Ellsworth Toohey Character Analysis in The Fountainhead

Ellsworth Toohey is the villain of The Fountainhead. He is extremely intelligent and has a deep understanding of human nature, and he uses this to exploit people and gain power over them. While Toohey is physically diminutive and seems genial at first, he has a way with words and is described as having “the voice of a giant” which he can use to “prove anything.” Unlike Roark, who ruffles feathers wherever he goes, Toohey has popular appeal and charms his way into various social circles. Because he stands with unions and supports workers’ rights, the working class loves him, and since he is witty and influential in the art world, he is welcomed into drawing rooms and fancy parties. Toohey’s message to the world is the glorification of the collective and the erasure of the individual. He makes a splash with his first book on architecture, called Sermons in Stone, in which he praises architecture as an art form that is “anonymous.” This lands him a contract at a popular newspaper, the Banner, to write a daily column called “One Small Voice,” which Toohey uses to disseminate his socialist opinions and attack those who do not fit into his plans, like Howard Roark. Toohey is a canny villain who has no illusions about the nature of his power. He admits to Peter Keating that while he preaches selflessness in order to gain power over people, he understands that he is the most selfless of them all. By building his identity on the power he holds over others, he has no self. Yet, he is ready to pay this price for power. While he professes to love people by preaching equality and selflessness, he in fact detests humanity and wants to enslave it by robbing people of their individuality. He has no respect for human beings, and unlike Roark, who admires human heroism, Toohey sees humanity as base and servile. Through Toohey’s character, Ayn Rand asserts that religious and socialist ideas of equality and service hamper the human potential for greatness.

Ellsworth Toohey Quotes in The Fountainhead

The The Fountainhead quotes below are all either spoken by Ellsworth Toohey or refer to Ellsworth Toohey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Then came the voice.

“My friends,” it said, simply and solemnly. “My brothers,” it added softly, involuntarily, both full of emotion and smiling apologetically at the emotion. […]

It was not a voice, it was a miracle. It unrolled as a velvet banner. […] It was the voice of a giant.

Keating stood, his mouth open. He did not hear what the voice was saying. He heard the beauty of the sounds without meaning. He felt no need to know the meaning; he could accept anything, he would be led blindly anywhere. […]

Keating looked at Catherine. There was no Catherine; there was only […] a nameless thing in which she was being swallowed.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. His voice was savage. He was afraid.

Related Characters: Ellsworth Toohey (speaker), Peter Keating (speaker), Catherine Halsey

Related Symbols: Crowds and Groups

Page Number and Citation: 109

Explanation and Analysis:

“What you’re thinking is much worse than the truth. I don’t believe it matters to me—that they’re going to destroy it. Maybe it hurts so much that I don’t even know I’m hurt. But I don’t think so. If you want to carry it for my sake, don’t carry more than I do. I’m not capable of suffering completely. I never have. It goes only down to a certain point and then it stops. As long as there is that untouched point, it’s not really pain. You mustn’t look like that.”

“Where does it stop?”

“Where I can think of nothing and feel nothing except that I designed that temple. I built it. Nothing else can seem very important.”

Related Characters: Dominique Francon (speaker), Howard Roark (speaker), Hopton Stoddard, Ellsworth Toohey

Related Symbols: Crowds and Groups

Page Number and Citation: 344

Explanation and Analysis:

“Don’t you see what it is that I must understand? Why is it that I set out honestly to do what I thought was right and it’s making me rotten? I think it’s probably because I’m vicious by nature and incapable of leading a good life. That seems to be the only explanation. But…but sometimes I think it doesn’t make sense that a human being is completely sincere in good will and yet the good is not for him to achieve. I can’t be as rotten as that. But…but I’ve given up everything, I have no selfish desire left. I have nothing of my own—and I’m miserable. And so are the other women like me. And I don’t know a single selfless person in the world who’s happy—except you.”

Related Characters: Catherine Halsey (speaker), Ellsworth Toohey

Page Number and Citation: 363-364

Explanation and Analysis:

“What achievement is there for a critic in praising a good play? None whatever. The critic is then nothing but a kind of glorified messenger boy between author and public. […] I’m sick of it. I have a right to wish to impress my own personality upon people. Otherwise, I shall become frustrated—and I do not believe in frustration. But if a critic is able to put over a perfectly worthless play—ah, you do perceive the difference!”

Related Characters: Jules Fougler (speaker), Ike , Ellsworth Toohey

Related Symbols: Crowds and Groups

Page Number and Citation: 469

Explanation and Analysis:

“Do you know what you’re actually in love with? Integrity. The impossible. […] like a work of art. That’s the only field where it can be found—art. But you want it in the flesh. […] Well, you see, I’ve never had any integrity. […] I hate the conception of it. […] I’m perfectly indifferent to slugs like Ellsworth Toohey or my friend Alvah, and quite willing to leave them in peace. But just let me see a man of slightly higher dimension—and I’ve got to make a sort of Toohey out of him. […]”

“Why?”

[…]

“Power, Dominique. The only thing I ever wanted. To know that there’s not a man living whom I can’t force to do—anything. Anything I choose. The man I couldn’t break would destroy me. But I’ve spent years finding out how safe I am.”

Related Characters: Gail Wynand (speaker), Dominique Francon (speaker), Ellsworth Toohey, Alvah Scarret

Page Number and Citation: 496-497

Explanation and Analysis:

“Make man feel small. Make him feel guilty. Kill his aspiration and his integrity. […] Preach selflessness. Tell man that he must live for others. Tell men that altruism is the ideal. […] Man realizes that he is incapable of what he’s accepted as the noblest virtue—and it gives him a sense of guilt, of sin, of his own basic unworthiness. […] His soul gives up his self-respect. You’ve got him. He’ll obey. […] Kill man’s sense of values. Kill his capacity to recognize greatness or to achieve it. Great men can’t be ruled. We don’t want any great men.”

Related Characters: Ellsworth Toohey (speaker), Peter Keating, Howard Roark

Page Number and Citation: 635

Explanation and Analysis:

Ellsworth Toohey Character Timeline in The Fountainhead

The timeline below shows where the character Ellsworth Toohey appears in The Fountainhead. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the Melton Building, published in a journal called New Frontiers. The article is by Ellsworth Toohey and praises the building’s lack of egotism and novelty. He calls it a “triumph of... (full context)

...in the sweatshops.” Keating is completely shocked when Catherine mentions that her uncle is Ellsworth Toohey. (full context)

...for having chosen to be an architect.” He imagines being mocked for his work by Toohey and by his clients. The only way he can work is to tell himself that... (full context)

Toohey publishes Sermons in Stone: Architecture for Everybody in January 1925, and it is a huge... (full context)

...that night. She is happy to see Keating but is busy organizing and responding to Toohey’s fan mail and press clippings. She seems very inspired by her uncle’s “wonderful selflessness” and... (full context)

...soothing. He wants to see her but doesn’t want to talk about her uncle, Ellsworth Toohey, who is a strike sympathizer and will be speaking at a meeting that evening. Since... (full context)

...pamphlets. He calls her a “fool” but Catherine is excited, and she tells him that Toohey’s decision to come here despite knowing it would anger Wynand makes her “believe in all... (full context)

...noisy lately,” which worries Catherine because she fears Wynand will take out his frustration on Toohey. (full context)

Toohey is greeted by deafening applause from the crowds and he begins speaking in a voice... (full context)

...unpredictable, which is why she praised the horrible capitol that Holcombe designed. They talk about Toohey, and Dominique calls him “wonderful” and the “perfect black-guard” in the same sentence. She says... (full context)

...to buy groceries. Keating is pleased when others say that Roark has no talent, and Toohey ignores the house completely. (full context)

...was very quiet except for rustling paper that sounded “like somebody being choked to death.” Toohey was working in the living room, but when she turned to look for him, she... (full context)

...Keating says Catherine is clearly overworked and “a mite hysterical.” Keating briefly disagrees, thinking of Toohey’s voice when he gave a speech at the meeting, but then he quickly changes his... (full context)

...he still hasn’t decided what he’s going to do. Catherine is happy, and she says Toohey laughed so much when she told him the news the previous night. Keating tells her... (full context)

...agrees, saying that she, too, thinks that it would be better for them to wait. Toohey is going to a university on the West Coast to give his lectures, and she’d... (full context)

...the Cosmo-Slotnick Building or the firm of Francon & Keating. He reads a story about Toohey being left a large sum of money by one of his fans, and that he... (full context)

...find a strip of proofs for the next day’s paper. It is an article by Toohey for his column “One Small Voice,” and it is subtitled “Keating.” Toohey writes that Keating... (full context)

When Keating returns to the office after lunch, he hears that Toohey has been shot. Keating is immediately worried that the Banner won’t run the column about... (full context)

Before meeting Toohey the next day, Keating feels anxious. Toohey immediately asks him what he thinks of the... (full context)

Keating thanks Toohey for his column, saying he is very happy that Toohey thinks he is a great... (full context)

Toohey then tells Keating that his plan for the Cosmo-Slotnick Building is brilliant, and very different... (full context)

Keating then tells Toohey that he is glad he escaped Mallory’s bullet, and Toohey wonders aloud, “Why did he... (full context)

Toohey asks Keating if he would be the chairman for an organization of young architects, and... (full context)

...thinks it must be profound because he doesn’t understand it, and he likes the book. Toohey had told him that “only the finest spirit” can appreciate the book, and Keating feels... (full context)

Later, Keating goes to have tea with Toohey and Catherine at the distinguished residential hotel they now live in. Toohey has an air... (full context)

Keating anxiously asks Toohey if he approves of their marriage, and Toohey says he does, and then adds that... (full context)

Toohey asks Keating when they plan to be married and Keating says they never set a... (full context)

Keating changes the subject and asks Toohey what he thinks of Roark. Toohey claims never to have heard of him but Keating... (full context)

...her “the strange emotion that he could not keep in the presence of others.” But Toohey’s tongue-in-cheek comments about love stick in his mind, and he wonders if he and Catherine... (full context)

Cook tells Keating that Toohey is organizing a youth group for writers and that she will chair it. Keating happily... (full context)

...as she wishes, and it ends up looking like “a structure from an amusement park.” Toohey calls it “a cosmic joke,” and it is well-received by the intelligentsia. However, Keating feels... (full context)

Toohey comes to talk to Dominique at her office. She shows him a picture of the... (full context)

Elsewhere, Steven Mallory refuses to disclose his motive for shooting Toohey. Toohey surprises everyone by appearing and defending Mallory, pleading with the judge for leniency. Everyone... (full context)

...architects, Keating immediately feels a sense of comfort and brotherhood with the other 18 whom Toohey has picked. Beyond this sense of kinship, Keating is disappointed that the others, except for... (full context)

Dominique appears at the gathering, and Toohey is so surprised at her entrance that he stops speaking for a moment. Keating catches... (full context)

When Toohey greets Dominique after his speech, she says she wouldn’t have missed “the chance to witness... (full context)

At the party, Ellsworth Toohey mocks Mrs. Gillespie’s diamond necklace by saying that it is vulgar to display one’s wealth.... (full context)

...he is and wants “to join in the general admiration of it.” When Keating meets Toohey, Toohey acknowledges Keating’s popularity that evening but says that it’s a shame that Dominique is... (full context)

Toohey, too, is fascinated by Roark and stands watching him, even though he does not yet... (full context)

...she finds him “revolting” but also “terribly good-looking.” Kiki is surprised to hear this, but Toohey, who overhears the comment, says to Dominique that the two of them “see things, at... (full context)

...of the city” and will make itself part of the “great ineptitude” that surrounds it. Toohey comes into her office to say that her admiration for it will be obvious to... (full context)

Toohey tells Dominique that she should take more of an interest in Keating, who is a... (full context)

Some days later, Dominique is working on her column at her house when Ellsworth Toohey drops in unexpectedly. He says he’s heard that Dominique has been throwing parties and socializing,... (full context)

Toohey asks Dominique how many commissions she has landed for Keating in the past three months.... (full context)

Toohey asks Dominique how many more commissions she might be able to land for Keating if... (full context)

Toohey rattles off a list of all the commissions that Dominique has taken away from Roark... (full context)

...as praise, too, which she wouldn’t like. She tells him most people wouldn’t but that Toohey might, and Roark wonders why anyone would want to think of Toohey. (full context)

Keating takes comfort in attending Toohey’s Council of American Builders. Gordon L. Prescott is making a metaphysical speech about how architects... (full context)

When Ellsworth Toohey was seven years old, he turned a hose on Johnny Stokes and soaked his much-loved... (full context)

Toohey’s mother, a “restless woman who adopted and discarded five religions,” focused all her energy on... (full context)

At school, Toohey was like a sponge, doing well in subjects like history and English, even though he... (full context)

When Toohey was 11, his mother died and his Aunt Adeline came to live with them. She... (full context)

In high school, Toohey was the “star orator” and won every contest. The audience only remembered his voice. Forgetting... (full context)

Toohey thought he would be a minister and he read a great deal about the history... (full context)

When Toohey turned 16, he lost interest in religion and instead turned to socialism. He became “more... (full context)

Toohey graduated with high honors and moved to New York where he worked on a master’s... (full context)

Catherine Halsey came to live with him after her mother Helen’s death. By this time, Toohey had established himself as “an eminent critic of architecture.” A few years later, he published... (full context)

While there was a rumor that Gail Wynand did not like Toohey, he didn’t interfere with his work and Toohey ignored him. Instead, Toohey focused on the... (full context)

Toohey also attended meetings at the Council of American Writers, which he had organized, and which... (full context)

...were a “huge joke,” but there was certainly “no harm in any of it.” When Toohey heard them say these things, he would say, “Do you really think so?” He liked... (full context)

...who appreciate its comfort. Others talk about it disparagingly, calling it “preposterous, exhibitionist, and phony.” Toohey does not write about it in his column. Roark gets a few clients who appreciate... (full context)

Toohey is frustrated that Roark has got the contract to build the Aquitania. Dominique comes to... (full context)

That evening, Toohey thinks of Hopton Stoddard, a wealthy man who atones for his many sins by turning... (full context)

Toohey goes to see Stoddard and agrees with him that he must build the temple, and... (full context)

Toohey takes Keating out to dinner after the celebration and tells him that this is “the... (full context)

...Lansing promises Roark he will sort it out, but that it might take some time. Toohey is pleased, calling it the “Unfinished Symphony.” Roark wanders through the incomplete building at night,... (full context)

...and then issues a brief statement that there will be no opening. On November 2, Toohey writes in the Banner that Howard Roark has botched up this assignment with “deliberate malice,”... (full context)

...day, Stoddard files a lawsuit against Roark for “breach of contract and malpractice, asking damages.” Toohey had found it easy to persuade Stoddard to do this since he’d been so upset... (full context)

Toohey is very pleased by these events, confessing to Dominique that he finds it very interesting... (full context)

...in question could not be considered a temple. Roark refuses to make an opening statement. Toohey is the first witness for the plaintiff and testifies that the temple has no architectural... (full context)

...for any of them. Dominique is the final witness. She says that she agrees with Toohey that the temple is sacrilegious, and that Roark should not only pay alteration costs to... (full context)

Dominique continues, saying that she doesn’t condemn Toohey but that she does condemn Roark since he has flung pearls at swine. She says... (full context)

...in Bali, to ask what he should do, and Wynand writes back, “Fire the bitch.” Toohey intercepts the message before Scarret can talk to Dominique and is pleased to be able... (full context)

A few days after the trial, Toohey is relaxing at home when Catherine says she wants to talk to him. She looks... (full context)

...she knows that “one can find true happiness only in dedicating oneself to others,” as Toohey always says. Despite doing this, she is “unhappy in such a horrible, nasty, undignified way.”... (full context)

Toohey tells Catherine that she has been complaining about her personal unhappiness this whole time, and... (full context)

Catherine wonders whether her identity will be lost, but Toohey assures her she would have just “acquired a broader one, an identity that will be... (full context)

...the morning the day after the next. After he leaves, Catherine sobs “exultantly” and tells Toohey, “I’m not afraid of you, Uncle Ellsworth!” (full context)

A few days later, Toohey comes to dinner. Keating says he is happy to have “[his] wife and [his] best... (full context)

...Temple is rebuilt into a “Home for Subnormal Children” by a group of architects that Toohey chose: Keating, Gordon L. Prescott, John Erik Snyte, and Gus Webb. They use a mishmash... (full context)

...small. One night, he goes over to see the reconstructed Stoddard Temple and bumps into Toohey there. Toohey wants to know what Roark thinks of him, and he tells Roark he... (full context)

...to know who was behind it. Scarret insisted it was just “spontaneous” but said that Toohey might have suggested it. Wynand told him he would like it stopped. (full context)

Later that afternoon, Toohey came to see Wynand and suggested Peter Keating’s services for Stoneridge. Wynand wanted to know... (full context)

Wynand remembers Toohey’s present and unwraps it to find Mallory’s statue of Dominique. He immediately calls Toohey and... (full context)

Just then, Toohey calls and says he will be coming over, and Keating immediately switches to his usual... (full context)

When Keating leaves the room, Toohey confesses that he is disappointed that marriage to Keating hasn’t destroyed Dominique like he hoped... (full context)

...where he saw the statue, and he says it is in his art gallery, that Toohey sent it to him as a present. She says she is happy Wynand has it... (full context)

The next day, Keating feels he has to go meet Toohey and heads to his apartment “like the survivor of a shipwreck swimming to a distant... (full context)

Later, Toohey tells Alvah Scarret that they both wouldn’t want “that particular influence [to] enter the life... (full context)

...to the Council of American Writers and his listeners—who include Lois Cook, Lancelot Clokey, and Toohey—agree that it is awful. Jules Fougler, the drama critic at the Banner, chimes in, saying... (full context)

Toohey explains that by praising the unexceptional—like “a total nonentity who’s done nothing more than eating,... (full context)

Some days later, Toohey declares support for modern architecture in “One Small Voice.” He writes that the best example... (full context)

...who are upset that there were no pictures of the wedding in the Banner, and Toohey says that this is why he was worried about Wynand marrying Dominique. Scarret asks Toohey... (full context)

...works with renewed energy and nothing changes in his policies. Alvah Scarret is pleased, telling Toohey they were worried about the marriage for no reason. Toohey says that Wynand seems happy,... (full context)

...Banner’s own critic, Jules Fougler, praised it, and so did other Banner journalists like Scarret, Toohey, and Sally Brent. Wynand quietly agrees to go, and the play is so terrible that... (full context)

...possess since he runs the Banner. He tells her that he doesn’t mind “slugs” like Toohey and Scarret, but when he sees “a man of a slightly higher dimension,” he wants... (full context)

Dominique suddenly tells Wynand he must fire Toohey, which surprises him. She says it is the only way to save the Banner, since... (full context)

...that he “[doesn’t] consult, […] cooperate, […] collaborate.” People are offended at his refusal, and Toohey writes that it is evidence of Roark’s “egotism, the arrogance of the unbridled individualism which... (full context)

When Toohey hears from Scarret that Roark has been in to see Wynand, he bursts out laughing,... (full context)

Wynand calls Toohey into his office and orders him not to write anything about Roark. On the wall... (full context)

Toohey is at a gathering filled with his admirers, including Mitchell Layton, Homer Slottern, their wives,... (full context)

...personal choice” because “There’s no such thing as a person. There’s only a collective entity.” Toohey is pleased to hear these words. Mitchell Layton says that the masses “don’t know what’s... (full context)

They talk about the Banner, and how it’s slipping. Mitchell Layton says the one time Toohey was wrong was when he advised him to buy a share in the Banner, but... (full context)

When Toohey leaves the gathering, he feels exhilarated at how much his ideas have caught on. He... (full context)

...the Centuries” (part of the exhibition for the World’s Fair) had been a “ghastly flop.” Toohey, and all the other critics, had universally panned it. While he and his group of... (full context)

Toohey no longer is interested in Keating, which Keating finds difficult to bear. His partner, Neil... (full context)

When Keating goes to see Toohey, Toohey remarks that Keating has put on weight and will soon look “revolting in a... (full context)

Keating tells Toohey that it is remarkable how he always picks the next big talents, like Lois Cook... (full context)

Toohey guesses that Keating has come to talk to him about the Cortlandt Homes. He tells... (full context)

Toohey says that in all Keating’s time with him, he doesn’t seem to have understood that... (full context)

...of a high moral order” and therefore can’t be evil. Yet, he can’t help telling Toohey with some satisfaction that he has lost his fight against Roark, who is now a... (full context)

Keating then gets a grip on himself and tells Toohey he has come to ask him for the Cortlandt project. Toohey says the architect for... (full context)

...let Keating put his name on it. He tells Roark all about his conversation with Toohey, and gives him all the papers and details about the project. Roark studies them for... (full context)

Since Roark knows he will never be able to make his way past Toohey or committees of any sort to land this challenging project himself, he needs Keating. He... (full context)

When Toohey sees the drawings for the Cortlandt Homes, his mouth falls open and he calls Keating... (full context)

...until he met them, he had been living a completely selfless life, the kind that Toohey advocates. He didn’t care deeply about anything and his work gave “the greatest pleasure to... (full context)

...just happened.” Keating thinks that “Nobody [is] responsible. There [is] no purpose and no cause.” Toohey added Webb and Prescott as associate designers just to give them some position in the... (full context)

Toohey writes in New Frontiers that the Cortlandt explosion demonstrates “One man’s Ego against all the... (full context)

Wynand notices that even his staff treats him with less deference. He orders Toohey not to mention Cortlandt in his column, and Toohey agrees. Wynand bores his acquaintances by... (full context)

...is worried about Peter Keating, who hasn’t left his room in days, and she invites Toohey to their house to cheer him up. Toohey arrives and taunts Keating about his loyalty... (full context)

Keating says that what Toohey is doing to him is even worse than what Keating did to Lucius Heyer—because he... (full context)

Toohey says people like Keating—all the “hypocritical sentimentalists”—make him sick, since they profit by what Toohey... (full context)

Toohey says the way to get a man’s soul is to “Make man feel small. Make... (full context)

Toohey says another way to destroy man’s integrity is to “Kill his capacity to recognize greatness... (full context)

Toohey says that this is the oldest teaching in “any great system of ethics,” that “You... (full context)

Toohey says he wants a “world of obedience and of unity” where no one will have... (full context)

Toohey writes in the Banner that the district attorney is in possession of a piece of... (full context)

Wynand writes an editorial criticizing Toohey, calling him a “contemptible blackguard” and seeking his readers’ forgiveness for letting Toohey write. Toohey... (full context)

...the union walk out in a strike. They are mid-level, crucial employees, most of whom Toohey has hired in the past eight years. Several other employees walk out, too—some because they... (full context)

...to help him, but finds it hard to process the changes and cannot understand how Toohey got so much power. (full context)

...no use fighting any more, and to reverse his position on Cortlandt and to re-hire Toohey. The choice is between this and closing the Banner. Wynand finally agrees to reverse his... (full context)

The city is pleased at Wynand’s renunciation. Lancelot Clokey tells Toohey that it’s unfair that the union double-crossed Toohey and didn’t get him his job back.... (full context)

...build low-cost housing units that he can rent out. Wynand and Dominique get a divorce. Toohey wins his case before the labor board, and Wynand is ordered to reinstate him. Toohey... (full context)

The Fountainhead

Ellsworth Toohey Character Analysis

Ellsworth Toohey Quotes in The Fountainhead

Part 1: Chapter 9 Quotes

Part 2: Chapter 12 Quotes

Part 2: Chapter 13 Quotes

Part 3: Chapter 6 Quotes

Part 3: Chapter 9 Quotes

Part 4: Chapter 14 Quotes

Ellsworth Toohey Character Timeline in The Fountainhead