William Dean Howells, "The Rise of Silas Lapham"

The title character of William Dean Howells’ “The Rise of Silas Lapham” problematizes class distinction and the issue of morality in relation to social mobility. A preoccupation with “belonging”—demonstrated in the Lapham family’s inability to assimilate to the culture of the affluent and the complicated inter-class romance of Penelope and Tom—underlies and reinforces the inevitable differences of social class. However, Howells’ novel works in service of a larger theory. Beyond the recognition of the difficulty of upward mobility, the character of Silas Lapham anatomizes class determinism.

            Through the economic rise, social fall, and moral recovery of the Lapham family, we are privy to Silas’ process of social understanding—in his words, “a hole opened for me, and I crept out of it” (365). The Laphams escape the danger of excessive pride and retreat from the apparent moral decay of the upper crust, returning to their original home in the country and their former class position. Only here does Silas attain complete happiness and feel belonging. Throughout the novel there is no change in social class: the Laphams, who discover firsthand the risk of upward mobility, revert to their former class position; the Coreys maintain their upper-crust social set and perspectives; Tom and Penelope, who defy the exclusive nature of class, no longer hold a place within this stratified society; and the minor characters live on in their given social positions. From this static nature of social class we are able to discern a narrative on class determinism, the belief that the social position in which we are raised determines our values and behaviors, in essence solidifying our place within societal structure.

            Class, as demonstrated by Silas Lapham, is not strictly defined by monetary resources and income, but also by cultural capital and performance. Such cultural capital—an understanding of qualities, values, mannerisms, commodities, and social norms characteristic of a certain social class—is internalized from birth. Distancing himself from his working-class roots as he harvests his fortune in the paint business, Silas maintains the values and qualities attributed to that class: an appreciation for a strong work ethic, the necessity of family cohesion, an esteem for sincerity. This collection of cultural capital is in contradiction to the values and qualities of the upper-class, accounting for Lapham’s inability to “belong.” In an attempt to forge a place for themselves among the social elite, the family must perform their social role, creating a disconnect between their class position and their true selves. In addition to a salient consciousness of his lack of the cultural capital of the wealthy, Silas also gains recognition that, in order to conform to high-class society, he must relinquish his sincerity, his integrity, and—arguably—his identity.