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Introduction
Life in the Iron-Mills is a published work by Rebecca Harding Davis. The story is set mostly in the period before 1861 which was the year of publication. Events described in the story are based on the writer’s hometown of Wheeling, Virginia State. Explicitly, the narration is built upon two Welsh immigrants, Hugh Wolfe and Deborah. While Hugh worked for long hours in the repressive heat at a local foundry, Deborah worked at a cotton mill. Critical analysis of the story depicts it as one of the ancient works of the realist movement in the US. The explanation is that the writing exposes the plight of the industrial workers amid rising capitalism. Interestingly, the author has used Deborah, as a female protagonist, to develop the story as well as place the events in the right historical context. In consequence, themes such as race and poverty have been attributed to the low social statuses of the Welsh immigrants.
The Female Protagonist
Deborah is the female protagonist in Davis’ narration of Life in the Iron-Mills and her importance in the story cannot be overlooked. Of great significance was her relationship with her cousin, Hugh. The story is centered on the affection that Deborah exhibited towards Hugh. However, Deborah was aware that he never reciprocated her love due to her physical condition, among other reasons. Davis’ recorded that from her gait, anyone could observe that “she was deformed, almost a hunchback” (1280). Despite all these, Deborah incessantly acted with love and selflessness. She at times sacrificed her comfort and walk miles through the rain to take a meal to Hugh in the mill where he worked (Davis 1280). Furthermore, Deborah stole money from Mitchell, who was Kirby’s brother-in-law, on Hugh’s behalf (Davis 1293). The crime led both her and Hugh to be imprisoned. As evident, Deborah’s love for Hugh resulted in his downfall as later on, he killed himself while in prison (Davis 1301). Debora’s life is then transformed with the aid of a Quaker woman whom she met in prison (Davis 1301-1302). Therefore, Debora’s decisions have helped in the movement of the story and its outcomes.
Chronological Description of Events
The story of Life in the Iron-Mills begins with a narrator, through the window, observing fog and ironworkers in an industry. A female character, Deborah, is introduced as Hugh Wolfe’s cousin. After Janey had informed Deborah that Wolfe did not take lunch to work, she decides to walk in the rain take a meal to Hugh (Davis 1280-1281). When the food is brought, Hugh has no time to eat as he went back to work (Davis 1281). Later in the mills, Hugh is faced by Clarke, May, and two men who questioned him about his odd-shaped statue. According to Davis, Wolfe replied more tacitly, “She be hungry” (1287). Then, the men talked about oppression in the workforce and one individual regretfully told Wolfe that he could get out of the paltry job but he cannot help Hugh. Deborah stole Mitchell’s money and Wolfe is incarcerated alongside Deborah. At last, the story ends with Hugh killing himself due to mental disintegration and a Quaker woman promising Deborah of giving Wolfe a decent burial (Davis 1301-1302). Historically, the story is set at a time when the American industrial labor force was characterized by deplorable working conditions.
Effect of Poverty and Race on Social Status
The social statuses of the industrial workers were affected by poverty and their race because the industrialists perceived them as a source of cheap labor. In simple terms, the laborers led a demeaning life full of pain where some could not even afford the basic needs. For instance, Davis described the lives led by the workers as “a reality of soul-starvation, of living death” (1283). The workers had to brave the long hours of tiresome work for low pay. In the mill, the men had to strip to the waist in exceedingly hot conditions encircled by red-hot furnaces. In addition, race impacted how American society viewed an individual at that time. Remarkable epitomes of the suffering of Welsh immigrants were the Wolfes. Wolfe spent more than half of his life working in the tin mines yet there was nothing to show for his work (Davis 1279). The Wolfes lived in crowded quarters and slept on straw. This is the life of abject poverty that pushed many Welsh immigrants to be puddlers and feeders in Kirby’s mills (Davis 1279). Clearly, indigence and race contributed to the Welsh immigrants’ servitude status in America.
Conclusion
In summary, the work is centered on Deborah, whose actions lead to the continuation of the story more so, the historical description of the story from the settings period. Indeed, the flow of events of the story showed that penury and race had an effect of reducing the Welsh immigrants to mere slaves who worked for low pay. The tragedy of the story is that a character who is skillful in arts such as Hugh suffered the consequences from the poor decisions made by Deborah. From a historical context, the writer clearly explained the plight of industrial workers in ancient America. Therefore, Life in the Iron-Mills is an expository literary work that delineates the capitalism on which the bourgeoisie class of industrialists thrived.
Work Cited
Davis, Rebecca. “Life in the Iron-Mills.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Robert Levine, 9th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, pp. 1277-1303.
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