Disillusion Of The Protagonist's Upward Social Mobility In The Rise Of Silas Lapham

William Dean Howells(1837-1920)is a representative of realistic American literature.His masterpiece,The Rise of Silas Lapham(1885),narrates a story of the protagonist Silas Lapham's climbing to high society.In conformity with the social reality in the second half of nineteenth-century America,scholars in the West and China have discussed the themes of this novel,such as the significance of the accumulation and loss of the protagonist's wealth and the cultural distinction of different classes.However,the relationship between capital and upward social mobility needs further discussion.According to Pierre Bourdieu,economic capital and cultural capital govern individuals' life trajectories,and lack of cultural capital has a significant impact on social status.This thesis,in terms of Bourdieu's theory of capital,will examine the relationship between the protagonist's capital accumulation and his upward social mobility to reveal why the protagonist's upward social mobility eventually fails.The body of the thesis includes three chapters.The first chapter discusses Lapham's specific performance and the reasons for his pursuit of upward social mobility through the accumulation of economic capital and objectified cultural capital.It points out that Lapham's mineral-paint business' s success makes him gain economic capital for his pursuit of upward social mobility.However,because of his lack of cultural goods,there is a distinction between him and the upper class in objectified cultural capital,so he tries to cover up this distinction by purchasing books in the nicest binding to continue his pursuit.The second chapter explores the impact of Lapham's shortage of economic capital and embodied cultural capital on his upward social mobility.It argues that Lapham's excessive speculation makes him lose liquid capital and cannot get the chance of further upward social mobility through his economic capital.Simultaneously,Lapham and the upper class' s distinction in embodied cultural capital is revealed in his lack of cultural competence in literary reading and taste appreciation,which is the fundamental reason he cannot attainupward social mobility.The third chapter delves into the significant impact of Lapham's loss of economic capital and cultural capital on his upward social mobility.Lapham's failure of the mineral-paint business makes him lose economic capital that can be used in obtaining upward social mobility.Moreover,the burning of the new house,a symbol of the cultural goods with cultural value and elegant taste,makes it impossible for Lapham to cover up the distinction between him and the upper class in objectified cultural capital.It proclaims the complete disillusion of Lapham's dream of acquiring upward social mobility.To conclude,Lapham's pursuit of upward social mobility and his failure indicate that the rise of the capitalist market economy in the nineteenth century laid the foundation of economic capital for the upward social mobility of the middle and lower classes.Nevertheless,it was the cultural capital that fundamentally determined the success and failure of their upward social mobility.In this way,Howells expresses his thoughts on a series of problems caused by the capitalist market economy.He puts a particular emphasis on the importance of cultural capital in class mobility,which implies his expectations about the simultaneous development of economy and culture in American society.