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Rebecca harding davis life in the iron mills analysis of theme
Human nature and money essay
Human nature and money essay
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Rebecca Harding Davis wrote “Life in the Iron Mills” in the mid-nineteenth century in part to raise awareness about working conditions in industrial mills. With the goal of presenting the reality of the mills’ environment and the lives of the mill workers, Davis employs vivid and concrete descriptions of the mills, the workers’ homes, and the workers themselves. Yet her story’s realism is not objective; Davis has a reformer’s agenda, and her word-pictures are colored accordingly. One theme that receives a particularly negative shading in the story is big business and the money associated with it. Davis uses this negative portrayal of money to emphasize the damage that the single-minded pursuit of wealth works upon the humanity of those who desire it.
The story of “Life in the Iron Mills” enters around Hugh Wolfe, a mill hand whose difference from his faceless, machine-like colleagues is established even before Hugh himself makes an appearance. The main narrative begins, not with Hugh, but with his cousin Deborah; the third-person point of view allows the reader to see Deborah in an apparently objective light as she stumbles tiredly home from work in the cotton mills at eleven at night. The description of this woman reveals that she does not drink as her fellow cotton pickers do, and conjectures that “perhaps the weak, flaccid wretch had some stimulant in her pale life to keep her up, some love or hope, it might be, or urgent need” (5). Deborah is described as “flaccid,” a word that connotes both limpness and impotence, suggesting that she is not only worn out, but also powerless to change her situation; meanwhile, her life is “pale” and without the vivid moments we all desire. Yet even this “wretch” has something to sti...
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...y as “the root of all evil” would be too simplistic; what she suggests, rather, is that the distribution of wealth in mid-nineteenth-century America was uneven, and that those with money did little to effectively aid the workers whose exploitation made them rich in the first place. In her portrayals of Mitchell and the “Christian reformer” whose sermon Hugh hears (24), she even suggests that reformers, often wealthy themselves, have no useful perspective on the social ills they desire to reform. Money, she seems to suggest, provides for the rich a numbing comfort that distances them from the sufferings of laborers like Hugh: like Kirby, they see such laborers as necessary cogs in the economic machinery, rather than as fellow human beings whose human desires for the comfort, beauty, and kindness that money promises may drive them to destroy their own humanity.
The era that marked the end of civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century in the united states of America was coupled with enormous economic and industrial developments that attracted diverse views and different arguments on what exactly acquisition of wealth implied on the social classes in the society. It was during this time that the Marxist and those who embraced his ideologies came out strongly to argue their position on what industrial revolution should imply in an economic world like America. In fact, there was a rapid rise in the gross national product of the United States between 1874 and 1883. This actually sparked remarkable consequences on the political, social and economic impacts. In fact, the social rejoinder to industrialization had extensive consequences on the American society. This led to the emergence of social reform movements to discourse on the needs of the industrialized society. Various theories were developed to rationalize the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Various reformers like Andrew Carnegie, Henry George and William Graham Sumner perceived the view on the obligation of the wealthy differently. This paper seeks to address on the different views held by these prominent people during this time of historical transformations.
Industrial development of the late 18th century (around 1865-1900) is often characterized by it’s affluent, aggressive and monopolistic industrial leaders of the likes of men such as Andrew Carnegie, William H. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Due to their ruthless strategies, utilization of trusts, and exploitation of cheap labor in order to garner nearly unbreakable monopolies and massive sums of wealth, these men are often labelled as “robber barons”. At the same time, they are also often referred to as “industrial statements” for their organization, and catalyst of, industrial development; not to forget their generous contributions to the betterment of American society. Therefore, whether or not their aforementioned advances in industry were undertaken for their own personal benefits, one cannot ignore their positive effects on America. Thus, one can conclude that not only were the captains of industry both “robber barons” and “industrial statements”, but that that these two labels, in fact, go hand-in-hand.
The document I chose was Document 19-1 titled ‘A Textile Worker Explains the Labor Market’. This document is the testimony of Thomas O’Donnell given before the U.S. Senate Committee on Relations between Labor and Capital in the year 1885. O’Donnell speaks about what it’s like to be a labor worker in the 1880s to a committee so they could better understand the relationship between labor and capital. The Gilded Age saw the rise of industrialism and great economic growth in the United States. But true to its title, the Gilded Age was only plated with gold but inward filled with corruption and poverty. What meant great success for some, meant lack of job security and financial hardship for the working class Americans. This document really depicts what it’s like being on the working end of these companies seeking to industrialize.
In 1822, a group of Boston merchants and traders began their campaign to transform a riverbank below the thirty-foot falls of the Merrimack River into "the greatest textile manufacturing establishment in the country." These capitalists dug and improved the Merrimack canal, constructed machine shops, and built housing for mill executives, foremen and operatives. The cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, and other New England sites began to employ the first female industrial labor force in the United States. Almost twenty years later, factory workers wrote and edited the Lowell Offering, a literary magazine showcasing the virtues and talents of the female operatives in verse, essays and short fiction (Eisler, 13-22).
It depicts how industrialization influenced the redefinition of the roles of American women within the larger society, alcohol use, and the rise of the middle class. The author seeks to enlighten the reader about the social stratification of that era; in addition, he makes reading history easy and enjoyable by writing in clear and lively prose. As a practitioner of micro-history, Johnson provides a window onto the early 19th century; in particular, the life of the American working class during that era. Since there is no much history on Sam Patch, Johnson uses his life to building an accessible and enjoyable narrative. The book served as a broader story to the rise of wage labor; the author explored the lives of entertainers, local politicians, and entrepreneurs. These aspects are developed throughout the book illustrating how it was now possible to rise to fame as a middle-class
It is not difficult to observe Gaskell’s use of contrast in showing the stark differences between those who own the mill and those who work there. By highlighting one man’s life that is full of extravagant houses in addition to the freedom to buy whatever he so desires and following such a description with one of a man fighting just to feed his family, the author blatantly
Though producing iron ore may not immediately evoke thoughts of sexual exploitation, the two may be tied more closely when considered in tandem. In Rebecca Harding Davis’ Life in the Iron Mills, nuanced language laced with sexual connotations foregrounds the exploitive nature of capitalism.
“He had already lost the strength and instinct vigor of a man, his muscles were thin, his nerves weak, his face (a meek, woman’s face) haggard, yellow with consumption” (Davis 11). This is just one description of the main character, Hugh Wolfe in the story “Life in the Iron Mills” by Rebecca Harding Davis that alludes to his femininity which was a characteristic that made him unfit to perform the roles that were expected of men during the time period in which this story was written. Throughout the short story, Davis illustrates several social issues related to inequality, which left many contemporary readers shocked and critical. The intertwined gender roles and contentious portrait of the division of the working class and upper class are a
Accurately established by many historians, the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America were regarded as corrupt “robber barons”. In a society in which there was a severe imbalance in the dynamics of the economy, these selfish individuals viewed this as an opportunity to advance in their financial status. Thus, they acquired fortunes for themselves while purposely overseeing the struggles of the people around them. Presented in Document A, “as liveried carriage appear; so do barefooted children”, proved to be a true description of life during the 19th century. In hopes of rebuilding America, the capitalists’ hunger for wealth only widened the gap between the rich and poor.
They say that money is the root of all evil, or more specifically that the love of money is the root of all evil. This statement proves itself true in today’s capitalistic society in which money is power. Some people believe that money can and will buy their happiness, so they tend to condone foul behavior and do whatever it takes to obtain money. Sometimes money provides temporary happiness or satisfaction, but it does not breed pure happiness which stems from love. In “The Gilded Six-Bits”, Zora Hurston puts Joe and Missie May’s relationship to the test, using money as a distraction, to prove that love is the driving force to happiness, not money and fortune.
Wealth has both a good and a bad side. It can change the life of a person for the better or worse, and that is clearly shown in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Wealth affects the lives of the characters of Their Eyes Were Watching God very differently than the characters of The Great Gatsby. Janie’s wealth came about, mainly, from her failed relationships.
Mrs. Warren’s profession, written by Mr. George Bernard Shaw, shows the world how women are being exploited through capitalism. The characters, stage, and themes make this an enjoyable play with a deep-rooted message. For example, during the 1800’s women could be employed as factory workers, bar maids, and prostitutes. Many opportunities afforded men were taboo for women. Men were able to attend college take the challenging subjects and get a degree. However, women could go to college, but would be denied the diploma and the classes needed to be competitive in the business world. There were three themes: exploiting women, greed, and Mrs. Warren’s drive to provide for her daughter and shelter her for the truth.
“Money is the root of all evil”(Levit). Man and his love of money has destroyed lives since the beginning of time. Men have fought in wars over money, given up family relationships for money and done things they would have never thought that they would be capable of doing because of money. In the movie, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the author demonstrates how the love and worship of money and all of the trappings that come with it can destroy lives. In the novel Jay Gatsby has lavish parties, wears expensive gaudy clothes, drives fancy cars and tries to show his former love how important and wealthy he has become. He believes a lie, that by achieving the status that most Americans, in th...
Life In The Iron Mills is a dark tale of oppression in the beginnings of the Industrial Era and through its dual protagonists, Hugh and Deborah Wolfe shows how dominated by masculinity
The meaning that could be made in “I Stand Here Ironing” through a Marxist lenses is that financial crises diminish an individual's status and growth in society. The story took place during the Great Depression where poverty was high and finding work was difficult, especially for a women. The narrator was a single mother with a lower class social standing because of the economic crisis. It was difficult for a single women to hold a job and balance time with her family. Therefore, her daughter, Emily, was affected internally and externally because of her mother’s financial difficulties. Emily loathed the caregivers she was handed to, but never rebelled against it. She was constantly sick and never had an appetite which made her incredibly thin.