Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Fountainhead, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Individualism
Integrity vs. Conformity
Rationality vs. Emotion
Love and Selfishness
Religion and Morality
Summary
Analysis
Ralston Holcombe, president of the Architects’ Guild of America (the A.G.A.), believes that one should not put “originality over Beauty” and he favors the style of the Renaissance. Kiki Holcombe, his wife, maintains a salon on architecture that meets every Sunday, and Keating attends reluctantly because it bores him. There, he sees Dominique again and persuades Francon to introduce them, which he does, telling Keating not to blame him for it afterwards. Dominique immediately tells Keating she and her father don’t get along and that he would like Keating to treat her horribly, but that she knows Keating will want to be nice to her.
Francon seems to know that Keating and Dominique will not get along, which is why he is reluctant to introduce them. Dominique is startlingly honest and surprises Keating with her unorthodox statements.
Themes
When discussing the house she’d criticized in the Banner, Dominique says that Keating ended up being the victim of one of “her rare attacks of honesty.” She says she also likes to be 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 Toohey is perfect, like “a monolith,” while everyone else seems broken up in comparison. Francon drives Keating home after the party, and he tells him he’s impressed that Keating managed to talk to Dominique for so long. He seems worried about his daughter because she “just won’t behave like a human being.” He says that perhaps Keating will be “the man to handle her.”
Dominique admits that she was being honest when she criticized Keating’s work, but that she also says the opposite of what she thinks because she finds it amusing. Also, while everyone else thinks Toohey is kindness itself, Dominique seems to have already detected his villainy, suggesting that she is more perceptive than most.
Themes
In another part of the city, John Erik Snyte tells his designers that they have a project that could potentially bring them a lot of honor—Austen Heller is looking for architects to design his house, and he was unhappy with the work of two other firms. Roark asks him what Heller wants, and Snyte tells him that Heller wants “a building that would mean something”—a house different from the other houses he sees.
Austen Heller’s desire for a house of meaning and depth appeals to Roark’s idea of what a building should be.
Themes
Snyte takes his designers to Connecticut to show them Heller’s site—a rocky cliff over the sea. While the other designers start drawing as soon as they get back to the office, Roark returns alone to the site many times. He loves Heller’s house already. When he is done designing it, he is exhausted. The house he has designed looks like an extension of the cliff it would stand on, and it follows the lines of the rocks and the sea, rising in many levels. Two days later, when Snyte chooses the design that will be sent to the client, Roark sees that his house has won—but Snyte has made some changes to make it look more conventional.
Roark enjoys designing Heller’s house, and gives it his all. While Snyte does pick Roark’s design as the winner, he dilutes its excellence by mixing other design elements into it. Roark’s design is too unconventional for Snyte.
Themes
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When Heller sees the drawing Snyte shows him, he says it is close to what he has in mind but that it still lacks integrity. He doesn’t like the flourishes that Snyte has tacked on. Roark approaches, uninvited, and uses his dark pencil to make corrections on the drawing. When Snyte gets over his shock and tries to stop him, Heller holds him back. When Roark is done, Snyte tells him he’s fired, but Heller invites Roark to go to lunch with him. There, he asks Roark if he can design and build the house for him, and Roark says he can. Heller makes out a check to “Howard Roark, Architect.”
Heller detects the lack of integrity in Snyte’s design, and this gives Roark an opportunity to make a case for his work. He knows that, in Heller, he has found a client who is aligned with his aesthetic.
Themes
