The novel's opening—the interview with Bartley Hubbard—enacts a kind of foreshadowing of the novel's plot. In the interview, Silas describes his ascent to wealth and notoriety, and Hubbard is cynical of his character and less than generous in his eventual portrayal of Silas. This cynicism and coldness on the public's part loosely foreshadows Silas' fall, which occurs at the behest of similarly cold businessmen and occurs just as swiftly as his climb.