The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand

Howard Roark and Peter Keating both attended the Stanton Institute of Technology as architect students. Roark was expelled because he wouldn't conform to the standard historical structures in architecture. Keating graduated at the top of his class and took a job at the eminent firm owned by Guy Francon. Keating quickly moves up in his organization as he copies the work he has seen throughout his studies and career.

Roark designs his own innovative buildings that are not acceptable to the general public or society. He takes a job with Henry Cameron, an overlooked genius in the field. Roark gets a few jobs and Cameron retires. After designing a few buildings with little recognition, then going broke, Roark goes back to manual work in a stone quarry.

Keating keeps succeeding in his firm as he wheels and deals, moving up. He loves Catherine Halsey, a quiet, unremarkable woman who also is the niece of the newspaper columnist Ellsworth Toohey. Toohey is an influential voice on the New York Banner, a paper owned by Gail Wynand. But Keating is fascinated by Francon's daughter, Dominique. She is a woman who is aloof from everyone. She knows what Keating is.

Roark, Keating, Wynand, Toohey, and Dominque's lives wind in and out. Roark is an individualist, Keating is a fraud, Wynand is a wealthy man who grubbed his way to the top, Toohey is a power hungry manipulator, and Dominque is a woman who is torn between happiness and self loathing.

The Fountainhead is Ayn Rand's statement on individualism and human strength. The contrast of Keating and Roark is the focal point of the novel. Roark is true to himself, makes no apologies for himself, and will not compromise. Keating is true to no one but his selfishness, follows every one's else's opinions and wishes, and spends his whole life compromising in order to get ahead. The counterpoint characters, Toohey and Wynand, show ways man gains power. Toohey works behind the scenes, setting his own agenda and getting other people to carry out his schemes. Wynand is straightforward, bulldozing ahead for what he wants. Dominque is tied to all four men.

The Fountainhead is set in the 1920's and 1930's, and the technology of the time has since changed. But the story itself isn't dated. People don't change, nor do men's desires.

While a lengthy read, The Fountainhead kept me pulled in. The book is divided, highlighting each man in the different sections. At times the writing is a bit unwieldy, especially when Toohey is finally able to explain his philosophy of life and power to Keating near the end. Yet the characters are strong and well drawn. The contrasts and comparisons between them are the strength of the story.

There are Cliff notes and commentaries about The Fountainhead in the places where people discuss and study classic or strong novels. You can check those out. You'd do better by reading Ayn Rand's book and making your own judgment.

Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations