Summary

The opening scene features Howard Roark standing naked on a granite cliff. He is young and stern. It is 1922, and Roark has been expelled from the Stanton Institute of Technology even though he is an exceptional student. Excelling in mathematics and engineering, Roark’s beliefs are too controversial: he is an individualist and refuses to conform to the traditional teachings of the school. Roark goes back to his room and works on his drawings. He almost forgets to meet with the dean, with whom he has an appointment, but his landlady, Mrs. Keating, who is the mother of Peter, a fellow student, reminds him of it. At this meeting, the dean expels Roark for his modernist work but says he will be able to return upon maturity, at which Roark refuses on principle. The dean is enraged and tells Roark he will...