In the novel Out of This Furnace, by Thomas Bell the lives of three generations of Slovak immigrants are expressed. The story starts out with the journey of George Kracha who not only deals with the struggle of getting to America, but also with the daily struggles of living in American. In this novel the lives of three men are expressed through their daily lives at work, with politics, and with family. George Kracha came to America in 1881 leaving his family behind. He was funded off of borrowed money that his brother in law had sent for him. Kracha was to take a ship and, once on the ship, take a train to hard-coal country in Pennsylvania. While Kracha was on the ship, he met Zuska and spent all but 55 cents of his money on her, and her party. Kracha had to face his first hardship in America and travel to hard-coal country by foot. His journey lasted nine days. Kracha had to ask policemen for directions and beg for food. Once Kracha …show more content…
It was workers stopping the work not the companies. There was no violence in this strike until July 6th this is when the company’s powerhouse whistle finally blew. Kracha had been awoken by this just like many others. Kracha continued to sleep. By the time he woke again the war was several hours old; at this time when he went and investigated. There was news that dozens had been killed and wounded (Bell). Andrej, then returned with the news that the war had ended. By this time ten men were dead, seven of them were steelworkers and sixty had been wounded (Bell). The union leaders had been arrested and charged. The men were notified that they had ten days to return to work. All the tenants of company houses that were not returning to work were given eviction notices. Over time Homestead mills went back into production. After the strike Kracha and his family moved to Braddock. His work changed once again, he still worked in factory but this time he produced raw
Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell was a captivating tale that follows three generations of Slovakian immigrants who venture to America in search of a better life within a new world full of great opportunity. The story allows the reader to follow along with the trials and tribulations of George Kracha’s family and the pursuit of the American dream during a time of turmoil in our history.
Out of This Furnace tells a impressive story of a multigenerational family of Slovakian immigrants who comes to the United States in search of a better life in the New World. The patriarch of the Slovak family was Djuro Kracha, who arrived in the New World in the mid-1880s from the "old country." The story tells of his voyage, his work on the railroad to earn enough money to afford the walk to the steel mills of Pennsylvania, his rejection by the larger mainstream community as a "hunkey," and the lives of his daughter and grandson. As the members of this family become more generally acculturated and even Americanized, they come to resent the cruel treatment and the discrimination they suffer.
During the Colorado Coal Strike from 1913 to 1914, one of the largest losses of life was the Ludlow Massacre, or sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ludlow, on April 20, 1914. Colorado was the epicenter for mine-related violence in the West. From 1913 to 1918, the United Mine Workers of America launched a full-scale unionization campaign by sending forty-two organizers to the Trinidad coal mine located in Ludlow, Colorado. Ludlow was the largest tent colony in Colorado and a major source of tension during the Colorado Coal Strike. Strikers were asking for better wages and pay for “dead work” (unpaid work necessary for maintaining workable conditions), an eight-hour workday, the right to elect their own checkweighmen, the right to choose what resources they buy and use, and the enforcement of the Colorado Mining Laws.
Thomas Bell, author of Out of This Furnace, grew up in the steel mill town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. His novel reflects the hardships faced by his family during the time when the mills ruled the area. The book also focuses upon the life of immigrant workers struggling to survive in the "new country." All events in Bell's novel are fictional, however, they create a very realistic plot and are based somewhat upon a true story. In this novel, Bell refutes capitalistic ideals and the lack of a republican form of government by showing the struggles and success of immigrant steelworkers.
... were left unprotected and abandoned by the unions. How is it that the unions can demand labors lose months of wages, be subject to labor blacklisting and ultimately sacrifice their lives without any protections for the strikers and still claim success? They can’t. If anything, the Pinkertons who dispersed the crowd did more to help the worker, by reopening the Homestead, than the union had done. Thus, the unions were an utter failure in furthering the position of the laborer, as the laborer was better off before hand. Before unions the laborer had their life, as many died in failed strikes, and their dignity, as society at least held an intrinsic value in their lives. However, unions succeeded in decimating any chance of advancement by tarnishing the reputations of all laborers, leading to a direct decline in the socio-economic position of the blue-collar worker.
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
The unions resorted to many forms of tactics such as boycotts, picketing, and the less prominent “closed shop”. The most prevalent of these methods, however, was the formation of riots. During the late 19th century riots included: the Haymarket Square Riots (1886), the Homestead Lockout, and the Pullman Car Company strike. The Haymarket Square Riots of 1886 took place at the McCormick plant in Chicago, Illinois in response to the worker’s need for an eight hour workday. The first two days were innate, but the third day was where the the situation actually instigated the cause. The owner of the plant, McCormick, attempted to bring strikebreakers (scabs), and a battle had begun between the scabs and the strikers. The riot, wistfully, ended the lives of four men when the police began to attempt to impede and halter the situation. These four deaths initiated a chain reaction resulting in the calling for the revenge of the four men by German radical Johann Most. Despite Johann’s reaction, 200 more Chicago policemen ordered the remaining strikers to leave the area. In the crowd, in the moment, a homemade bomb was hurled leading in the death of one policeman; acting as a predecessor of events, this event lead to a shooting between the policemen and the strikers concluding with the death of four workers and seven more policemen; entirely approximately one hundred people were injured. The Haymarket Riots caused public opinion to turn against labor. The Homestead Lockout took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant and was instigated by Henry Clay Frick’s wage cut. In this riot workers walked out of the company and then Frick ordered company doors to be locked and trapped the workers inside. Employees rebelled and caused about 200 Pinkerton detectives to come up the river to protect company property and created a battle.
Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating
against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some
The working class has served as an integral part of our capitalist society; as the building blocks, and producers of the goods that supply and support our country, the working class and working poor have faced many struggles to gain working rights. The histories of labor movements in the United States are often silenced from the mainstream culture; while we take our current union laws for granted, long forgotten are the bloody battles that took place to secure these rights. The ideological issues facing our modern day working class have shown to stem from the same socially constructed ideals that existed during past labor wars, such as the Colorado Coal Strike. The Coal Strike of 1913-1914 culminated in the Ludlow Massacre; this event showed how media coverage played off of cultural stereotypes of the working class and resulted in the raised consciousness among the strikers. The way the strike was presented to the public was shrouded in cultural symbology of poverty, and through these very symbols the strikers formed an identity of solidarity.
The Coal Strike of 1902 occurred as a result of many problems that were faced by miners. At the time of the coal strike there were 150,000 miners working in the mines (Grossman) Due to the depression of 1893, miners had their wages cut and were living in poverty (Grossman). Many miners were dissatisfied and looked to the United Mine Workers for support in raising their standard of living. This proved difficult since employers refused to recognize labor unions for fear of giving them significant control over the industry. In most instances of employee demands before 1902, employers would use government troops or hire immigrants to take the jobs of the strikers (David Kennedy).
In “Barn Burning” the setting is a time when people drove horse wagons and the workingmen were generally farmers. The major character in this story is Colonel Sartoris Snopes, called “Sarty” by his family who is a ten-year-old boy. In the beginning, Sarty is portrayed as a confused and frightened young boy. He is in despair over the burden of doing the right thing or sticking by his family, as his father states,” You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you.”
The society in the story must be altered so their culture can survive with its people like Lillian, who symbolically talks about herself to John;“The furnace may have some wear and tear, but the fire still burns hot.’ Her breath was now growing wheezy. ‘I bet you say that to all the old dying women” (Taylor 53). This represents that John is leaving his Indigenous Peoples’ ways for a more modern approach as Lillian passes on. She was vital to their way of life in the story. The furnace is a metaphor for Indigenous Peoples that suffered under the government due to the fact that Indigenous Peoples died in places like residential schools which is a loss in culture. This destruction of the unpreserve history prevents the community to celebrate their way of life therefore it is best to retain the history as soon as possible. Time severely impacts preservation, so it is in the community’s best interest to preserve their culture, so that their culture may
At the negotiations, AA leaders requested a wage increase. Frick countered with a proposal for a significant decrease and threatened to stop recognizing the union if it did not agree to the new terms, as Carnegie had authorized him to do. On June 29, 1892, the day before the end of the current contract, Frick locked out the Homestead workers. In protest, AA began a major organized strike, preventing the steel works from hiring replacement laborers and reopening. Carnegie and Frick requested assistance from local authorities, but they were ineffective in dispersing the
In the book, The Children’s Blizzard, David Laskin wrote the stories of immigrant families from Europe who, after coming to the United States with high hopes, experienced a heartbreaking blizzard in January 1888. The immigrants had staked their future on the land and instead of rewarding them for their commitment, the land brought them heartbreak. The blizzard led to different outcomes for different families, but the outcome largely included loss.