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THE EDUCATION OF AYN RAND, 1905–1943
in New York. In a writing notebook she wondered “if there are things
in capitalism and democracy worth saving” and speculated, in a
Spenglerian aside, that perhaps the white race was degenerating. 14 She
qualifi ed every reference to America’s individualistic economic system
with sarcastic asides such as “so-called” or “maybe!” 15 According to
Rand the primary “fault” of liberal democracies was “giving full rights
to quantity.” Instead, she wrote, there should be “democracy of superiors
only.” 16 As she began the book the connections between her vaunted
individualism and American society were far from clear to Rand.
By contrast, her characters were starkly etched in her mind. Rand
designed an elegant, almost geometric structure for the book. Howard
Roark was her ideal man, an uncompromising individualist and creator.
The other primary characters were variations on his theme. As she
explained in a notebook, “Howard Roark: the man who can be and is.
Gail Wynand: the man who could have been. Peter Keating: the man
who never could be and doesn’t know it. Ellsworth M. Toohey: the man
who never could be—and knows it.” 17 Rand also created two love interests
for Roark, Vesta Dunning and Dominique Francon.
Rand’s characterizations fl owed directly from her architectural
research, her knowledge of current events, and her developing opposition
to American liberalism. To give Roark form and specifi city she
drew on the career of the modernist pioneer Frank Lloyd Wright, whose
avant-garde style she admired. Numerous details of Wright’s life as
described in his autobiography would recur in the novel, and she gave
Roark a cranky, embittered mentor in the vein of Wright’s own teacher,
Louis Sullivan. Second-hander Peter Keating was based on a contemporary
mediocrity, the popular architect Thomas Hastings. As Rand
noted excitedly after reading a book on Hastings, “If I take this book
and Wright’s autobiography, there is practically the entire story.” 18
Other titans appeared in the novel as well. Gail Wynand was modeled
after William Randolph Hearst, whose career Rand had closely
followed. She was struck in particular by his failed bids for mayor and
governor of New York. Here was a man who claimed great infl uence but
had little success in actually grasping the levers of power. Hearst had
been thoroughly humbled, Rand thought, overlooking his two terms in
Congress and the authority he continued to wield through his media
empire. To her Hearst’s strength was a chimera. His power was not his
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