Notes on Part I

These pages contain a list of edits that Rand identified for the first part of the novel. Her repeated questions or assessments about the necessity of things show that plot was primary in her mind. All aspects of the novel, from whole characters or major events down to details, had to serve the plot. At the bottom of the third page, she gave herself further instructions for editing the novel’s first part to bring it up to the quality that she wanted.

One of those final reminders to herself was: “The book is not about architecture, it’s about Roark against the world and about the workings of that thing in the world which opposes him” (individualism vs. collectivism). Rand’s later frustration with many reviews of the novel was the refusal of reviewers to acknowledge the book’s actual theme. For more on this, see Letters #75 and #76 in Letters of Ayn Rand.