The Rise of Silas Lapham

Tom visits the Lapham home. He is polite and inquisitive, discussing business matters with Silas and then inquiring about the family’s love of literature. Persis remarks that Penelope does “most of our reading” (88) and Silas encourages his daughters to take Tom out to tour the property. Silas talks to Persis, proudly revealing that the respectable Tom Corey has approached him with a business proposal. This proposal completely undermines Persis’s comments from the previous day. Silas mentions that recent changes in the paint market have made business difficult and he hopes that hiring Tom might open up new business opportunities. Up to this point, Silas had disdained the snooty Corey family. He did not believe that someone from the “offensively aristocratic” (92) Corey family could ever marry Irene. Increasingly, however, he watches the young people together and he imagines Tom and Irene marrying, thereby raising the Lapham name up among the Boston elite.

When Mrs. Corey makes a return from the seaside, she is shocked and appalled that her son would involve himself in the “hideous” (94) mineral paint trade. Bromfield insists that he could do nothing to stop their son from going into business with Silas. Bromfield has increasingly come to believe that his son is not a brilliant man, though he is filled with energy. Tom is desperate to achieve something, Bromfield believes, but he may not possess the wherewithal to succeed in a profession. Bromfield does not see too much difference between mineral paint or other industries. Tom has rejected his offer to live as a man of leisure; the Corey family fortune is dwindling away, but they pride themselves on being among the elite and not having to work. Mrs. Corey is worried that Tom wants to marry Irene. She finds Irene to be an insipid (94) young woman. Bromfield tells his wife that, in this day and age, American parents do not interfere in their children’s marriages. He cannot imagine himself approaching any other wealthy man to suggest that Tom marry that man’s daughter. He would feel like a fool. Mrs. Corey plans to speak to Tom about the matter when the time is right.

Tom has been staying with the Lapham family. When he returns to the Corey home, his mother begins to probe him about his plans. She learns nothing about Irene, but she is told a string of family gossip items. Uncle Jim is the one who suggested that Tom join the paint business; Irene has good skin; and Penelope is considered “plain” (99) but also droll and comedic. Mrs. Corey goes to her husband and complains that she was not able to find out more. She believes that Tom has already set his mind on the paint industry. She feels as though there is nothing she can do if Tom does decide to marry Irene, though she hopes that he will not do this. She returns to the seaside, feeling defeated.

Meanwhile, Tom has enthusiastically thrown himself into his new job. While visiting the office one evening, he happens upon Silas, who is with one of his female employees, Zerrilla. Tom overhears Silas tell Zerrilla, “[Y]ou better get a divorce!” (104), before Silas sees and greets him. The following day, Tom mentions this encounter to the head bookkeeper, Walker, who suggests that Silas has always had something of a strangely close relationship with Zerrilla. They walk back to the warehouse, passing a dramatic scene in the street in which a woman rejects a drunk man.

Silas is keenly aware of his social status. When Tom joins his company, he makes sure not to treat the rich young man any differently than he treats his other employees. However, he cannot help but brag to the staff that someone from the Corey family is now working for him. Silas believes that Tom has natural business instincts, and he happily plans for a future with Tom as his son-in-law. Tom visits the site where the new Lapham home is being built. Tom talks to Silas but, once they have exhausted their usual topics of business, the construction of the house, and horses, they have little in common. When Tom talks to Irene, they discuss the books that might go in the new family library. They flirt with a wood shaving, which he gifts to her from the construction site.

When he talks to his family, Tom admits that the Laphams are not keen readers, but he insists that they are intelligent. He praises Silas as a shrewd and sensible man. Bromfield dismisses this appraisal, claiming that Silas and his family are uncivilized. Though he is critical of the Laphams, he plans a celebratory meal to mark the new business venture between Tom and Silas.

In this moment, Silas is at home wondering why his newfound bond with Tom has not resulted in a rush of social outreach. Perhaps unrealistically, he is insistent that his daughters have the same social status as someone like Tom. Meanwhile, Irene plots the next step in her romance with Tom. Her older sister Penelope suggests that she does not need to do anything.

Silas’s plans for the new house are becoming increasingly lavish and increasingly expensive. Persis complains that her husband is spending too much. When she mentions this, Silas reveals that he has made a good deal of money on the stock market in recent months. Persis warns him against being overconfident. One day, he returns home with good news. Much to Persis’s relief, Silas says that he has taken most of the remaining money that he set aside for the house and loaned it to Rogers. His former business partner has a new venture and needed investment. Persis talks about the budding romance between Tom and Irene. Their daughter has asked her parents (and, in particular, Silas) not to bring Tom home with him from work. Silas is too swept up in the possibility of marriage, however. Since Persis is happy with the news about Rogers, Silas ignores his daughter’s request and invites Tom to dinner with the family. Tom spends the night with the family. He talks with Irene and Penelope, leaving the house alone and laughing to himself that “she’s charming” (136).