The second section of Out of This Furnace is about the life of Mike Dobrejcak, and his experiences at Carnegie’s Steel Mills. Mike Dobrejcak, an immigrant who assimilated into American culture through learning about American history and learning English, was a man who appreciated politics, and worked to keep his family alive. Dobrejcak married Mary Kratcha and had four children, which made it difficult to survive on his steel mill income. Like most steel mill workers during the early 1900s, Dobrejcak faced dangerous working conditions with little pay, he and his family had to take in boarders to be able to save money, and he eventually was met with the cruel reality of death that many faced. Therefore section two should be title “Debt, …show more content…
Although the steel industry was one of the most profitable businesses, many workers were not paid well. Mike was given only three turns a week at one point, in which as an unskilled laborer, he only earned 13.5 cents and hour (145). This poor payment and rise in costs left many workers, especially those with families struggling to survive. Mike and Mary needed new clothing and food, which cost them most of Mike’s paycheck. Mike even said, “I’m exactly where I was ten years ago,” demonstrating that the minimal amount of money that he had earned over the years had done nothing to improve his situation (146). Layoffs of steel workers was also common, which put many workers into a panic. The longer periods of time off, the more in debt the workers became (159). The steel mill was also facing some economic troubles, although not nearly as bad as many workers faced. The mill had to pay the workers with Clearinghouse scrip briefly because there was a shortage of cash (160). Mike had little saved causing him and Mary to go into debt with many people including the butcher, grocer, and landlord (182). The debt that Mike faced, along with many other laborers, makes debt being the first part of the title fitting. Mike and Mary found that the debt they were facing could be solved by taking in …show more content…
Hesitant at first, Mike did not want Mary to have to worrying about taking care of boarders, but their economic needs were too great (153). After deciding to take in boarders, Dorta gave Mary advice on how to treat them, “Don’t be afraid to yell at them. The more you yell the easier you make it for yourself,” (151). The boarders ended up offsetting many of the costs, even allowing Mike and Mary to go to a ball at Turner Hall (152). The life with boarders was hard work, but it made life for the Dobrejcak family easier economically. Still Mary was worked so hard that when she was having her fourth child they had to let the boarders go (177). Since the boarders played an important role in making Mike and Mary’s lives easier for a period of time, boarders also appropriately fits into the title. Since the mills were so dangerous, death, even for Mike, was expected in the mills at some
As time went on, the unemployment rate increased up to 25%. In “Firing Not Hiring”, it reads “By 1930, millions of people across the country were unemployed” (Hayes). These people were unemployed and could not find a stable job that could produce enough money for them. Many citizens had to come up with ways to earn money for themselves and for their families. Hayes states, “For the next few years men, women, and children were selling five-cent apples on street corner”.
At the beginning of the book Montage liked the fire. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with burning the books. When he and the other firefighters are burning the books he says, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (1). He is stating how he feels happy to destroy books.
They describe the ways in which the people come together to support each other during the hard times, and how they find new ways to make a living in the wake of the collapse of such a big industry. One of the things I found most important is the way they explore the relationships between work and identity of the people. They also argue that the steel industry was not just another source of jobs in the area, but a source of meaning and purpose for the people. When the industry started to go downhill, many people in the community had trouble finding a new sense of purpose and
Scraping By written by Seth Rockman is a powerful book that focuses on three points. First the book is richly researched on multiply account of poor, and unskilled laborers in the city of Baltimore. Baltimore at this time is an economic Atlantic port city powerhouse. Second Rockman exemplifies the labor history through race, gender, and class. By using this point of view Rockman has given us a unique look at the artisan labor in early America.
These shortages in jobs mean more and more families are having no source of income. Similarly, in Document 2 it stated: “In Harlan County, there were whole towns whose people had not a cent of income”. This caused a horrendous amount of problems like food shortages, no access to clean water, people getting evicted for not being able to pay rent and no health care. Jobs were so rare that men had to stand in public with signs that they need work as it shows in a picture in document seven. Men were so eager to get a stable income that if they couldn't some of them committed suicide because they couldn't provide for their
In preparation for this paper I chose to read Fire in the ashes: twenty five years among the poorest children in America by Jonathan Kozol. In this book Kozol has followed these children and their family’s lives for the past twenty five years. In his writing Kozol portrays a point of view most from his background and standing would not be capable of having. He portrays what life is like for those who have been let down by the system that was meant to protect them. Kozols writing style can be very blunt at times, not for shock value, but for the sake of portraying these children’s realities, and not sugarcoating the inequalities that they are faced with.
“Have I ever let you down?”(Walls) is a saying often used by Rex Walls in the book The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. As the author puts it, Rex does often let his family down by dragging them into poverty through his alcoholism. This created many problems for the Walls such as having a lack of food, dangerous people in their town, run down homes and buildings, and sickness. Though the Walls family was faced with many problems they often persevere, becoming closer to each other every time. One of the bigger problems the walls faced was poverty.
Kracha experienced first hand the harshness that working as a laborer in the Gilded Age entailed. While Kratcha was working on the railroad in White Haven he had to line and surface railroad tracks, repair railroad tracks that were already built, and fight fires, all while only being paid ten, or even sometimes nine, cents (21). This difficult, dangerous, and low paid work made it tough for Kracha to earn enough money to be prosperous. When Kracha, Andrej, and Dubik tried to achieve the American Dream in the Steel Mills they were faced with the many dangerous conditions. Hoping to make more money Kracha worked in two of Carnegie’s steel mills.
Porch. A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. This inanimate object served to develop various themes throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She reveals the theme of jealousy and envy, gender inequality and a sense of community with the help of the porch.
Proposal Yu Hu 胡宇 General Remarks For over thirty-five years after the Civil War, the United States of America entered into a period of fast reconstruction. During this time, there is a man called Andrew Carnegie who made a huge impact on America’s post-war recovery. He led an enormous expansion of American steel industry in the late 19th century.
Working at the factory provides Lyddie with a great deal of money, more than she has ever got before. If Lyddie had not gone to the factory she would have no money left. Before Lyddie worked at the factory she had a different job. She was a house maid and got paid little to no income at all, then when she went to the factory all of that changed. “ The pay reflected her proficiency, she was making almost $2.50 a week…” ( page 86 ).
In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary is the mother of the Walls children who often does not act as a true adult. Rose Mary’s attitudes and behaviours are childlike, and therefore her children must take on responsibility for the lack her own. Rose Mary ignores her obligations as a parent and chooses an irresponsible way of life which endangers her children. Rose Mary has never properly matured into adulthood due to her lack of financial stability, bliss ignorance and optimism, and her selfishness nature.
Describe one of the social issues presented in Nickel and Dimed. What is the author's point of view about this issue? What is your point of view? INTRODUCTION: [Hook] (a quote from outside the book about how hard menial jobs are and how hard it is to get enough money). [Introduce the book] Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickel and Dimed, can identify with the majority of people who struggle to pay off expensive rent bills with their low income.
The setting of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” reveals important aspects about the family in many ways. Without the enriched setting provided to the reader by Walker, this story would have had no foundation on which to be built. The first way Walker uses setting to let the reader get to know the family is through the detailed description provided to the reader about the family home in paragraph one. Walker describes the family’s front yard as being an “extended living room” (Walker 417)
His father had a business and received good income, making $5,000 a month. Often obtaining 5 to 6 jobs in total monthly. Their family is a prime example of how a mixed economy that is part capitalist can be damaging to someone 's livelihood. Quinney (1980, p. 1) claims that “the study of crime involves an investigation of such natural products and contradictions of capitalism as alienation, inequality, poverty, unemployment, spiritual