The Fountainhead (Plot Summary)

Plot Summary

Part I

The novel opens as the Stanton Institute of Technology is graduating its 1922 class. The dean has just informed Howard Roark that he is being expelled for "insubordination," — for refusing to complete his assignments according to the standards of the college. Roark is not upset by the expulsion; rather, he admits that he should have quit the school long ago since he claims that he has learned very little there. Valedictory speaker Peter Keating, who has conformed to Stanton's rules, is considered by all to be the school's next success story. Yet Keating is unsure about his next move. He asks Roark's advice about whether to continue his studies in Europe or to accept a position with the Francon Architectural Firm in New York City. Roark tells him that he will learn nothing by studying the architecture of the past.

Both men move to New York City. Keating shows little creative promise but learns how to manipulate his employer, Guy Francon, and so quickly rises in the firm, becoming chief designer. Fran-con's beautiful daughter Dominique recognizes Keating's and her father's mediocrity and the pandering they must engage in to become successful. She openly criticizes them in her interior design column in The New York Banner. Overwhelmed by her beauty and commanding presence, Keating proposes marriage to her, but she refuses.

Roark becomes assistant to Henry Cameron, a renegade architect who once had enjoyed success for his innovative buildings, including the city's first skyscraper. When, however, the classic style came into vogue, Cameron refused to adapt and thus now receives few contracts. Roark works with the older man for three years, during which time he perfects his skills and establishes his architectural vision.

Keating's clever manipulation of others, coupled with Roark's willingness to assist in the improvement of his classmate's designs, affords him much success. When Keating determines to win a competition to design "the world's most beautiful building," he sees an opportunity to gain a partnership in the firm. He acknowledges, though, that he needs help from Roark, who cannot pass up any opportunity to create his own designs. Roark's plans, altered somewhat by Keating's addition of classical flourishes, win the award and Keating becomes a partner.

Part II

When Cameron retires, Roark accepts a job at Francon, but after refusing to work with others on his first design there, he is fired. He is later hired by another builder who lets him design independently but alters his work after it is completed. As a result, Roark determines to work for himself and is soon contracted by newspaperman Austen Heller to build his home. Roark cannot find other clients to appreciate his unique designs and so is forced to close his office and find work in a granite quarry in Connecticut, owned by Guy Francon.

That summer, Roark meets Dominique, and the two enter into an intense sexual relationship. He is soon called back to the city, though, to design an apartment building. After its completion, Roark gains recognition and more contracts. His success is noticed by Ellsworth Toohey, architectural critic for The Banner. Toohey, who has falsely assumed the role of humanist, feels threatened by Roark's individuality and so sets out to ruin him. On his recommendation, Roark is hired to build a "Temple to the Human Spirit," which upon completion, Toohey claims is heretical. As a result, Roark's career suffers.

Dominique marries Keating as an escape from her conflicted feelings about Roark, but the marriage lasts less than two years when she meets and decides to marry Banner publisher Gail Wynand. Recognizing and appreciating Roark's genius, Wynand hires him to build a house for Dominique, and the two men become friends. As Wynand uses his influence to get contracts for Roark, the architect's reputation grows.

Part III

In an effort to bolster his own reputation, Keating asks Roark to design a low-cost development called Cortlandt Homes. Roark agrees, with Keat-ing's promise that he will not alter the plans. When Keating passes the design off as his own and allows it to be altered, Roark blows up the project with Dominique's help. When Roark goes on trial for the bombing, Wynand supports his friend, which turns public opinion against him. Toohey sees the situation as an opportunity for him to destroy Wynand, who has just fired him, and Roark. Toohey engineers a strike against the Banner. To save himself, Wynand writes an editorial condemning Roark, which salvages his career but breaks his spirit.

At his trial, Roark convinces the jury that he had a right to destroy his project and is found not guilty. Roger Enright buys Cortlandt Homes and commissions Roark to rebuild it. Keating's reputation is destroyed after the public discovers that he put his name on the designs. After Dominique divorces Wynand, she marries Roark, who agrees to build a skyscraper for Wynand, who tells him, "'Build it as a monument to that spirit which is yours and could have been mine.'"