When they lay in bed together it was—as it had to be . . . an act of violence. . . . it was the moment made of hatred, tension, pain.

This quotation, from the eighth chapter of the novel’s second book, describes the early relationship between Dominique and Roark. Their passion feeds on force and struggle. At this point in the novel, Roark and Dominique are both lovers and antagonists—they sleep together at night and Dominique tries to destroy Roark by day. She wants to test him to see whether he is truly the principled man he seems. The novel abhors compassion and warmth, and the violence of Roark’s relationship with Dominique turns the fuzziness of love into something hard and tough, and therefore, for Rand, admirable. This quotation evokes the violence of their first sexual encounter, a highly idealized rape that Rand endorses for its cold brutality. Rand contrasts this love between two strong personalities with the whiny and comfortable love between Katie and Keating. Katie and Keating’s cuddling leads to painful codependence, but the tough, combative love of Dominique and Roark produces power and free thought.

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