The Rise of Silas Lapham

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Recommended: Writing on social norms

In the Story “The Rise of Silas Lapham,” written by William Dean Howells, Silas’s desire to conform to the standards of society is the root of his company’s downfall but the rise of his understanding and morals. The society Silas is trying to feel accepted by is very judgmental and vain and do not care about others therefore making it very tough for the Laphams to be accepted or even feel somewhat normal where they are living. Persis is a significant character in the novel because in the end she is why Silas does the things he does because she bestowed good morals in him. The last attempts to fit in with the community is the building and destruction of the house. These are all very significant events to the story leading up to Silas last decisions. The society that Silas is trying to be accepted into cannot not find a way to accept Silas, nor find a way to make him acceptable. Although Silas is extremely wealthy, this does not make him acceptable in the community. Being rich situates him in the upper class allowing him to make an attempt at being one of them but in the end he fails because he cannot change his personality without losing sight of who he really was. At the Corey’s dinner party he has problems with wearing gloves while no one else is wearing them, and drinking from the wine glass like it was ice water served at his home table, also the conversation he could not enter into or follow. When he finally does he has drunk to much wine. After telling his War story he feels confident now that’s he has established himself in the conversation so he continues to talk about his paint to Bromfeild. As he goes on these rants unceasingly talking about pointless subjects he is the only one talking because no one at the party cares f... ... middle of paper ... ... He still felt that the man needed to know the condition of his company the offer was withdrawn. Silas’ morality shines through again. Silas could have completely forgotten about his morals and taken all these opportunities to cause even more destruction and regret but instead he sacrificed so much of his hard work to be happy with himself and instead of trying to be accepted by society he wanted to be able to be accepting of himself without resenting anything. Silas’ self-sacrifice is the main cause to his true happiness. His morals also played a vital role in the novel causing him to realize he does not need material things in life to be happy. By the end of the story he moves back to the farm and goes back to be a normal person once again. He no longer feels the need of acceptance from everyone because he doesn’t need to change who is in order to fit in.

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