The Fountainhead

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of suicidal ideation.

“His face was like a law of nature—a thing one could not question, alter or implore. It had high cheekbones over gaunt, hollow cheeks; gray eyes, cold and steady; a contemptuous mouth, shut tight, the mouth of an executioner or a saint.”

In The Fountainhead, characters’ outward appearances reflect their inner personalities, so this detailed description of Roark establishes the stern and uncompromising essence of his essential character. The opening simile compares his face to a law of nature, indicating that he is immovable, unaffected by external influence, and dedicated to upholding ironclad internal morals. He is associated with executioners and saints, both of which are outsiders to general society and unbeholden to society’s judgments.

“‘I think’ said Keating slowly, ‘it is more important to make changes you find necessary than to okay every drawing just as Mr. Stengel designed it.’

Because Francon said nothing, but only looked straight at him, because Francon’s eyes were focused and his hands limp, Keating knew that he had taken a terrible chance and won; he became frightened by the chance after he knew he had won.

They looked silently across the desk, and both saw that they were two men who could understand each other.”

The connection between Keating and Francon is shown through their body language and their shared gaze, as well as their mutual understanding of the implicit values guiding Keating’s advice. The desire to impose one’s power over others by making unnecessary changes to their work is a common trait of the so-called “second-handers” who function as the novel’s antagonists, and the exchange also foreshadows the conflicts facing Roark throughout the novel.

“In February of 1925 Henry Cameron retired from practice.

For a year, he had known that the day would come. He had not spoken of it to Roark, but they both knew and went on, expecting nothing save to go on as long as possible. A few commissions had dribbled into their office in the past year, country cottages, garages, remodeling of old buildings. They took anything. But the drops stopped. The pipes were dry. The water had been turned off by a society to whom Cameron had never paid his bill.”

These short statements of absolute fact create a sense of inevitability and finality. The listing of the minor jobs undertaken by Cameron emphasizes the dire situation of his company and the extent to which his prestige has deteriorated. The listed items also mimic the “drops” described in the