Part 4, Chapter 18
The Cortlandt trial begins. Dominique, Mike, Heller, Enright, Lansing, Mallory, and Guy Francon sit with the defense. Toohey, Cook, Prescott, Webb, Clokey, Ike, Joules Fougler, Sally Brent, Homer Slottern and Mitch Layton are in the crowd. Roark has picked a jury with hard faces, and the prosecutor has agreed to it.
Keating is the first and only witness for the prosecution, and testifies blankly that he did not design the Cortlandt Homes, that Roark did, and that he objected to the changes made by Webb and Prescott because he was afraid of Roark.
Roark testifies on his own behalf. He talks about the difference between creators and second handers, about how selflessness is the true evil, about egotism as the true good, and about the Cortlandt house. He had the complete right to dynamite it because it would not have existed without him and it had already been destroyed by the additions made by Prescott and Webb, two second-handers. The jury comes back quickly with a not guilty verdict.
Topic Tracking: Individualism 7
View More Summaries on The Fountainhead
