The Fountainhead: Part 1: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Guy Francon, the famous architect and Stanton’s greatest alumnus, delivers a verbose commencement address to the Class of ’22, saying they should stay true to the principles of “Beauty and Utility” in their architectural designs. He designed the ornate, stuffy hall they are in, and he is pleased to be there. He is a member of several groups, like the Architects Guild of America. Peter Keating, “the star student of Stanton,” is in attendance, as well. He is aware of being looked at and admired by everyone the room. He suddenly fears that he might not be as great as everyone thinks he is, but this passes when he sees another student, Shlinker, whom he considers inferior to himself.

Keating is greeted by loud applause when he gets on stage. He has won many prizes for his work and even has a four-year scholarship at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Everyone congratulates him while his mother hugs him and sobs in happiness. Earlier, Francon had offered him a job at his firm.

Then, Keating thinks about Roark and feels “a satisfying pang of sympathy.” He had worried about Roark being competition, even though Roark was younger and in the class below him, because Roark had often helped Keating when he was stuck on a design. Keating is happy that Roark has now been expelled.

On his way home, Keating thinks about all the sacrifices his mother has made for him—like taking in boarders—because she decided that Keating would do great things and worked hard to put him through school. He recalls that he’d wanted to be an artist, but that his mother had persuaded him to be an architect. He feels a twinge of regret at this thought.

At home, Keating is pleased when Roark congratulates him and tells him he does good work sometimes. He wants Roark’s opinion on whether he should take the scholarship in Paris or work for Guy Francon in New York, but Roark is amazed that Keating doesn’t know what he wants. Ultimately, Keating decides to take Francon’s offer because his mother thinks Paris is too far and Roark says he must begin working if he wants to learn architecture, even though Roark thinks Francon is a fool.

Roark says he plans to go to New York, too, to work with Henry Cameron. Keating is shocked to hear this because Cameron was once a famous architect but is now a nobody. Roark is insistent on working with Cameron so he can learn from him, and he doesn’t care that it won’t open up his future in the world of architecture.