Article #154-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Rise of Silas Lapham, by William Dean Howells

Bartley could not deny himself this gibe; but he trusted to Lapham's
unliterary habit of mind for his security in making it, and most other
people would consider it sincere reporter's rhetoric.

"You know," he explained to Lapham, "that we have to look at all these
facts as material, and we get the habit of classifying them. Sometimes
a leading question will draw out a whole line of facts that a man
himself would never think of." He went on to put several queries, and
it was from Lapham's answers that he generalised the history of his
childhood. "Mr. Lapham, although he did not dwell on his boyish trials
and struggles, spoke of them with deep feeling and an abiding sense of
their reality." This was what he added in the interview, and by the
time he had got Lapham past the period where risen Americans are all
pathetically alike in their narrow circumstances, their sufferings, and
their aspirations, he had beguiled him into forgetfulness of the check
he had received, and had him talking again in perfect enjoyment of his
autobiography.

"Yes, sir," said Lapham, in a strain which Bartley was careful not to
interrupt again, "a man never sees all that his mother has been to him
till it's too late to let her know that he sees it. Why, my mother--"
he stopped. "It gives me a lump in the throat," he said
apologetically, with an attempt at a laugh. Then he went on: "She was
a little frail thing, not bigger than a good-sized intermediate
school-girl; but she did the whole work of a family of boys, and
boarded the hired men besides. She cooked, swept, washed, ironed, made
and mended from daylight till dark--and from dark till daylight, I was
going to say; for I don't know how she got any time for sleep. But I
suppose she did. She got time to go to church, and to teach us to read
the Bible, and to misunderstand it in the old way. She was GOOD. But
it ain't her on her knees in church that comes back to me so much like
the sight of an angel as her on her knees before me at night, washing
my poor, dirty little feet, that I'd run bare in all day, and making me
decent for bed. There were six of us boys; it seems to me we were all
of a size; and she was just so careful with all of us. I can feel her
hands on my feet yet!" Bartley looked at Lapham's No. 10 boots, and
softly whistled through his teeth. "We were patched all over; but we
wa'n't ragged. I don't know how she got through it. She didn't seem
to think it was anything; and I guess it was no more than my father
expected of her. HE worked like a horse in doors and out--up at
daylight, feeding the stock, and groaning round all day with his
rheumatism, but not stopping."

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells**

Context of the Novel

The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885) is a realist novel by William Dean Howells, a key figure in American literary realism. The novel explores the social and moral complexities of the Gilded Age, a period of rapid industrialization and wealth accumulation in the late 19th century. Silas Lapham, the protagonist, is a self-made millionaire who rose from rural poverty to wealth through the paint industry. The novel critiques the contradictions of American capitalism, particularly the tension between material success and moral integrity.

This excerpt comes from a scene where Lapham is being interviewed by Bartley Hubbard, a journalist for a fictional newspaper. Hubbard, a cynical and manipulative reporter, is extracting Lapham’s life story for a sensationalized article. The passage reveals Lapham’s deep emotional connection to his past, particularly his reverence for his mother, while also exposing Hubbard’s exploitative methods.

Themes in the Excerpt

The Illusion of the Self-Made Man
- Lapham embodies the American myth of the self-made man, but the excerpt complicates this narrative. His success is not just the result of his own labor but also the unseen, unpaid labor of his mother, whose sacrifices enabled his rise. This undermines the individualistic ideal of the Gilded Age.
- The line "a man never sees all that his mother has been to him till it's too late" suggests that Lapham’s success is built on unacknowledged debt—both emotional and material.
Class and Social Mobility
- Lapham’s nostalgia for his impoverished childhood contrasts with his current wealth (symbolized by his "No. 10 boots"). His memory of being "patched all over" but "not ragged" reflects the dignity his mother maintained despite poverty.
- Hubbard, as a representative of the urban, educated elite, views Lapham’s story as "material" for classification and sensationalism, reducing his life to a formulaic rags-to-riches tale. This highlights the class divide between the old money elite and the nouveau riche.
Gender and Invisible Labor
- Lapham’s mother is the unsung hero of his story. Her labor—cooking, cleaning, mending, and emotional care—was essential yet unpaid and unrecognized. The passage critiques how women’s domestic work is erased from narratives of success.
- The image of her washing his feet is deeply symbolic: it evokes biblical humility (like Christ washing the disciples’ feet) but also the physical and emotional toll of motherhood.
Journalism and Exploitation
- Hubbard’s methods are manipulative. He uses "leading questions" to extract Lapham’s story, framing it in a way that fits a preconceived narrative ("risen Americans are all pathetically alike").
- The line "most other people would consider it sincere reporter's rhetoric" suggests that Hubbard’s flattery is insincere, a tool to get Lapham to open up. This reflects Howells’ critique of sensationalist journalism in the Gilded Age.
Nostalgia and Loss
- Lapham’s emotional breakdown ("It gives me a lump in the throat") reveals that his wealth has not erased the pain of his past. His memory of his mother is tied to guilt—he now recognizes her sacrifices only when it’s too late to thank her.
- The contrast between his mother’s "frail" body and her Herculean labor underscores the tragedy of her unappreciated life.

Literary Devices

Free Indirect Discourse
- The narrative shifts between Lapham’s spoken words and the reporter’s internal perspective (e.g., "Bartley looked at Lapham's No. 10 boots, and softly whistled through his teeth"). This technique allows Howells to expose Hubbard’s cynicism while maintaining Lapham’s sincerity.
Symbolism
- The Boots: Lapham’s "No. 10 boots" symbolize his current wealth and social standing, contrasting with his barefoot childhood. Hubbard’s focus on them suggests his materialistic view of Lapham’s story.
- The Mother’s Knees: The image of her kneeling to wash his feet symbolizes both maternal devotion and the invisibility of women’s labor. The comparison to an "angel" elevates her to a saintly figure, reinforcing the idea that her worth was never properly recognized in life.
Irony
- Dramatic Irony: The reader sees Hubbard’s manipulation, but Lapham does not. His trust in the reporter makes his emotional vulnerability more poignant.
- Situational Irony: Lapham, now wealthy, is being exploited by Hubbard in much the same way his family was exploited by economic hardship in his youth.
Imagery
- The tactile imagery of Lapham feeling his mother’s hands on his feet ("I can feel her hands on my feet yet!") makes the memory visceral and emotionally charged.
- The contrast between the "poor, dirty little feet" of his childhood and his polished boots now underscores the distance between his past and present.
Repetition and Parallelism
- The repetition of "she" in "She cooked, swept, washed, ironed, made and mended" emphasizes the relentless, cyclical nature of her labor.
- The parallel structure of "from daylight till dark--and from dark till daylight" suggests an endless, exhausting routine.

Significance of the Passage

Critique of the American Dream
- Lapham’s story is supposed to be a triumph of the American Dream, but the excerpt reveals its hidden costs: the exploitation of women’s labor, the emotional toll of upward mobility, and the way success narratives erase struggle.
Realism and Social Commentary
- Howells, as a realist, avoids sentimentalizing poverty. Instead, he shows its brutality (the mother’s exhaustion, the father’s rheumatism) while also humanizing Lapham’s nostalgia.
- The scene critiques how the media (represented by Hubbard) commodifies personal stories, reducing complex lives to clichés.
Moral Ambiguity
- Lapham is neither a hero nor a villain. He is a product of his time—ambitious, hardworking, but also complicit in a system that undervalues the labor of women and the poor. His emotional honesty makes him sympathetic, even as his wealth isolates him.
Gender and Domestic Labor
- The passage is a subtle feminist critique. Lapham’s mother’s work is described as superhuman, yet it was taken for granted by her husband and sons. This reflects the broader societal devaluation of women’s domestic contributions.

Conclusion: The Text’s Power

This excerpt is a masterclass in realist fiction. Howells uses Lapham’s interview to expose the contradictions of Gilded Age America:

The myth of the self-made man is undercut by the unseen labor of women.
Social mobility comes at a personal and moral cost.
Journalism and capitalism exploit personal stories for profit.

Lapham’s emotional breakdown over his mother’s memory is the heart of the passage. It reveals that beneath his wealthy, confident exterior lies a deep well of guilt and loss—proof that no amount of money can erase the debts of the past. The scene is both a tender portrait of maternal love and a sharp critique of the systems that render such love invisible.

Questions

Question 1

The passage most strongly suggests that Bartley Hubbard’s interview technique relies on a paradoxical dynamic in which:

A. his feigned empathy is so transparent that Lapham’s emotional vulnerability becomes a form of resistance to manipulation.
B. the more Lapham resists sentimentalizing his past, the more Hubbard’s questions force him into a preordained narrative arc.
C. Lapham’s uncritical trust in journalistic integrity mirrors the blind faith his mother placed in religious doctrine.
D. the exploitation of Lapham’s sincerity is contingent on Lapham’s inability to recognize exploitation as a structural repetition of his own past.
E. Hubbard’s cynicism is neutralized by the genuine pathos of Lapham’s recollections, creating an unintended moment of human connection.

Question 2

The image of Lapham’s mother washing his feet serves primarily to:

A. subvert the biblical connotation of humility by grounding it in the unglamorous, repetitive labor of domestic survival.
B. elevate her to a Christ-like figure, reinforcing the idea that her suffering was redemptive for the family’s eventual success.
C. contrast the tactile intimacy of childhood memory with the impersonal, transactional nature of Hubbard’s interview.
D. illustrate how Lapham’s nostalgia distorts his perception of his mother’s labor, romanticizing exploitation as devotion.
E. underscore the physical toll of poverty, where even acts of care are tinged with the desperation of material deprivation.

Question 3

The narrator’s observation that “most other people would consider it sincere reporter’s rhetoric” is best understood as:

A. an ironic commentary on the public’s willingness to conflate journalistic professionalism with moral authenticity.
B. a meta-critique of Howells’ own narrative voice, implicating the reader in the same voyeuristic consumption as Hubbard.
C. a defense of Hubbard’s methods, suggesting that his manipulation is justified by the broader social function of journalism.
D. an exposure of the way systemic class biases allow the educated elite to dismiss the emotional intelligence of the self-made man.
E. a subtle indictment of Lapham’s naivety, implying that his inability to detect insincerity is a residual effect of his rural upbringing.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the relationship between Lapham’s “No. 10 boots” and his memory of barefoot childhood?

A. The boots symbolize the commodification of his past, where material success both obscures and is predicated on the erasure of his mother’s labor.
B. The contrast highlights the irony of Lapham’s nostalgia, as his current comfort is built on the very exploitation he now sentimentalizes.
C. The boots serve as a visual cue for Hubbard, signaling Lapham’s wealth and thus the marketability of his rags-to-riches story.
D. The juxtaposition underscores the discontinuity between Lapham’s present identity and his past, revealing his self-perception as fundamentally fragmented.
E. The image critiques the American Dream by showing how its symbols (like polished boots) are hollow when divorced from the collective struggle that produced them.

Question 5

The passage’s treatment of Lapham’s mother is most analogous to which of the following literary techniques?

A. The use of a grotesque character in Southern Gothic fiction, where her physical frailty is exaggerated to emphasize moral corruption.
B. The stream-of-consciousness portrayal of a marginalized figure, granting her interiority only through her son’s fragmented memories.
C. The picaresque device of an idealized female figure who exists solely to motivate the male protagonist’s moral development.
D. The naturalist depiction of a character crushed by systemic forces, her labor rendered invisible by the very structures it sustains.
E. The realist paradox of hypervisibility and erasure, where her omnipresent labor is narratively central yet socially unacknowledged.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage frames Hubbard’s exploitation of Lapham as a replication of the power dynamics in Lapham’s past: his mother’s unpaid labor enabled his rise, just as his uncritical trust in Hubbard enables the reporter’s extraction of his story. Lapham’s inability to recognize this parallel—his habitus of not questioning structural exploitation—makes him vulnerable. This is the most defensible answer because it ties Hubbard’s manipulation to the broader theme of repeated, unexamined systems of use (e.g., class, gender) that the passage critiques.