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Chapter 56
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Flivver King, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Capitalism and Dehumanization
American Idealism and Disillusionment
Misinformation, Media Bias, and Ignorance
Individualism vs. Unionization
Technology and Progress
Summary
Analysis
Abner is once again out on the street, and he isn’t able to get money out of his bank, so he drives to other motor plants to look for work. Men who were fired from Ford’s could go to one of the factories that made cushions or tires for Ford and get work at a meager $2 or $3 a day. Still, Abner isn’t even able to find any of these jobs. Abner is 53, and very few businesses are hiring people at his age.
This anecdote illustrates the necessity for unionization and wage regulation. Essentially, Ford is able to fire people and then rehire them for lower-paying jobs. He is exploiting people’s desperation to make any money, and as a result the work is completely devalued and workers aren’t able to make enough money to live.
Themes
John and Hank keep their jobs, but Daisy has just married a bookkeeper who works for Ford. Afterwards, Daisy’s superior tells her that they were firing all married women. Because her husband’s work is also reduced to two days a week, they sell their car at a huge loss and moved in with Abner and Milly.
Daisy becomes the first of Abner’s children to lose her job due to the crisis. Far from gaining the American dream and rising above Abner, she is promptly fired from Ford’s simply because she is a married woman and ends right back with her parents.
Themes
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