The Fountainhead: Part 1: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Francon directs Keating’s attention to a review of the newest Francon & Heyer construction, the Melton Building, published in a journal called New Frontiers. The article is by Ellsworth Toohey and praises the building’s lack of egotism and novelty. He calls it a “triumph of Classical purity and common sense” which can touch “the heart of every man on the street.” Toohey celebrates the building’s lack of “unbridled egotism” and that the “gracious monotony” of its stringcourses are “the lines of equality.” Francon is very pleased with the review, telling Keating that he is sure that Toohey will very soon be a big name in architecture.

Keating has made himself a favorite of Francon’s at the firm, and he is also popular with the other draftsmen who like how friendly he is. Tim Davis is Keating’s best friend—Keating has made sure of this because Davis is the most favored draftsman at the firm. One evening, Davis is upset because he has a date but has to cancel it since he has been assigned overtime work. Keating asks him to go, and tells him that he’ll stay late to finish the drawings for him. Davis takes him up on his offer.

After Keating is done with work later that night, he walks out into the city and realizes he is lonely. He thinks of Catherine Halsey and decides to visit her. Keating had met Catherine back in Boston, but she’d moved to New York to live with her uncle after her mother died. Keating had always enjoyed her company, but he wasn’t proud to go out with her because she was rather plain. He knew he could go out with the prettiest girls since he was so good-looking. Catherine had told him she loved him, but she never made any demands for his time or attention. Keating feels comfortable just showing up at her house unannounced, knowing she wouldn’t mind.

Catherine is warm and welcoming when Keating sees her, and he “feels at peace.” They talk about their old days in the town of Stanton together, and when Keating asks her if she doesn’t want to know what he’s been up to in New York, Catherine tells him she doesn’t really care about what things he does—she only cares about him. She tells him she finds him very attractive and is crazy about him. Keating tells her she is too forthcoming and that her “technique” would fail on other men, but she says she only cares about him so it doesn’t matter.

While telling Catherine about Francon, Keating calls him an “old fool and a pompous fraud,” shocking himself since he has never even allowed himself to think these thoughts before. He even tells Catherine that he did Davis’s work for him that night, and he implies that, as a result, Davis might soon lose his job. Keating is appalled to be admitting these things to her, but Catherine is completely nonjudgmental as she listens. He tells her he loves her and revels in the sense of freedom he feels in her presence.

Catherine tells Keating about her uncle—he is a very intelligent art critic, and he lets her type up his lectures for him. She wants to get a real job but he discourages her, calling her a “child.” He also discourages her from going to college, saying that she is perhaps not cut out for it, which Keating is upset to hear since Catherine has always wanted to go to college. But she tells Keating her uncle is very kind and clever, and that he could be rich if he wanted but he “isn’t interested in money.” He always thinks of other people and talks about “conditions in the slums, and the poor people in the sweatshops.” Keating is completely shocked when Catherine mentions that her uncle is Ellsworth Toohey.

Keating tells Catherine that he desperately wants to meet Toohey since he is a very influential architectural critic, but that he never wants to meet him through Catherine since he doesn’t want to ever use her to further his career. He is happy when he leaves, promising to come back the next day, but Catherine knows it might be months before he returns.

Meanwhile, at Cameron’s office, Roark has been working hard at drafting with Cameron observing him quietly. One evening, Cameron tells Roark he’s fired. He tells Roark he is “too good” and so must not waste his talent on “an ideal” that the world will never let him reach. He says he must learn to compromise because otherwise the world will break him—just like it’s broken Cameron. He recognizes Roark’s talent and is afraid for him because people feel “hatred for any man who loves his work.” He tells Roark he’ll find a job for him at some other firm—maybe even Francon’s—but that he doesn’t want Roark to end up like he did. He tells Roark that he has suffered a lot, not just financially, but also by seeing other mediocre architects succeed. Roark says it would be an honor to end up like Cameron, and he decides to stay on.