The Growth trilogy, of which The Magnificent Ambersons is the second volume, is an extended investigation of what obsession for material gain has done to individuals, families, and the communities in which they live. James Sheridan, the hero of The Turmoil (1915) is a highly successful businessman and president of the Sheridan Pump Works. For him the smoke pouring from his company's stacks is proof positive of his prosperity.

He runs his family like a business corporation. Two sons are destroyed when forced by their father into the business.

The third son Bibbs, an aspiring poet, becomes a successful businessman when he sacrifices his poetry and rescues his father's company, making it more profitable than ever. Materialism triumphs over the impulse to create art.

The third volume of the trilogy, The Midlander (l923), features a reformer, Dan Oliphant, who fights to have decent housing built for working...