It is important to understand that, despite the error of her pessimistic philosophy, Dominique is independent in the use of her mind. The obvious examples of her first-handed functioning are her evaluations regarding architecture. Dominique understands that, despite some positive qualities, her father's career is essentially phony and not worthy of admiration — and she is not reticent about stating her beliefs openly. She displays the same ruthless honesty regarding her father's protégé and eventual partner, Peter Keating. Her independent judgment is equally apparent in regard to positive architectural appraisal — for despite society's rejection of Henry Cameron and, later, Howard Roark, she understands that these outcasts are the greatest builders in the world. Perhaps the most telling piece of evidence supporting Dominique's first-handedness is her assessment of Ellsworth Toohey. Though society regards Toohey as a paragon of moral saintliness, Dominique recognizes him for what he is — a viciously evil power-seeker.
The less obvious example of Dominique's independence is how she changes her mind regarding her pessimistic worldview. She observes the lives of Howard Roark, Gail Wynand, Peter Keating, and Ellsworth Toohey. She sees that despite every obstacle that society places in Roark's path, it cannot stop him. She witnesses the life of Gail Wynand, observing that, in the end, Wynand's pandering brings him destruction, not joyous success. She sees that Keating's career does not merely collapse, but does so because of his lying manipulativeness, which leads to his public exposure as a fraud. She notes that Toohey's power-seeking is utterly defeated in the two major attempts of his life: He can neither gain control of Wynand's Banner nor prevent Roark's artistic and commercial success. Dominique observes that the facts of these men's lives contradict her belief that the good will inevitably fail and the evil triumph. Based on the facts, she changes her mind, realizing that Roark's benevolent assessment of life's possibilities is true and her own malevolent view is mistaken. Her ability to change a fundamental component of her worldview is both rare and a testimony to her independence. She is committed to the facts, to truth, to her mind's most honest judgment — not to the opinions of others. Dominique is a thinker. The willingness to think for herself is what enables her to change her life, and demonstrates that though independence is not a guarantee of arriving at the truth, it provides an individual with a self-regulating method of correcting her errors.
