The "Financier" is a novel by the American writer Theodore Dreiser, published in 1912, the first in the "Trilogy of Desire" cycle (the second and third novels in this cycle are "Titan" and "Stoic"). The protagonist of the trilogy is Frank Cowperwood. It is based on the life story of the American millionaire Charles Yerkes (1837-1905).
"A real person - a financier - cannot be an instrument in the hands of another. He uses it himself. He creates. He is in charge." - Theodore Dreiser, The Financier
Dreiser shows how the financial and economic environment surrounding Cowperwood, from childhood, forms in him the psychology of a merchant and a stock dealer, for whom all means are good if they help to achieve power and wealth. Starting with small stock speculation, Cowperwood gradually acquires a fortune, bribes city officials, and illegally acquires city concessions in Philadelphia. In the novel "Titan», Dreiser unfolds Cowperwood's life in Chicago, where the cycle of his activities in Philadelphia repeats on an expanded base (development in a spiral).
"The Trilogy of Desire" is a significant work of 20th century American and European literature. Dreiser draws the life and customs of the financial environment, the approach of big business to society and its political lack of sentimentality.
"In The Trilogy of Desire", Dreiser reveals Cowperwood's harsh, predatory nature, but at the same time admires this speculator: Dreiser is attracted to this brave financial giant. One of the important functions of Cowperwood's image in The Financier is to present in a concentrated and open form the absence of ethical sentimentality, moral principle, which to one degree or another is inherent in all the financial aces of Philadelphia cited in the novel (Butler, Mollenhauer and Simpson).
Dreiser's main character is, of course, a great personality. He managed to go against the whole world and survived. He was admired, respected, feared and hated. Strong and cynical Cowperwood throughout the novel fought for his ideas, ambition and happiness, albeit in sometimes dubious ways.
I liked watching the development of a person who imagines himself to be a god in the financial industry, the logic of his cynical thoughts and actions, the various reactions of others to his actions (sorry only for the people who suffered from his behavior, first of all, the parents); I liked the descriptions of financial transactions, litigation and prison life with all the associated manifestations of a human character. It is completely unlike the current realities and I definitely would not like to meet personally with any of the above, but the more interesting it was to read.
You can buy «The Financier» online here.
This article was sponsored by Ryan Collins.
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