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Example research essay topic: Second Part 12 Hours - 1,082 words

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Lives of Mike and Mary in "Out of this Furnace" Thomas Bells Out of this Furnace is a very fine example of so-called socialist literature, which used to be popular in America, prior to the outbreak of Second World War. Young people were being attracted to Socialism because of its idealistic properties. Out of this Furnace is actually a propaganda piece, concerns for workers lot here is nothing but a mean of winning more people for the Socialist cause. Nevertheless, it realistically describes the American social realities at the turn of the century. Out of this Furnace is an epic story of three generations of Slovak immigrants. Djuro Kracha comes to America, just like so many other highly adventurous but uneducated romantics that were willing to sacrifice everything, in order to try its luck with winning American dream.

The reality proved to be much harsher then he could ever think of. At the beginning, he works in railway industry but then decides to follow one of his friends to Homestead, where he gets hired to work at the steel mill. Kracha's health begins to deteriorate rapidly, since hes required to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a days, while constantly inhaling harmful fumes from blast furnaces. Being unable to succeed economically, because of these impossible odds, Kracha finds himself indulged in drinking and finally dies, leaving behind an extended family without the provider a typical conclusion of many new immigrants high hopes. The second part of the novel is the story of Michael Dobrejcak, who marries one of Kracha's daughters Mary. There are so many similarities between him and Kracha that it appears to be only matter of time, before he would end up like his father in law.

Yet, the action takes place in different America unions begin to gain political influence. Being able to speak fluent English, Michael gradually gets to be aware of his basic human rights and it prompts him to become one of mills most prominent union members. Although, still being unable to provide decent living to his family, Dobrejcak never losses his optimism. The most important difference between him and Kracha is that he joins other workers in their never-ending struggle for the fair wages and better working conditions.

This doesnt bring any immediate results, but even while being poor and miserable, Michael never lets go of his self-respect. There is also a third part in Bell's book, but it is not essential for our understanding of what were the reasons for Michael and Mary for never being able to gain any social prominence. It has to be said that in Bells book, the plot revolves around many issues that have lost its actuality in modern times, since we live in post-modern society. The role of heavy industry in American economy now becomes increasingly less important. People are no longer required to work 12 hours a day. Yet, it is crucial that we pay tribute to those many European immigrants, whose industriousness and hard work enabled America to become the most powerful country in the world, within a few decades, after they started to arrive here in big numbers, at the turn of twentieth century.

In my view, a few different factors played role in preventing Michael and Mary from escaping from their poverty, even though they worked hard, throughout their lives. The most important of them is, of course, the fact that the social movement in America, at the time, was only starting to gain momentum. They lived in time, when capitalism was in its wild stage of development. The concept of worker's rights was literally non-existent. That's why Mike and Mary were being put in position of squirrel on the spinning wheel. The harder they tried to save money, the more miserable they would become.

It is no wonder why the Socialist sentiment was becoming increasingly popular in America, during twenties and thirties of the last century. But I doubt that the unions would be able to accomplish much, if it was not up to the threat of Communism. Therefore, the portrayal of Socialist activism in America by Thomas Bell is a bit inaccurate, as he suggest the it is the social struggle of people like Mike alone, was able to improve the status of working men in this country. Also, despite the fact that Mike and Mary are both hardworking individuals, they clearly lack imagination, which could help them to get out of the cursed circle of poverty. It seems like they were chained up the the factory, where they worked, without trying to find a better job. They simply did not posses the adventurism, which allowed many people in this country to become a millionaires, even though that they also used to be poor and miserable, at the beginning of their career.

Mike could not find anything better to do, as the way to respond to the cruel reality, than drinking himself into the oblivion, every day after work. The history shows that even people, whose adventurism had never brought them any riches, were still able to live the bright and colorful life, like Jack London. Yet, Mike and Mary appear to be totally deprived of certain qualities that would make the tragic story of their lives interesting to read. It seems like all they were concerned about was to make more money, so that they could give more food to their children and if possible, to make even more children.

Despite all the injustices of early capitalism in America, I personally find it very hard to feel sympathetic to Mike and Mary. It is highly unlikely that they would be able to start enjoying the life to the fullest, even if their immediate needs of food and shelter were being fully satisfied. This is because the both characters' intellectual horizons are extremely limited. They are basically, more robots than humans and I don't necessarily think that this is the result of social circumstances. There are many lowlifes in contemporary America, who flip burgers, throughout their lives, while complaining about the social unfairness.

What is their excuse for being poor and miserable? In my opinion, it is Mike's and Mary's hypertrophied attachment to, so called family values, which was the main reason behind their inability to alter the surrounding reality for better. The only reason why reader has the dubious pleasure of reading about their lives, is because Bell needed to link the first and the second part of his book.


Free research essays on topics related to: mike, second part, miserable, michael, 12 hours

Research essay sample on Second Part 12 Hours

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