hange from pompous merchant to marginal farmer. Yet his triumph is the greatest a Howells character can have, and amply justifies the word Rise in the title. He has not only acted and risen morally, but he is aware of what he has done and he is consciously humble before the dark forces of the world. “Seems sometimes as if it was a hole opened for me, and I crept out of it,” he muses to Sewell, the Boston minister and active representative of the author. Here again is the surface image, this time from the point of view of the man who fell through and was allowed to climb out. As a farmer, Lapham is now passive, an assistant to the workings of alien nature, rather than its opponent; but he squarely faces, understands, and accepts them, and he is therefore an existential success (Carrington 80).William Dean Howells writes about a man against the world of big business, by using setting, symbolism and characterization. In most of his stories, Howells writes about the morality of human beings, and their struggle to come to terms with it. In most cases the humans will realize that what is important is not always the most popular choice, nor is it the easiest one to make. The Rise of Silas Lapham is no different. The novel, while not extremely action packed or exciting, does have a point to make. The point is one that any human these days should understand. That is that money may control the world but it does not have to control an individual. If the individual chooses to be all about money, then it will ultimately lead to their downfall. If the individual chooses not to let it control them, then only the individual will be able to determine the outcome. ...
