Gail Wynand, contemplating suicide, looks back on his life, searching for a reason to live. He remembers growing up in the harsh slums of Hell's Kitchen, being the smart, tough leader of a street gang and being entirely self-educated. Wynand remembers the long, arduous struggle to start The New York Banner and to build its circulation; he thinks of the men he has ruined, the fortune he has made, the power he has attained — and of the way he has used his genius to pander to the lowest tastes of the crowd. The thought of death brings him no fear; the thought of life causes the fear of identifying his life's meaning. Wynand knows that he will not die now.
Ellsworth Toohey, for his own reasons, brings Wynand and Dominique together. Dominique has been married to Keating for almost two years. The marriage has helped Keating become the most successful architect in the country but has left Dominique utterly unaffected. Wynand, whose real estate empire exceeds his journalistic one, is planning a development — Stoneridge Homes. In the Depression, with building at a minimum, architects compete for the commission. Toohey, under the guise of seeking the commission for Keating, his protégé, brings about the introduction of Dominique to Wynand. Toohey's motives in this introduction involve his endless quest for power. Wynand is his major target, Dominique his minor. Toohey is scheming to take control of The New York Banner, to reach the day when he dictates editorial policy on New York's most popular newspaper. To this end, he worms his way into the confidence of Alvah Scarrett, Wynand's chief editor. He recommends candidates for jobs as they open up and gradually gets his followers onto Wynand's staff. He uses his influence to begin advocating his philosophy throughout the pages of The Banner. In various subtle forms, he has his followers push Lois Cook and her book, The Gallant Gallstone. His motives in this are typical. If he can get Lois Cook, his follower, to the top of the literary profession, then he not only acquires greater power over that important field, but he makes it much more difficult for an independent thinker to gain recognition. Just as Keating's ascension in architecture makes it more difficult for Roark to succeed, so Lois Cook's establishment will intensify the hardships for a Roark-like writer. If a fawning conformist like Keating is considered a great architect, then a bold innovator like Roark cannot be. Similarly, with Lois Cook and her antitheses in literature. When literary success requires posturing nonconformity, it leaves no room for a sincere man of genius. Further, the theme of Lois Cook's book is that individuals are powerless to control their own destinies, that they are at the mercy of some powerful outside force. This fits perfectly with Toohey's message that an individual is merely a cog in a vast social machine, and that each individual should voluntarily submit to society's commands.
