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After Baby departed the Houseman family's cabin, saying that she was going to play charades in the hotel lobby, Lisa resumed reading The Fountainhead. She read pages 202 to 222, and she was stunned. Howard Roark raped Dominique Francon.
Those 20 pages are summarized by Sparknotes as follows:
Howard Roark finds hard but satisfying work at the Francon granite quarry. Dominique lives alone on her father’s estate, a few miles from the quarry. She spends most of her time walking through the countryside. On one particularly hot day she visits her father’s quarry. There she sees Roark drilling away at the rock. Their eyes meet and his gaze is one of ownership. She immediately hates him because she knows she could fall in love with him.
Later, Dominique fights the desire to visit the quarry again but cannot help herself. Roark looks at her with the same intense gaze.
Several days later, they meet at the quarry. Their first real encounter is intimate. Dominique wants to know that Roark suffers and asks him if the work is tiresome. Roark tells her that sometimes he cannot move his arms at night. Dominique asks him why he works there and he replies that he is there for the money she pays him.
Every day, Dominique fights the compulsion to visit Roark. She eventually begins to feel safe in her house, but wants to test her resolve. Dominique makes a long scratch in the marble fireplace and hires Roark to repair the damage. He casually agrees to come, making her weak with shame and pleasure. When Roark arrives at Dominique’s house, he splits the marble and offers to order a new piece of stone. When the marble arrives, Dominique sends for Roark, but he sends an old laborer in his place.
Later, at the quarry, Dominique asks Roark why he sent the other worker, and he wonders why she cares.
Three evenings later, Dominique is sitting in her bedroom when Roark enters. He takes her in his arms roughly. She fights him, but he overpowers her. Roark then rapes her like “a master taking shameful, contemptuous possession” of a slave. Dominique realizes that this humiliation is exactly what she wants and that if Roark had behaved tenderly, she would have remained cold. Roark leaves without a word.
A week later, an industrialist named Roger Enright hires Roark and Roark leaves for New York. When Dominique discovers that Roark has left, she feels relief that she is no longer vulnerable, and reasons that she will never see him again.
Lisa put the novel down and thought about why Robbie Gould had asked her sister Baby and then Lisa herself to read it. By now, Lisa knew from Baby and also from Robbie himself that Baby had confronted Robbie about Penny Johnson's pregnancy and had asked Robbie to help pay for Penny's abortion. Robbie had refused, saying:
I didn't blow a summer hauling toasted bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place. ...
Some people count, and some people don't. Read it. I think it’s a book you'll enjoy ...
Lisa really did want to understand Robbie, because she thought she might marry him. Lisa thought that these pages illuminated his attitude toward Penny's pregnancy. From the novel's beginning, Lisa had recognized that Robbie intended for Lisa to identify himself with Howard Roark. Soon after the character Dominique Francon appeared in the novel, Lisa recognized that she was supposed to identify herself with Dominique. Now, after reading about Howard's rape of Dominique, Lisa recognized that earlier Robbie had identified Dominique with Penny.
* The Modern architect Howard Roark corresponded to the medical student Robbie Gould.
* The glamor-girl Dominique Francon had corresponded earlier to the dancer Penny Johnson.
* The glamor-girl Dominique Francon corresponded now to the art student Lisa Houseman.
When Robbie had recommended the novel to Baby, he intended for Baby to understand from it why he refused to pay for Penny's abortion.
I didn't blow a summer hauling toasted bagels just to bail out some little chick [Penny] who probably balled every guy in the place.
Some people [i.e. Robbie] count, and some people [i.e. Penny] don't.
Although Howard now was a mere quarry-worker, he was devoting his entire life to establish Modern Architecture. He had seemed to be a good person and to be potentially very valuable for society. In general, his selfish sexual pleasure seemed to be a a low priority, subordinated to his career ambitions. Lisa had admired Howard until he raped Dominique.
Obviously, Howard could have courted and seduced Dominique successfully. Obviously, Dominique was sexually attracted to Howard and was trying to arrange private, interesting interactions with him. He did not have to rape her in order to enjoy sex with her.
As Lisa thought more about Howard, however, she realized that he was so consumed by his career that he could not bear to spend any time or effort on courtship and relationship with any woman. He did want to enjoy sexual pleasure occasionally, and so when perceived that Dominique was sexually attracted to him, he simply raped her. Since Dominique really had been sexually attracted to Howard, she eventually would get over the rape, while he immediately went on wih his career ambitions.
Likewise, Robbie was consumed with his own career ambitions. He had perceived that Penny was sexually attracted to him, and so he took advantage of that situation to enjoy sexual intercourse with her. Robbie had spent minimal time and effort on that relationsip, and he was not going to invest any more time an effort on it -- especially since her pregnancy might be from some other man. Penny would get over it, while he went on with his socially valuable life. The less that Robbie wastes on ordinay women like Penny, the more he might contribue ultimately to society.
Now, how was Lisa supposed to understand such an attitude in regard to herself? Would Lisa too, like Penny, turn out to be so expendable in Robbie's life? Might Lisa be able to hold on to Robbie after all?
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Lisa was a conventional person. She wanted to marry an admirable, successful man and to develop a comfortable home and to raise their children. She wanted to postpone her own career while the children remained home. She wanted to fit well into conventional society.
However, now she wondered whether some individuals should be considered to be exceptional. The novel's character Howard Roark seemed destined to overcome many social and professional obstacles in order to establish Modern Architecture in American society. Perhaps he would not succeed if he entangled himself with women. His rape of Dominique should be considered from that perspective.
Anyway, was Robbie Gould such an exceptional person. Might he be destined likewise to change the world? Should Robbie's lack of concern about Penny -- and potentially also about Lisa herself -- be considered from such a perspective?
Suppose that Lisa risked herself on Robby. She might be dumped by him soon, but she might become married to a great man who will improve the world.
Baby talked about changing the world. Perhaps Robbie really will change the world.
Lisa decided that she should get her parents' opinion about Robbie.
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No Sound
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Continued in Part 17
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