Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Johnny Tremain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Pride vs. Humility
Patriotism and the Revolutionary War
Violence
Moral Integrity and Class
Summary
Analysis
1. The gulls are the first to wake as the sun rises in Boston. When the church bells ring, hundreds of sleepy women wake their households. In a little house on Fish Street, Mrs. Lapham stands at the bottom of the attic ladder, shouting for Johnny to get Dove and Dusty up. The three boys are apprenticed to Mr. Lapham, Mrs. Lapham’s elderly father in law—and though Johnny is 14, two years younger than Dove, he rules almost the entire house. Dove resents Johnny for this and so hits him, pretending it’s an accident. As the older boys fight, 11-year-old Dusty watches: he worships Johnny and doesn’t like Dove, but he and Dove both resent how Johnny lords over them. Secretly, Dove admires Johnny too. The boys could be friends, if Johnny wanted—but Johnny prefers to bully Dove.
From the very beginning, it’s clear that Johnny has great power in the Lapham house. He, not Mrs. Lapham, is the one to whip the other apprentices into shape—but he’s not a kind leader. Indeed, he's cruel and a bully to Dove and Dusty, though both desperately want Johnny’s approval. For now, it’s unclear exactly why or how Johnny has so much power. Meanwhile, the scene-setting establishes that the Laphams, in their “little” house and as silversmiths, are members of the artisan class—that is, they’re lower-middle class.
Themes
Johnny leads the way down the ladder. Mr. Lapham is still in his bedroom reading the Bible, and in the other bedroom, Mrs. Lapham’s daughter Cilla is brushing little Isannah’s hair. As they do every morning, Cilla and Isannah insult Johnny as he heads to the kitchen, where Mrs. Lapham is hard at work with her two older daughters, Madge and Dorcas. It was decided long ago that in a few years, Johnny will be a great silversmith, marry Cilla (who’s “spindly” but better than Madge or Dorcas), and inherit Mr. Lapham’s silver business. Beautiful Isannah, on the other hand, is considered not worth the trouble to raise, as she’s sickly. Cilla takes on most of the trouble of caring for Isannah.
Though Johnny, Cilla, and Isannah seem to have a well-practiced routine as the girls insult him, Johnny still doesn’t think very highly of Cilla or of Isannah. Rather, the girls are annoyances, and the novel frames Johnny’s future marriage to Cilla as something of a consolation prize rather than a genuine good thing. Keep in mind that at this time, child mortality rates were much higher than they are now, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected that sickly children like Isannah might die. However, the Laphams’ cold disregard for Isannah is nevertheless shocking.
Themes
Downstairs, Johnny tells Dove and Dusty to get to work and then unlocks the silver shop himself. As he picks up his tools, he thinks of Mr. Lapham warning him to thank God for making him such a skilled artisan, rather than lording his good fortune over the other boys. Johnny doesn’t let such warnings bother him, though. Instead, when Dove returns with water, Johnny tells him to remake a spoon he made incorrectly yesterday. Just as Dove gets down a crucible to melt the spoon, Isannah floats in to announce that breakfast is ready.
Finally, the novel reveals why Johnny has so much power: he’s already a skilled silversmith, despite still being an apprentice. However, it’s also clear that Johnny has let all this praise go to his head, since he disregards Mr. Lapham’s warnings to be kind and generous to those who aren’t as talented. Indeed, Johnny seems to enjoy lording his power over the other apprentices, particularly Dove.
Themes
2. Elderly Mr. Lapham sits at the head of the table at breakfast. When the meal is over, he asks Johnny to read from the Bible; he usually picks verses that try to teach the reader something about their character. Cilla desperately wants to learn to read, so she follows along with Johnny’s finger. Mr. Lapham has Johnny read two verses from Proverbs: “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” and “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” His ears burning, Johnny explains that God doesn’t like pride and probably wouldn’t like him. Mr. Lapham tells Johnny to swear to be humble and modest, and to stop making Dusty and Dove feel bad for being less intelligent. Johnny is incensed.
In addition to teaching Johnny to work silver, Mr. Lapham also takes a keen interest in his apprentices’ moral development. Here, he tries to get Johnny to see the error of his ways and encourage Johnny to be kinder to Dove and Dusty. But though Johnny definitely understands what Mr. Lapham is getting at, he feels angry rather than ashamed. This suggests that Johnny doesn’t really see a problem with his behavior. At this point, he’s unwilling to change because there are few consequences for behaving the way he does (aside from Mr. Lapham’s humiliation).
Themes
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3. Though Johnny tries to be humble, he fails miserably. This is in part because while Mr. Lapham is a fine silversmith, he never writes down orders or listens to customers’ requests—so Johnny has to do it, and then he has to tell Mr. Lapham what must happen. So, after setting everyone (even Mr. Lapham) their tasks, Johnny checks the coal stores. He does tidy some spilled coal himself, but he loses himself in dreams of being a master silversmith. Madge and Dorcas interrupt his reverie with news: Mr. Hancock is ordering a sugar basin, and Mr. Lapham will get it wrong if Johnny doesn’t hurry to write the order down. Feeling full of himself, Johnny scolds Mr. Hancock’s enslaved boy, Jehu, not to let the horse and carriage trample the Laphams’ nonexistent flowers. Johnny slips into the shop.
Though Mr. Lapham is trying to rein in Johnny’s pride, this passage reveals that he’s also a big reason why Johnny is so prideful to begin with—he’s not very good at managing his shop, and Johnny has to step in where his master falls short. However, it’s also clear that Johnny was likely prideful before he got all this extra power; he’d perhaps be like this no matter what. Further, that Johnny scolds Jehu highlights just how power-hungry Johnny is. Jehu is enslaved, so he has no power to argue with Johnny and defend himself. Johnny is picking on someone who can’t fight back at all, just to make himself feel better.
Themes
Mr. Hancock is the richest man in New England; he owns Hancock’s wharf and even the Laphams’ house. His patronage could lift the Laphams out of poverty, and Johnny knows this. Johnny fetches a notebook and pencil, hisses to Dove and Dusty to look busy, and then focuses on recording Mr. Hancock’s requirements. Mr. Lapham doesn’t acknowledge when Mr. Hancock pulls out the cream pitcher that the new sugar basin should match. It’s old-fashioned, but beautiful. The handles are winged women, and it will be Johnny’s job to sculpt and cast two matching ones. Without thinking, Johnny asks if John Coney made this piece. But when he looks at the maker’s mark, it’s Mr. Lapham’s. Johnny had no idea his master could make such beautiful pieces.
Mr. Hancock’s order is a huge deal for the Laphams. The novel reveals that the Laphams are actually closer to lower-middle class, so the money Mr. Hancock could pay for this project would be hugely beneficial. Still, Johnny continues to take things very seriously and overstep his station, as when he tells Dove and Dusty to look busy. When Johnny is shocked to discover that Mr. Lapham could make such a beautiful piece, it also suggests that Johnny doesn’t think highly of his master, either. It may only be that Mr. Lapham is Johnny’s master that keeps Johnny from being even ruder to him.
Themes
The men reminisce about Mr. Lapham making the original set 40 years ago, and then Mr. Hancock asks if Mr. Lapham can have the sugar basin done by Monday. Mr. Lapham starts to refuse, but seeing Mrs. Lapham peeking into the shop excitedly, Johnny interjects and tells Mr. Hancock they can get it done. Secretly, Mr. Lapham is grateful that Johnny stepped in. A minute after Mr. Hancock leaves, Jehu enters the shop with coins for the apprentices. Mr. Lapham mutters that Mr. Hancock just wants the boys to vote for him when they’re adults. He never votes for Mr. Hancock; Mr. Hancock is too busy conspiring with Sam Adams to stir up trouble with England and doesn’t read his Bible enough.
It seems as though Mrs. Lapham is running the show at the Lapham house, along with Johnny: together, they keep things running smoothly and force everyone else to obey their orders. For now, this keeps things moving along, but this also creates tension: things can’t continue like this forever, especially since the Bible verses Johnny read earlier foreshadow that Johnny might experience a “fall.” This is the novel’s first mention of politics, which highlights that the Laphams (and Johnny) are pretty apolitical.
Themes
4. It’s oppressively hot by midday. Mr. Lapham spent the morning working but now, he’s napping. Without him around, Dove and Dusty have gone swimming. Johnny is hard at work on an enlarged version of the pitcher handle. He goes to dinner late; everyone knows Mr. Lapham’s success on Mr. Hancock’s order depends on Johnny, so Johnny can be late if he wants. Cilla serves him and then returns to her drawing slate. She and Isannah announce that she’s drawing a maker’s mark for when Johnny is a master smith. Johnny scoffs at Cilla’s work and says that when he’s a master smith, he’s going to use all three of his initials. Cilla has never met someone with three names and seems impressed, but Johnny won’t share what his middle name is.
Again, Mr. Lapham doesn’t seem like the most dedicated master: he sleeps and allows his apprentices to goof off. Johnny though, to his credit, is fully engrossed in this task—but he continues to use his importance for his benefit and lord his power over others. His attitude toward Cilla also remains cold and mean; she’s trying to do something nice for him, and he rejects her work out of hand. At this time, it wasn’t common for working-class people to have middle names; only wealthy people had them. This implies that Johnny may have ties to the upper classes, despite being a member of the artisan class.
Themes
5. Johnny goes to bed late, having made an exact replica of the winged woman. Still, it’s not right. He decides to sleep on an old mattress in the kitchen, but in the middle of the night, Cilla wakes Johnny up. Isannah is threatening to vomit if she doesn’t get some air, so Cilla asks Johnny to help her get down to the wharf. Grumbling, Johnny picks up the little girl and carries her to the end of the wharf. There’s a delightful breeze there, and the three sit and enjoy it. After a while, Isannah puts her head in Cilla’s lap, and Cilla leans on Johnny’s shoulder.
Though Johnny has been mean to Cilla before, at night, he seems far more willing to humor and support her. Their daytime antics, then, may simply be for show—right now, after all, nobody is watching them. That Cilla is even willing to lean on Johnny’s shoulder (and that he allows it) highlights that they may be closer than they’d like people to think they are.
Themes
When Cilla asks, Johnny reveals his middle name: Lyte. He suspects he’s related to wealthy Merchant Lyte (they also share the same first name), but he’s not sure. To entertain Isannah, Johnny tells her about how wildly rich the Lytes are: they drink pearls and servants sweep up silver and gold. Then, Johnny tells Cilla about his mother, who died a week before Johnny was apprenticed to Mr. Lapham. He adored his mother, and she wanted Johnny to work hard and be something. She was born Lavinia Lyte, and she told Johnny never to approach the Lytes unless he has nothing left. In that case, Johnny is to show Merchant Lyte his cup and beg for help. It’s now almost dawn, and Johnny promises to show Cilla his cup when they get back home.
Johnny may well have ties to the upper classes, as evidenced by having a middle name at all and this middle name in particular. He talks about the wealthy Lytes to entertain Cilla, but his tales also highlight how differently the upper and working classes live. Johnny and Mr. Lapham no doubt save any extra silver to reuse; sweeping it up and throwing it away is simply unthinkable for someone in their economic situation. That Johnny’s mother gave him this silver cup is an insurance policy for Johnny: he can get help from the Lytes, but it’s also a valuable item that he could sell if needed.
Themes
6. After putting Isannah to bed, Johnny grabs his cup out of his chest in the attic. The silver cup is what inspired him to be a silversmith, but now, he’s critical of the chunky cup. It’s engraved with the Lytes’ crest, an eye rising out of the sea, the eyelashes like rays of the sun. The Lytes put it on everything. Cilla is in awe. She reads the family motto—“Let there be Lyte”—just as the sun comes up, but she ruins the magical moment by suggesting that the eye might be setting, not rising.
That Johnny is already so critical of his cup foreshadows his future disillusionment with the Lyte family—they might be nice in theory to have as family members, but like the cup, they might also be unwieldy and hard to manage.
Themes
