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Ralston Holcombe
The Dean of Stanton blindly believes in the virtues of tradition and is convinced that other people’s laudatory opinions of a building make it great. He never thinks through the reasons for why an old, famous building has merit and he unequivocally lambasts new ideas. Roark is puzzled by this, and he struggles to understand how people like the Dean make sense of the world.
The Dean Quotes in The Fountainhead
The The Fountainhead quotes below are all either spoken by The Dean or refer to The Dean . 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:
).
Part 1: Chapter 1 Quotes
“You must learn to understand—and it has been proved by all authorities—that everything beautiful in architecture has been done already. There is a treasure mine in every style of the past. We can only choose from the great masters. Who are we to improve upon them? We can only attempt, respectfully, to repeat.”
“Why?” asked Howard Roark.
[…] “But it’s self-evident!” said the Dean.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Dean Character Timeline in The Fountainhead
The timeline below shows where the character The Dean appears in The Fountainhead. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Chapter 1
...he has boarded for the past three years, his landlady, Mrs. Keating, tells him that the Dean called when he was away and wanted to see him. Roark remains impassive, and Mrs....
(full context)
...he is so immersed in his “austere and simple” architectural drawings that he forgets about the Dean ’s call until Mrs. Keating reminds him again. She secretly worries that the Board’s decision...
(full context)
...a Gothic cathedral within it, both of which do not allow light or air through. The Dean ’s office looks like a chapel, with a stained-glass window, gargoyles, and a fireplace that...
(full context)
The Dean expects Roark to plead against his expulsion, but Roark doesn’t. The Dean explains that Professor...
(full context)
...He believes the “purpose, the site, the material” should determine the design of a building. The Dean argues that the “proper creative process” is an “anonymous, collective one, in which each man...
(full context)
The Dean knows that Roark has worked his way through high school and college, getting jobs at...
(full context)
