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
Toohey publishes Sermons in Stone: Architecture for Everybody in January 1925, and it is a huge success. He steers away from scientific technicalities and complexities in the book, ensuring that it is accessible to everyone. He praises architecture for being the “greatest of the arts,” since it is anonymous, as all great art must be. He says architects must not seek personal glory but must “bring their work close to the heart of the masses.” Toohey’s writing style hints at the strong feelings of the author, suggesting that “the words now seen in ordered print had been blurred in manuscript by a hand unsteady with emotion.”
With the publication of his book, Toohey establishes himself as a respected critic of architecture. His focus is to simplify architecture so everyone can understand it, and to highlight architecture as a collective process that has no room for egotism. This is the opposite of how Roark and Cameron view architecture. To them, it is a complex science that is guided by a single person’s vision. Toohey’s style of argument relies heavily on emotion, as opposed to Roark’s rational style of speaking and being.
Themes
In February 1925, Cameron retires. He has been expecting this day to come for a while, and he has lost all his draftsmen except Roark. He had taken to drinking excessively and then suffered a stroke. Before Cameron goes to live with his sister in New Jersey, he tells Roark to burn all his papers except the drawing of the skyscraper which has never been built which hangs in his office—he asks Roark to ship this to him.
Cameron’s career is in shambles and his health has failed, and yet, he holds onto the drawing of the skyscraper that he dreamed of building. Though he is suffering for it, he hasn’t given up on his artistic vision.
Themes
It is Keating’s third year at the firm, and he is doing very well. He has forgotten his initial insecurities and has hit upon a great formula for success: as long as he designs grand entrances and living rooms, the clients will be happy, because all they want to do is impress their guests.
Keating has figured out how to design houses for a world filled with people just like him, who are only interested in impressing other people. All his clients care about are the rooms that the guests will see, and they want these to be grand.
Themes
Mrs. Keating moves to New York to live with her son. Keating doesn’t like this, but he cannot refuse her since he is supposed to love his mother. Mrs. Keating doesn’t seem impressed by his accomplishments and she gives him a lot of advice. She also suggests that he meet Francon’s daughter. No one at the office seems to have met her, and Keating has wondered about her. He knows that she writes a column on home decoration for the Banner, but he doesn’t know much else. When he asks Francon when he can meet her, Francon says Keating won’t like her and he changes the subject.
Once again, Keating’s true feelings are buried under what he is supposed to feel. His mother is convinced he can achieve more than he has, and encourages him to pursue a relationship with Francon’s daughter so Keating can get more clout in the firm. Her plans for him are even more devious than his own.
Themes
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Keating is annoyed but also relieved at this, and he really wants to meet Catherine 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 is impressed by his many admirers. Since Catherine is distracted by her work in the apartment, Keating insists they go out for a walk, where he asks her if they are engaged. Catherine says yes, they are, and Keating says they will get married in a year or two but that they will keep their engagement secret for a while. He wants her to know that his proposal has nothing to do with her famous uncle, and she says she knows this. Keating wants his relationship to Catherine to be free from considerations of other people.
Keating obeys his mother’s wishes even though he doesn’t want to, and in order to cleanse himself of their scheming, he turns to Catherine’s wholesome love. Catherine is full of Toohey’s news, and in order to have her to himself, Keating takes her away from her uncle’s apartment. Once they are outside, she is able to focus on herself and Keating once again. It seems like Toohey is already becoming an impediment in their happiness together. Catherine and Keating agree to get married, and Keating seems to understand that in order to keep their relationship as pure and happy as it is, it needs to be “free from considerations of other people.” He doesn’t attempt this in any other area of his life, but he is determined to try this for their relationship.
Themes
