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Part 2, Chapter 1
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
Mike, unlike his friend Steve Bodnar, is still single, but he begins to fall in love with Mary. In the summer of 1901, Mary continues to work for the Dexter family. She begins traveling with them on summer holidays away from Braddock. That summer, Andrew Carnegie also sells his company to J.P. Morgan, forming the United States Steel corporation. The new company fires several men in Homestead and Duquesne over union organizing, sending a message that “it planned no innovations in the steel masters' tradition of dealing with labor.” A local girl named Anna Kovac begins spreading rumors that Mike wants to go steady with her; Mike is interested but noncommittal. That September, Mary returns from her work trip with the Dexters. Mike observes her sitting in Dorta’s kitchen and comments that she looks good in a summer dress. They discuss her summer by the ocean with the Dexters.
While Mike begins his courtship of Mary, the power of capital, embodied in the steel company (now under the ownership of magnate J.P. Morgan), continues to crush any hint of union activity in the mills. This happens as Mike and Mary begin dating, foreshadowing how the power of capital will be a later obstacle to their making a successful life together.
Themes
Mike offers to walk her back to the Dexters’ home and she accepts. As they walk through town, Anna Kovac sees the couple and scowls. Mike and Mary discuss politics and other matters until they arrive at River Street, where the Dexters live. She points to their huge house and explains to Mike that they are bankers, “real millionaires.” He breathes in the fresh air, which is notably cleaner than the air in the Slovak ward. “By God, when you have money you can even breathe better air than other people,” he exclaims. The new couple agree to meet again on Thursday night. When Mike arrives back at Dorta’s, Dorta slyly informs him that Mary has many suitors but is not going steady with anyone.
In this passage, Bell shows Mike’s developing class consciousness as he gazes at the Dexters’ impressive mansion. Mike’s observance that wealth can even buy “Americans” cleaner air than Slovaks have demonstrates the deep socioeconomic inequality that defines life in Braddock. The idea that more money directly leads to a better and healthier life will guide Mike’s political beliefs until his death.
Themes
