Essay

what would cause one to commit an illegal, atrocious act such as destruction of a facility? some may have logic and reasoning, others may have philosophy behind their motives. howard roark has all of these to support his actions when facing the jury for dynamiting cortlandt homes. roark, one who fills his work with pride and integrity, "...agreed to design cortlandt homes for the purpose of seeing it erected as i designed it and for no other reason. that was the price i set...i was not paid" (rand 684). the owners of cortlandt had taken work that roark created, and configured it to their personal liking. they broke an agreement roark makes with all of his comissions. he comes to say how he feels about himself as he is placed in the world, "...i am a man who does not exist for others" (rand 684). if his only reason to exist is for existance itself, reward of a simple task such as erecting the building as he designed it should be effortless. the following logic he brings to the court is why he decided to destroy the cortlandt homes: “i am an architect...i designed cortlandt. i gave it to you. i destroyed it" (rand 683). "i did not receive the payment i asked. but the owners of cortlandt got what they needed from me" (rand 684). if roark creates a magnificent piece of architecture, and his only terms are that is be erected as he designed it, those who agreed with his terms should do all in their power to grant that wish. if it were not for roark, the cortlandt homes would not have been what was destroyed, but the only reason of it's destruction was because they disregarded all wishes of the architect and turned a different direction with his work. "i destroyed it because i did not choose to let it exist...the form was mutilated" (rand 683). roark uses philosophy to persuade the jury to make their final decision. of his beliefs, individualism, altruism and the view of second handers play an important role. roark believes that individualism is something everyone should apply to their lives. he believes everyone should live for themselves, and their right for existance only. "civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy" (rand 683). as our society develops, so does our individualistic loss.