Under the current time constraints, I am afraid I will not be able
to impose any sort of order on The Rise
of Silas Lapham.
There are still a few bones to pick with Bromfield Corey and the
Corey family order of business (or lack of business). Bromfield is not characteristic of the Corey
family tradition. This is something we
discussed in class, but I have to wonder why he is insistent upon this idle
life for himself and his family, and for Tom specifically. It is perfectly understandable for the two Corey
sisters to live a more “idle” life. To define
“idle” as I understand it in this context:
leisurely and comfortable, and frankly it makes me think of a realism
version of the contemplative life. I
digress. As aristocratic women,
Bromfield’s daughters would not be expected to undertake any role in business,
for their only business is to marry well. But Tom…Tom is stepping up to the plate for
the Coreys again—and yet, Bromfield seems confused as to why Tom should want to. I do
not have the answer for why this is
so unappealing to Bromfield, but I am left with many questions. First, why did Bromfield break the line of working
with his hands? We cannot count his art
and portraits because his nobility forbids the selling of it. Secondly, why is he so keen on Tom not
working and remaining in comfortable leisure?
But above all I am wondering why
Howells chooses this for his Coreys, this pause
in the succession, only for it to pick back up with Tom. My understanding of functional aristocracy is
limited as I myself am a middle-class American; therefore, I comprehend it only
in theory with no experiential understanding.
There seems to be an odd parallel between the two families of Corey
and Lapham. Silas Lapham, like Bromfield
Corey, breaks through the typical of his fine heritage when he breaks into the
business world with his father’s mineral paint/unfulfilled dream. On paper, the two families are not extremely
different. What makes them different is
the Coreys’ long line of successful ventures probably beginning before they
ever arrived in America, whereas Lapham is only getting started for his family
(and he is off to a rocky start at that).
More than anything, the novel shows that things are not always so
picturesque. It touches the jagged edge
of life where romance has no place. The
world is rarely as we think it should be, and often less exciting. Sometimes the fabric tears and begins to
fray; sometimes the paprika is chili powder; and sometimes no matter how hard
we try to force them together, maybe one piece belongs to a different puzzle.
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