toohey is not even the slightest degree similar to Roark. Howard is a free spirit that cannot be tamed and tends to do thing that are unique as well as unpredictable. Howard believes in individualism and most people credit him with having a boatload of artistic talent, but when it comes to liking or respecting him it's a whole different story. Toohey’s philosophy is the polar opposite of individualism. He's all about collectivism; he believes in the unity. Unlike Roark, who is all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Toohey rants about sacrifice, denial, the virtues of being miserable, and the unimportant nature
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.
Power is authority and strength, which is any form of motive force or energy, ability to act, or control. When too much power is given, a dictatorship government can form, in which all decisions are made by one authority. In the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell the author portrays how “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton).
The term power has a variety of definitions. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the first definition of power refers to “the ability or capacity to act or do something effectively”, also include “a capacity, faculty, or aptitude,” (“power. (n.d.)
Power is defined in the course study notes as the “ability of individuals or groups to get what they want despite the opposition”. Power is derived from a variety of sources including knowledge, experience and environmental uncertainties (Denhardt et al, 2001). It is also important to recognize that power is specific to each situation. Individuals or groups that may be entirely powerful in one situation may find themselves with little or no power in another. The county Registrar of Voters, who is my boss, is a perfect example. In running the local elections office, she can exercise the ultimate power. However, in a situation where she attempted to get the county selected for a desirable, statewide pilot project, she was powerless, completely at the mercy of the Secretary of State. Power is difficult to measure and even to recognize, yet it plays a major role in explaining authority. In organizations, power is most likely exercised in situations where “the stakes are high, resources are limited, and goals and processes are unclear” (Denhardt et al, 2001). The absence of power in organizations forces us to rely on soley hierarchical authority.