Some would say now is not the perfect season to divest time in writing a blog that has been dormant for quite a long time. But I felt the need to write, to vent out all the confusion and perplexity of the past few days. Undoubtedly, the coming fortnights will harbor a lot more of the anxiety, the stress and definitely the workload. Keeping up with that, I'm guessing, will not be child's play, at least not for me. Nevertheless, I shall devote this little space to a general pondering over the universe.
I had been meaning to read 'The Fountainhead' for a long long time, and have been ruminating about it ever since I let the cover drop. Somewhere, sometime I was introduced to the doctrine that the framework of the characters depicted by Rand could incorporate every man with reasonable integrity preserved, both of the character and of the man. That it caught my interest has not been an occasional fleeting fancy, but a whirlwind of scrutiny of others and self. I browsed through limitless possibilities, but one of the more reasonable ones that seemed to fit in with the limited scope of observations I was permitted, was distressing. All of us when we passed out of high school, hopes high and enthusiasm unbounded, were potential Roarks, still to discover their unique realms perhaps, yet confident of inspired success. And as I turn back to look at that person who was my essence, I cannot find a single trace of it in me. When and how that element vanished can be a worthwhile topic of Ph.D research! (Cant keep the buzz away!) The people I see around me are all distorted reflections of what they started out to become. The journey has been from Roark to Keating, a foreboding of disaster.
For those who have not had the opportunity to read 'The Fountainhead', Roark is the real non conformist who abuses society conventions to carve a well-deserved niche for himself, striving incessantly for perfection. Keating is exactly the opposite, an absolute conformist, and aspires for approval and fame rather than innovation and gratification. There's the third kind, Ellsworth Toohey, who understands and exploits the weaknesses of human nature and edges towards being the totalitarian dictator. And the fourth, whose near-perfect description (on some web page) I take the liberty to quote here, "His youthful idealism has been crushed by the world’s cynicism", Gail Wynand.
On second thought, I would conclude that the decadence has rather been towards Wynand. Many still have the minuscule grain of righteousness preserved deep inside, overshadowed by the rat race of the fast-paced world. I daresay there still are some, including me, who believe that at some point in the future when they have decimated enough to sustain themselves, they will delve headfirst into the dreams they had left stray for the so-called 'Careers' they sought to pursue then. Which makes me wonder, were we meant to be Roarks and we mutilated our own destinies or were we meant to be Keatings and Wynands all along?
The question shall remain. Only our conscience shall seek the answer.
Intersting, especially the conclusion, though the question does ironically answer itself, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteThats one perspective, but one might wonder if there was some truth in their aspirations of long ago, and would they have been better off..
ReplyDeleteIt is a simple question really. Since it is rare that one's own desires can match the instinctive evolutionary need to survive (the root of exploitation and greed), and where it does, these desires have to then match those of the constraints we place around us and give (undue?) priority to, the choice of being a Roark becomes a convenient illusion we can use to validate any action, however vile it may be. The Wynands and Gordon Gekkos of this world will be most despised for their unscrupulousness by that illusion and they will be most admired by our instinct for survival.
ReplyDeleteI did not suggest, that we must completely disregard the instinct of survival. The idealism is for the Roarks in books. But even a remote closeness to Roark's ideals would suffice.. Our desires can still help us survive if we have the will and strength to believe in them in the first place.
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