In William D. Howells’s “The Rise of Silas Lapham”, Silas is faced with many conflicts that cause him to lose people he cares about, destroy his company, but most importantly greed and selfish ambition. Silas has no intention of changing until he is faced with the most important challenge of all. This is finding his true self. In the title of “The Rise of Silas Lapham” it is not the “rise” to wealth, greed and selfish ambition, it is the “rise” to humility, honesty and becoming a good man by the end of the novel.
In the begging of the book Silas is being interviewed by a newspaper about his “rise” to the top. The main aspects of the interview are to point out his background, him being an icon and the success of the company. The interview is meant to help his social standing and promote how wealthy he is. The interview boosts his ego and pushes him to be more involved in society, because he is set into the grouping of the “Solid men of Boston”. The interview is his first step towards letting society and money change him into thinking about his own social standing and how much money he has have in his bank account are the only two things that really matter in life. Mrs. Lapham said, “No, you had got greedy, Silas. You had made your paint your god, and you couldn’t bear to let anyone share in its blessing” (p.47). Silas wants everything for himself and he didn’t care what it took for that to happen. Silas is so wrapped up in money that he becomes selfish and right as the company is going to start making double the profit he bought out his only friend in the company. This shows Silas Laphams’s downfall of the morals that he possess, “it is the last straw” when it comes to him being a good person and his ambition overtakes him. As the...
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... him not giving into his greed and his selfish ambition, but Silas “awakening” to what is morally right. Silas is now able to have a clear conscious and not let the money dictate his decisions. After all the wrong doing that Silas has done through his down fall and bad decision, he has finally reached his “rise” to a better self by expressing humility and honesty.
In the beginning Silas is a rich and powerful man, greed and selfish ambition had just started to take its toll on his decisions. Throughout the novel Silas continually does wrong by buying out his partner and becomes greedy to the point of money being the only thing that mattered to him. In result Silas loses everything, it is not until Silas loses his home and his company that he is forced to change. By the end of the novel Silas “rises” to become a good moral man that exemplifies honesty and humility.
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.
Lying has deadly effects on both the individual who lies and those around them. This concept is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle have different motives for being deceitful, they all lie in order to fulfill their desires and personal needs. Myrtle’s desire to be wealthy is illustrated when she first meets Tom, dressed in his expensive clothing, as her attitude changes when she puts on the luxurious dress and when she encourages Tom to buy her a dog. Tom’s deception is clear when he hides his affair with Myrtle by placing Myrtle in a different train, withholding the truth from Mr. Wilson of the affair and convincing Myrtle and Catherine that he will one day marry Myrtle. Gatsby tries to convince himself and others that he is the son of wealthy people, he creates an appearance that he is a successful, educated man through the books in his library and assures himself that Daisy loves him. Tom’s dishonesty reveals that he is selfish, while Gatsby’s distortions expose his insecurities, and Myrtle’s misrepresentations show that her sole focus in life is to achieve materialistic success. Gatsby and Myrtle both lie in order to obtain the “American dream.” However, Tom, who appears to already have achieved the “American dream”, deceives others out of boredom and because he takes his wealthy lifestyle for granted. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the human flaw of dishonesty for personal gain and how lies have inevitably tragic consequences in his characterization of Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom.
...ther serves to excite and stimulate our senses as we travel into the deranged mind of a killer ? offering us a unique perspective through the first person point of view. Similarly, the ending of ?Young Goodman Brown? offers a moral, but leaves the main character in a state of discord and callousness towards his wife, and his religion. The story is didactic, because the main character is punished for his transgressions. Symbolism, evident especially in Hawthorne?s allegory, and the repetition of Poe?s suspenseful tale serve to further the goals of each writer. Ultimately, Hawthorne?s Goodman Brown becomes isolated from humanity, an issue of the head and the heart, and Poe?s narrator withdraws inside himself, an issue purely of the mind. Recognizing this discord from the self and humanity is essential to understanding the behavior of these troublesome characters.
Have you ever been in a situation where you have almost met your goal, but something in the way is preventing you from fully accomplishing it? Jay Gatsby, one of the protagonists in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, loses the love of his life, Daisy, due to years of separation and is trying to win her back. Daisy’s husband, Tom, however, won’t let her go that easy. Gatsby fights his way to get back the lover he waits so many years for. Preceding Gatsby’s risky quest, his main goal in life is to obtain a great wealth in order to impress the beautiful Daisy. He only thinks about Daisy and their life together. He will do anything to be reunited, no matter the consequences. Jay’s shadow side is revealed and anima is present throughout his journey. Gatsby appears to be an altruistic, benevolent, stately young man. Upon close scrutiny, it’s unveiled that he is malicious and selfish because he wants Daisy for himself and he is wiling to ruin a family for her. But, his anima shows how caring, romantic, and vulnerable he really is through his devotion and passion for Daisy. Gatsby is unsuccessful in completing a traditional hero’s journey, but he does create his own unique version of the archetype. In this unorthodox interpretation, Gatsby learns the repercussions of wanting what you can’t have and dishonesty throughout the course of his battle for his lover.
...ter sacrifices his pride and self-worth for some fast cash, he begins to hate himself. He must slowly come to realize that self-respect and pride are worth much more than money.
In the beginning of the play, Walter is foolish and quarrelsome, with his heart set on becoming affluent. As he grasps how hard work his father worked and how hard his family works, he reasons that living by his standards is more important than gaining wealth, and he stops feeling resentful towards them. This play highlights how many members of society focus more on making money than living by their ethical
This novel depicts greed on several occasions through out the novel. One example of this is when Gatsby is left twenty five thousand dollars by Dan Cody as a legacy, but from what one is led to believe Ella Kaye refused to let
...hed everything he had ever dreamt of, only to die tragically in the end, with no one by his side. Good things only last so long, The Great Gatsby showed the darker side of the 1920’s, which was hidden behind false identity, and fake smiles. The corruption, the affairs, the abuse that most got away with, just so long as they could pay off their dues with their riches. The poignant, yet hopeful tone is about life and how it almost always ends in heartbreak or death. Life, no matter your accomplishments, ends in a depression, it sucks you down, and you either fight it or it kills you. The world is a dog eat dog world. You fight to stay alive, to make something of yourself, to survive, and in the end you usually always end up dead in a ditch somewhere, because the world took everything you had and so much more, and you have been drained of your ability to fight back.
...esents the final chapters of the novel by having Dimmesdale finally atone for his long, hidden secret, and ultimately redeeming himself.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts. His father, also Nathaniel, was a sea captain and descendent of John Hawthorne, one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. He died when the young Nathaniel was four year old. Hawthorne grew up in seclusion with his widowed mother Elizabeth - and for the rest of her life they relied on each other for emotional solace. Later he wrote to his friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "I have locked myself in a dungeon and I can't find the key to get out." Hawthorne was educated at the Bowdoin College in Maine (1821-24). In the school among his friends were Longfellow and Franklin Pierce, who became the 14th president of the U.S.
The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, Goodman Brown struggles with staying pure and not giving in to the devil. Hawthorne utilizes allegory and ambiguity to leave unanswered questions for the reader.
A man will seek for what he yearns. Jay Gatsby comes from an underprivileged family but is able to rise to the top of wealth—something every American in the 1910-1920’s was trying to do. “Gatsby transforms to get to the top,” (Galley). He entirely transforms himself to a superbly prosperous young man or in other words went from “rags” t...
...Brown, like all humans, sees that everyone can be corrupt and immoral, that it is possible for people to make mistakes. This is extremely disappointing to brown and ruins him. Brown felt that he made the right decision and did not follow the devil, but everyone else around him did. Even his own wife follows the devil. She is supposed to represent holiness and faith, and she is just as corrupt as everyone else. This portrays how even the church, which is supposed to be holy, can be corrupt. The story symbolizes that everyone in society is flawed and no one is perfect. However this idea drives Goodman brown to become insane. He dwells on this fact and loses his ability to see the good in people as well as the bad. Brown couldn't realize that even if people are evil at times, they can still be good people. This is what caused brown to change so drastically.
Silas starts the story as a popular man from Lantern Yard as he is a regular attendee to church and is well respected. He is referred to as ‘Master Marner’. His best friend is William Dane. William frames Silas for a crime he did not commit. People in the village start to accuse Silas of the theft of the dead Deacon’s money. The way this church were organised in those days meant that it was down to pure luck to decide whether Silas was guilty or not. This was the main reason why lots were picked to decide Silas’ fate. He was a firm believer in God and was adamant that he would be cleared. “I can say nothing. God will clear me” (Chapter 1 page 12). Despite his solid belief, Silas was falsely found guilty and he had to leave his place of birth. The author, due to her different beliefs, portrayed this as if to say that it wasn’t up to God to decide your fate, but up to you to decide your own fate. However, contrary to this, his prayers did come true later on in his life, but in the form of a baby.