Literary Annotation #3

Dooley, Patrick. "Nineteenth Century Business Ethics and the Rise of Silas Lapham." Journals.ku.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.

In Patrick Dooley’s Nineteenth Century Business Ethics and The Rise of Silas Lapham, he argues that Howells goal in writing “The Rise of Silas Lapham” was to educate readers on the sense of morality. He was “attempting to change theory in novel writing and ethical practices in business.” This idea did not go over well with the early Boston readers who could identify the love story plot ignoring what Dooley calls the “bankruptcy plot,” unable to find any moral lesson. Howell attributes this to reviewers being strictly Bostonian men. Dooley states that the early readers lacked awareness of the changing morality. They were not able to link business with ethics and found the plot to be simply financial instead of a rise in morality. Howells teaches about a necessary ethics in business practice and the affect upon a person’s sense of moral ideals. He set out to change the way the stubborn Boston men and modern readers views upon business practices.