Out of this Furnace essays

Out of this Furnace essays The book Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell expresses a story of the triumph of man over his place in society. It illustrates this point through the story of George Kracha and his offspring and their struggle to adjust to the world they had arrived in. Their new home was an unforgiving place. It was filled with ignorant people who were not tolerant of the new peoples coming to share their homeland. Thomas Bell, author of Out of This Furnace, grew up in the steel mill town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. He drew on many personal experiences to create a full picture of the environment in which the story takes place. This fictional portrayal of the steel mills is based on the true history of steel production over three generations beginning in 1881. Bell illustrates the lives of the steel workers and the conditions under which they live and work. Firstly, the living conditions in these mill towns were appalling for the steel workers. They lived their lives working as hard as they could, for someone else. In those days, as well as in these days, the very system of work and money was geared to keep lower class down and keep higher class up. This is called capitalism; the method of governing that allows unlimited accumulation of wealth and properties. In fact, this is a horrible way to govern the masses. Because of this premier principal of capitalism, it is possible to state that this system of government ifs faulty. The fault begins in the fact that not all classes are equal; the higher classes would have the lower classes believe that they live in the same station of life as them. When in fact, the very idea of capitalism is what draws the separation of the classes. It becomes a situation where the labor of the lower class keep the upper class afloat, yet the upper class holds all the power in voting and through other methods. . Bell portrays initial worker interest in forming these unions, yet the representatives had a ve...