Part III Chapters 6-9
Summary
Chapter 6
Toohey attends a meeting of the Council of American Writers, a group of inferior writers that he started and which have, over time, become highly regarded. However, the self-satisfied writers don't realize the depth of their inferiority. Surprisingly, Toohey finally begins to support modern architecture and approves minimalist principles. Now, Cameron is the architect to be copied. Keating feels hurt when Toohey gets a commission for Gus Webb, a younger untalented architect. Francon retires soon after he hears of the divorce and now a depressed Keating is left to shoulder the burden of the firm: "I'm tired Peter . . . good luck?(476). He chooses a rich, but ineffectual partner named Neil Dumont and Stoneridge becomes the last contract signed by Francon & Keating.
Chapter 7
Wynand waits for Dominique and is at the train to meet her when she returns to New York. He is ready to marry her that day, but Dominique wants an elaborate wedding, as vulgar as possible. She wears a black dress as six hundred guests in the luxurious Noyes-Belmont Hotel. Wynand, however, managed to participate in the wedding as "an act of pure religion?in spite of the circus-like atmosphere (479). Dominique doesn't realize, however, that Wynand forbade the Banner mentioning anything about the wedding. The periodical receives thousands of letters denouncing Wynand for marrying a divorced woman. Toohey continues to gain power at the Banner.
Chapter 8
Dominique and Wynand spent their two-week honeymoon in their New York penthouse. He buys her a diamond necklace that looks like droplets of water. Dominique is increasingly surprised to find that she actually cares for Wynand and comes to recognize some good qualities in him. However, when she criticizes his choice of stories published in the Banner, he becomes truculent. Dominique arranges for him to view No Skin Off Your Nose, a play highly praised by the newspaper's critics that include Toohey. The play is plain trash, yet everyone laughs because the newspaper said they must. Here Dominique attempts to make Wynand see his legacy: The Banner had destroyed the Stoddard Temple to make room for that play. He tells her he doesn't believe in integrity and has yet to meet a man of true integrity, a man who can't be bought.
Chapter 9
On deck of their yacht one evening, Wynand points to the Hell's Kitchen area of his youth and confides that he has always wanted to build a beautiful building that would carry his name but he hasn't been ready. Dominique tells him to fire Toohey before it is too late and he laughs. "A tank to eliminate a bedbug,?he retorts (500). Wynand doesn't as yet realize that many of the Banner's staff have been replaced with others selected by Toohey. Dominique warns her husband that Toohey is trying to assume control of the Wynand newspaper chain as part of his plan to control the world. Wynand tells her that what she says is too preposterous and laughs.
The marriage between Dominique and Wynand proves to be a happy one, much to Dominique's surprise. He tells her how much he loves her in many of the same terms used by Roark. Dominique doesn't love Wynand, but she feels loyalty towards him and in this regard attempts to warn him about Toohey. Wynand says he is happy because he desires Dominique, but what is even more important to him is that she has reinstilled in him "the ability to desire like that?(502).
Analysis
Toohey has been thinking ahead, for years actually, and now his master plan is beginning to take shape. He realizes the full power of the media and realizes that it is a weapon in his effort to attain power. Rand, who suffered through life as a child in Stalinist Russia, posits Toohey as a dictator-figure who slowly but surely attains power by putting men under his control into responsible positions. Toohey then becomes a puppet-master of sorts. The groups of inferior writers, artists and architects he formed early on have managed to become prestigious and thus powerful thanks in great part to Toohey's machinations at the Banner. He removes all the people with any aptitude and talent and replaces them with mediocre others. Toohey has utilized the same self-serving methodology at the Banner's competitor which consistently attacks Wynand. Although he is entirely ignorant of the fact, Dominique is the only one who can save Wynand.
Increasingly depressed, Keating realizes that Toohey has turned elsewhere. He has lost his wife, his friend and his will to live. The Modernism that Toohey now purports has always been anathema to him. Keating still cannot stand to be alone and thus feels he must take a partner but instead of looking for a talented person who could bring new energy to the firm, he selects a passive partner with no vested interest in the firm.
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