The Lyte cup symbolizes wealth and social status. The silver cup is engraved with the Lyte crest, “an eye rising up from the sea,” and the family motto, “Let there be Lyte” (26). When Johnny was a young child, he considered the cup “the most beautiful thing in the world” (26). The cup is meant to be Johnny’s key to a bright future, but instead it brings darkness and danger. The contrast between the object’s beauty and its dire effects on Johnny’s life parallels the outwardly elegant but inwardly corrupt Lyte family. When Johnny was a young boy, the Lyte cup sparked his desire to become a silversmith. During his time as an apprentice with the Laphams, he wants to become a master craftsman so he can acquire wealth and rank, the very things that the cup represents.

After his prideful accident, Johnny still dreams of riches and status, but his vision of the future shifts to a life of ease among the Lytes. In Chapter 4, he imagines showing the cup to Mr. Lyte and being welcomed into the family. He pictures himself using his newfound wealth to lavish gifts on Cilla and his former master while the rest of the Laphams receive “not one thing” (75).