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Part 1, Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Out of This Furnace, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Immigration and American Identity
Industrialization and Destruction
The American Dream vs. Reality
Women’s Work
Capital vs. Labor
Summary
Analysis
Kracha initially prospers, and while the multiple expenses he must pay are worrying, he is nonetheless glad to be out of the steel mill. Meanwhile, Elena becomes more ill and stops taking in boarders. Francka and Andrej welcome another baby boy, whom they name Andy. Shortly after the birth, Kracha and Francka’s sister, Borka, comes to America and moves in with Kracha to help Elena around the house.
While owning the butcher shop comes with its own challenges, Kracha prefers it to slaving away in the steel mill. Meanwhile, the progression of Elena’s health from bad to worse once again reveals the importance of family connections, as Borka is able to come to America and undertake the important housework that Elena would otherwise be unable to perform any longer.
Themes
Elena becomes sicker and cries frequently, frightening Mary. After she returns from the doctor, she proceeds to “withdraw more and more into herself.” Kracha makes only superficial efforts to comfort Elena, and occasionally feels “stirrings of pity for what life had done to her.” Ultimately, however, he chalks up her misery to the occasional erratic nature of women and largely excises her from his thoughts.
Kracha’s dismissive reaction to Elena’s misery exemplifies both his own selfish nature, as well as the readiness with which men in general dismiss the hardships which women in the steel towns (and elsewhere) endure.
Themes
