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Part 4, Chapter 16
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
Still wondering if he will have a job when he returns to the steel mill in Braddock, Dobie departs Washington expecting to meet Julie in Donora for Christmas with her family. She informs him that the house is fine and that the Cassidys have done a good job taking care of the dog and chickens. On his way to Donora, he decides to stop by the union office to pick up his pay. Braddock Avenue is decorated with Christmas lights and lively with crowds, and men stop him to say they read about his testimony in the papers.
Bell highlights the beauty and light of Christmas to herald Dobie’s triumphant return from Washington. The normally gray and depressing streets of Braddock are lit up to celebrate the season of perpetual hope. The fact that the union itself is a symbol of hope gives this holiday season extra weight and meaning.
Themes
When he arrives at the mill, Dobie sees Gralji, who is impressed that Dobie met John Lewis. Dobie tells Gralji and the others about his experience in Washington. There has been no word about the status of Dobie’s and Hagerty’s jobs, and when Dobie picks up his pay envelope, he finds it is filled with his regular pay. The other men suggest to Dobie that he ask Flack about his job status when, as if summoned by his mention, Flack enters the room.
Despite having a law in his favor that forbids the company from firing workers for their union activities, Dobie is still worried about his job status. The fact that his pay is the same as usual indicates that his job is safe, but Dobie wants the satisfaction of hearing Flack himself reveal that fact.
Themes
Flack demands to speak with Hagerty and Dobie, but since Hagerty is not there, he unleashes his rage on Dobie alone. He accuses Dobie of lying and making him look bad in Washington. “If you didn't like what was said about you in Washington that's too bad,” Dobie responds, “but I didn't say anything that wasn't the truth.” Dobie’s confidence causes Flack’s rage to boil over. Dobie tells Flack that he no longer has to take abuse from him or any of the other company lackeys and threatens to sue him if he engages in any acts of libel against the steelworkers. Flack calls Dobie a “dumb Hunky son of a bitch” while threatening to shove his fist down Dobie’s throat. Dobie responds with an equal threat of violence until the other men intervene.
This confrontation between Dobie and Flack is the novel’s climactic moment. Bell has built up to this moment through hundreds of pages detailing the steel company’s mistreatment of its workers and the impunity with which it has crushed the unions in the past. Now, a narrative built largely on despair and the absence of hope finally turns a redemptive corner, as the union-member grandson of an unskilled, un-American “Hunky” immigrant stands up to the steel company, and wins.
Themes
Overcome with resentment over his years of treatment by the company, Dobie wants to settle things now. He pointedly asks Flack if he has been fired. His temper now cooling, Flack responds that Dobie still has a job. He then suggests that the men put the heated incident behind them and report to work as usual after the holiday. Dobie wishes his co-workers a Merry Christmas and as he leaves the plant, the guard wishes him a Merry Christmas. He realizes that what transpired tonight will spread through the entire mill, providing the perfect opportunity to enlist new union members. Dobie boards the train and heads to Donora to spend Christmas with Julie.
Dobie’s victory against Flack is more than one man standing up to another. Dobie knows that word of the incident will soon become a rallying moment for all of the workers in the plant. By becoming a symbol of the union and the hope it brings to Braddock and the other steel towns, Dobie has redeemed not only his father’s life, but also the lives of the thousands of people, Slovak and otherwise, who sacrificed themselves to the mills over the decades.
Themes
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