Rise of Silas Lapham Life, Term Paper

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This is when Silas realizes the larger principle of happiness and welfare. A realization that is confirmed by Sewell, the minister. As a result, Lapham endorses Tom and Penelope's union so that two people could be happy instead of a marriage that would ultimately cause unhappiness for all the parties involved.

Silas Lapham is also forced to face up to the truth about himself when his business begins to flounder. for, this is when he realizes that no man can be an island, and that humans have to necessarily depend on each other for their existence as well as progress. Thus, when he is faced with a situation where his ex-business partner, Rogers, and some English agents are willing to purchase his mill property at a price far higher than its true worth, he refuses to do so on pure principle. This, in spite of the fact that the situation gives him an opportunity to regain some of his lost wealth, and redeem himself in Rogers' eyes. In fact, he even reflects on the transformation within his self: "It was certainly ridiculous for a man who had once so selfishly consulted his own interests to be stickling now about the rights of others." (p. 330)

However, Lapham, having now realized the value of dealing with others in the manner that one would wish to be dealt with, is able to ultimately find the courage to sacrifice his own gain in the interests of dealing honestly with the parties represented by Rogers and the other English agents.

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Thus, he is able to resist not just the temptation to make good on the proposed land deal, but the pleas of both Rogers and his wife. In fact, even Rogers emotional blackmail that he had not deserved Lapham's suspicions, and that Lapham now had a chance to make up for that injustice, fails to move him. Indeed, his only answer is to say, "If I went in with you and those fellows, I should be robbing the people who trusted them." (p. 327)

Thus, the Rise of Silas Lapham is a story of a man's moral development from a time in life dictated by the pursuit of material and selfish desires to one that is guided by the dictates of a morally sound conscience. By tracing such a journey, Howells proves that a "true hero" is a person who has the moral understanding and courage to realize past mistakes, and correct them irrespective of the difficult choices involved.

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