rachel’s blog

Chapter 1:
Monadnock Valley is designed by Roark after he gets a commission which was supposed to be a failure in order to cheat the investors in the project. Every house gets rented and Roark tells Mallory (who he worked with on the project) that it doesn’t matter if the intention was to fail because it didn’t and everything is fine now. Roark then receives a call from Wynand asking for a meeting.

Chapter 2:
Wynand and Roark meet and connect; but Wynand does not know about Roark and Dominique. Dominique does not know the two are meeting. Wynand wants a private home designed by Roar and Roark accepts the project as a fortress to shield Dominique from the world.

Chapter 3:
Wynand and Roark meet and walk the site of Wynand’s future house. Later, Roark visits Wynand who tells him he will only build the house if Roark becomes his private and personal architect. Wynand makes Roark agree to design in whatever style Wynand chooses; and if Roark turns the offer down, Wynand says he will run his life. Roark agrees to work with Wynand.

Chapter 4:
After Dominique is shown Roark’s drawings by Wynand, she knows it was designed by him with her in mind. Roark comes and he and Dominique act normal as can be. Later, Wynand makes Toohey agree to never mention Roark in his column and Toohey agrees.

Chapter 5:
Wynand and Roark become good friends as Wynand calls Roark whenever he wants to see him. Roark is testing Dominique by being so close but not close enough. She says she will do anything for him, including stay patient and wait.

Chapter 6:
Ellsworth Toohey attends a dinner party hosted where all of the guests are like Toohey’s puppets. The guests insult Wynand and argue that unselfishness is the only true virtue. After the party, Toohey walks home in excitement.

Chapter 7:
Keating has put on weight and become “old fashioned” at age 39 and feels lost. He goes to a shack in the woods and paints on weekends for the sense of peace. He hopes to get a large housing project called Cortlandt Homes. After he asks Toohey for a recommendation, Toohey responds bitterly because he has taken on a new favorite (Gus Webb). Toohey tells Keating if he can do what it takes to earn Cortlandt Homes he will support him; Keating goes out and calls Roark for help (of course!)

Chapter 8:
Keating meets with Roark to discuss the Cortland project and Roark asks Keating to come back in a day for an answer. Roark agrees to do the project the next day as long as Keating does not change anything in the design. Keating will receive the honor and the money. Keating shows Roark his paintings which he has never showed anyone before.

Chapter 9:
Roark “solves the puzzle” and does a beautiful job designing the Cortlandt Homes so they fit in the budget. Toohey sees the drawings and knows Keating did not do them. Wynand tries to support Roark in every way but the city is against him. One day Wynand takes Roark to Hell’s Kitchen and shows him the site on which he wants to build a skyscraper in his name.

Chapter 10:
Keating runs into Katie on the street and they have lunch together but he soon learns she is “dead” and only lives for others. He tells her he really did want to marry her and that is was a sin to marry Dominique. Katie ends up scolding him for being selfish and she leaves.

Chapter 11:
Roark goes on Wynand’s yacht with him after most of the drawings are complete for the Cortland Homes. They discuss selflessness while on their cruise.

Chapter 12:
Roark comes back to New York after the cruise to find the Cortland designs have been changed. Toohey’s people have made these changes despite Keating’s protesting. Roark comes up with a plan and tells Dominique she must drive past the Cortland Homes, run out of gas and call for the night watchman to go get her gas. She does all this and when the night watchman goes, the building explodes. Dominique climbs back into her mangled car and cuts herself to appear as if she had never left. She is found unconscious and almost dead.

Chapter 13:
After she wakes up in Wynand’s penthouse, Dominique is scolded by Wynand (even though he approves of destroying the building). Roark was arrested for destroying Cortlandt Homes and Wynand pays his bail. Roark comes to see Dominique and tells her if he is acquitted he wants her to leave Wynand for him. Wynand continues to support Roark in his papers but Toohey has corrupted the organization.

Chapter 14:
Toohey goes to Keating’s house and asks him to admit that Roark really did the work for the Cortlandt project because he wants to hurt Roark. Toohey gets Keating to see the evil in him and how he wants power over men; Keating is disappointed and devastated.

Chapter 15:
Wynand has Toohey fired after a column he does not want printed is; Toohey tells him that he will own the paper when he comes back. The Union of Wynand Employees (who follows Toohey) goes on strike to reemploy Toohey. Wynand keeps the paper going with a small crew. Dominique moves into the building to help Wynand whenever she can. The Banner is bought less and less every day.

Chapter 16:
An emergency meeting is called by the board of investors of the Banner. The paper is about to fail and Wynand knows he must compromise. In the end he gives in and prints and formal apology for defending Roark in order to restore the paper.

Chapter 17:
The Banner is picked up by many people with the latest headline. Dominique goes to see Roark in Monadnock Valley and finally feels complete enough to love him. She stays over and the next morning calls the police to report a “stolen ring”. The police come with reporters and Dominique makes it obvious that she and Roark were sleeping together. She wants their scandal to “unite them against the world.” The story appears left and right and Scarret tells Wynand to divorce Dominique. The public forgives Wynand after an article is published saying Dominique forced Wynand to defend her lover.

Chapter 18:
Roark represents himself at his trial and purposely chooses a harsh jury. Keating tells the jury Roark designed Cortlandt. Roark speaks and describes his principles and says altruism has corrupted the nation. He says he destroyed it because he could not stand to see it corrupted. The jury finds Roark not guilty.

Chapter 19:
Enright purchases the Cortlandt site and gives it to Roark to rebuild it with his original designs. Toohey is rehired by Wynand but after about 10 minutes Wynand tells Toohey the Banner is over and his job is gone. Wynand later asks Roark to design the Wynand Building to stand in Hell’s Kitchen and to design it as a monument to Roark’s spirit.

Chapter 20:
Dominique walks to the Wynand Building construction site and rides a hoist into the air only to see the ocean, sky, and her husband, Howard Roark.