The Rise of Silas Lapham

By William Dean Howells

Subjects: American fiction, Fiction, coming of age, Moral and ethical aspects, Politics and government, Ballads, Readers, Domestic fiction, Ps2025 .r5 1983, Psychological fiction, Fiction, sagas, Families, Fiction, historical, Businessmen--fiction, Fiction, historical, general, Boston (mass.), fiction, Socialites--fiction, Fiction, classics, FICTION, Massachusetts, fiction, Businessmen, Fiction, family life, Rich people, open_syllabus_project, Fiction, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Rich people--fiction, Children's fiction, Fiction in englishamerican writers, 1861-1900 - texts, History and criticism, Fiction, city life, Business ethics, Conduct of life, Catholic Church, Missions, United states, fiction, Fiction, psychological, Wealth, 813/.4, Classic Literature, Socialites, Industrialists, Classics

Description: The Rise of Silas Lapham is a novel written by William Dean Howells in 1885 about the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards, which he tries to attain through his daughter's marriage to the aristocratic Corey family. Silas' morality does not fail him. He loses his money but makes the right moral decision when his partner proposes the unethical selling of the mills to English settlers.