The Fountainhead‘s themes are independence and integrity.
In Part One, novelist Ayn Rand’s primary purpose is to contrast the characters Howard Roark and Peter Keating. Here is a table summarizing the main events in each young man’s early career.
Structurally, each plot event for Roark is matched by an opposite event for Keating. Roark’s career goes on a downward trajectory, and his independence and integrity seem to have made it impossible for his career to progress. Meanwhile, Keating’s career goes on an upward trajectory, and his use-and-be-used strategy seems to have made possible his financial and reputational success.
Abstracting: Roark’s character is moral but he is a practical failure, but Keating’s character is immoral and he flourishes practically.
So the question at the end of Part One is: Is there a dichotomy between morality and practicality?
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Related: Ayn Rand’s essay “Man’s Rights” in the Philosophers, Explained series: