The Financier · Chapter
The Philadelphia into Which Frank Algernon Cowperwood Was Born explained
This chapter introduces Frank Algernon Cowperwood as a boy in Philadelphia around 1850.
What happens
This chapter introduces Frank Algernon Cowperwood as a boy in Philadelphia around 1850. It describes his father, Henry Worthington Cowperwood, a cautious bank clerk who rises to teller, and his mother, a religious homemaker. Frank is portrayed as a natural leader, curious about economics and politics, and indifferent to books. A key incident involves Frank observing a lobster kill a squid in a fish-market tank, which leads him to conclude that life is organized by creatures living on each other—a metaphor for his emerging worldview. The chapter establishes Frank's early ambition to enter banking.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Resilience
The lobster-squid struggle illustrates a brutal natural order where the stronger preys on the weaker, shaping Frank's understanding of life as a competitive struggle for survival.
Ambition and Success
Frank's early curiosity about banking and his father's cautious ambition to rise socially and financially set the stage for Frank's own drive for success.
Characters to notice
- Frank Algernon Cowperwood
Introduced as a ten-year-old boy, curious, observant, and a natural leader; fascinated by the lobster-squid struggle, he concludes that life is organized by creatures preying on each other.
- Henry Worthington Cowperwood
Frank's father, a bank clerk who becomes teller at Third National Bank; cautious, ambitious, and careful about social and financial appearances.
- Mrs. Henry W. Cowperwood
Frank's mother, a religious woman who takes maternal care of her three sons and one daughter; she is prim and matter-of-fact.
- Joseph Cowperwood
One of Frank's younger brothers; Frank rules him and Ed with a rod of iron.
- Edward Clark
Another younger brother of Frank; he and Joe are commanded by Frank.
Key passages
“The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was a city of two hundred and fifty thousand and more.”
Frank Cowperwood was born in Philadelphia when the city's population was over 250,000.
Establishes the setting and time period of Frank's birth.
“Frank Cowperwood, even at ten, was a natural-born leader.”
By age ten, Frank already showed natural leadership qualities.
Highlights Frank's early character and influence over his brothers.
“The incident made a great impression on him. It answered in a rough way that riddle which had been annoying him so much in the past: 'How is life organized?'”
The lobster killing the squid gave Frank a rough answer to his persistent question about how life is organized.
The lobster-squid event is pivotal for Frank's worldview.
“From seeing his father count money, he was sure that he would like banking; and Third Street, where his father's office was, seemed to him the cleanest, most fascinating street in the world.”
Watching his father handle money convinced Frank he wanted to go into banking, and he found Third Street fascinating.
Frank's early ambition to become a banker is established.