English Literature: The Corruption of the American Dream - Essay Example

?English Literature: The Corruption of the American Dream. The short story “Life in the Iron Mills, or, The Korl Woman” by Rebecca Harding Davis consists of a grim account of working class life in an American industrial environment during the middle of the nineteenth century. It is remarkable for its vivid and realistic description of the working and living conditions of the workers and for its philosophical reflections on ways of remedying the worst ills of this period. After a long and distressing depiction of the sufferings of Hugh Wolfe, a furnace tender in one of the iron mills, and various friends and relatives of his, including his cousin Deborah, the plot leads to the tragic death by suicide of Hugh. It is Deborah who brings this turn of events about, by stealing some money, but in the end Deborah, who turns out to be the initially anonymous first person narrator, is redeemed and brought to a life of luxury through the intervention of a meek Quaker woman. The closing turn of events can be read as a kind of happy ending, but in fact the message is much darker than this: despite its hopeful and religious ending, the short story “Life in the Iron Mills” demonstrates that the American Dream is a fantasy which is doomed to fail. This story, like many modern works of literature, reflects the changing historical events of its time. It shows how industrialization created wealth for some people, but poverty for many others. The main characters Hugh, Deborah and little Janey, are described in almost wholly negative terms: “Their lives were like those of their class: incessant labor, sleeping in kennel-like rooms, eating rank pork and molasses, drinking – God and the distillers only know what...” (Davis, 4) The analogy of the kennel suggests that they live like animals, and the author uses a host of animal similes and metaphors to make this point, starting with the surname “Wolfe” which suggests a lonely, dangerous and hungry creature. The older Wolfe man is described as “a meek little man, with a white face and red rabbit- eyes”, (Davis, 5), and the statue of the korl woman, which Hugh created, has “an eager, wolfish face watching mine: a wan, woful face, through which the spirit of the dead korl-cutter looks out, with its thwarted life, its mighty hunger, its unfinished work.” (Davis, 38). This artistic work is the only glimmer of hope in the abject life of Hugh Wolfe. He expresses his extreme hunger and thirst primarily in aesthetic terms: “Think that God put into this man’s soul a fierce thirst for beauty – to know it, to create it; to be – something, he knows not what – other than he is.” (Davis, 11) This vague notion is the germ of an idea which could be defined as the “American Dream,” in other words a motivation for the poor to rise out of their suffering and be transformed so that they can enjoy a life of prosperity and comfort. In contrast to these images of extreme poverty, there are some characters who represent the privilege of upper class life. This can be seen in the men who visit the mill at night, including Clarke Kirby, who is a son of the mill owner, Doctor May who is a local physician, and a man called Mitchell. Seen through the eyes of the untrained sculptor Hugh, they appear as “this mysterious class that shone down on him perpetually with the glamour of another order of being.” (Davis, 12) The physical beauty of Mitchell, with his white skin and his voice “like music, - low, even, with chording cadences” (Davis, 12), sets him apart from the coarse and sweating iron mill workers. Hugh instinctively connects this vision of male beauty and gentlemanliness with his own half-formed dreams, and automatically “did obeisance to it with his artistic sense, unconscious that he did so.” (Davis, 14) Unfortunately, however, he quickly realizes that this world of refinement is beyond his reach. Once again Wolfe is depicted sub-human terms: “Greek would not have been more unintelligible to the furnace tenders, ... At every sentence Wolfe listened more and more like a dumb, hopeless animal, with a duller, more stolid look creeping over his face...” (Davis, 14). In this context, the extremes of wealth and poverty are so great, that Hugh loses all hope of bridging that gulf. Rebecca Harding Davis presents two potential solutions for Hugh’s dilemma in the suggestion that the mill owner’s son makes: “The Lord will take care of his own; or else they can work out their own salvation.” (Davis, 17). The first solution is a religious faith in God, which allows the business owners to agree with Kirby and say “I wash my hands of all social problems ... I am not responsible” (Davis, 18). The second solution is to argue that the workers can access an invisible social ladder to climb their way out of poverty: “ I have heard your call our American system a ladder which any man can scale. Do you doubt it?” (Davis, 17). This is an image which depicts an early understanding of the American Dream: it is depicted in terms of a rise from the lowest rungs of a ladder to the highest rungs. It presumes that society is structured hierarchically, and that any progress will come by individual effort, rising within that system rather than trying to change the system itself. The Doctor recognizes the essentially conservative nature of this proposed solution, which suits the bosses very well: “Drift with the stream, because you cannot dive deep enough to find bottom, eh?” (Davis, 17-18) The Doctor’s proposed solution, is that Hugh’s artistic talent should be fostered, but the rich men cannot bring themselves to share some of their wealth to make this happen. Money, or the lack of it in Hugh’s case, is the key to everything in this story. Mitchell believes this, but is depicted symbolically “leaning against a brick wall” (Davis, 20) and showing disgust at the unclean odor of the place. He backs away from any intervention, arguing in terms that nowadays would be recognized as a Marxist analysis, “No vital movement of the people’s has worked down, for good or evil; fermented, instead, carried up the heaving, cloggy mass...” (Davis, 20). The departure of the rich men, leaving Hugh aroused by the glimpse of a better world, but incensed by his own apparent worthlessness in such a world, sums up the paradox of the American Dream: it is at one and the same time intensely desired, and clearly unattainable. Hugh knows that there is a fundamental flaw in this system “It’s all wrong,” he muttered, slowly, - all wrong! I dunnot understan’. But it’ll end some day.” (Davis, 22) Hugh struggles with the ethical dilemma that Deborah presents, when she hands over the stolen money. It appears that Deborah has grasped the hidden truth in the conversation of the gentlemen: money is the ticket out of oppression, and it is the only means that offers any hope for the working classes. She does not understand the message intellectually, or politically, but instead sees it in terms of magical powers such as those possessed by a “witch dwarf” (Davis, 24) This is, in a way, a religious argument, but it is a pre-Christian kind of faith, which has a different set of moral rules. In such world view, a person could take the money from a supernatural source, and not be blamed for it. Deborah is aware that she would be condemned by the authorities if she were to be found out, but for her, the sacrifice of her good name, or even her life, would be a price worth paying, if Hugh and his family could be released from their suffering. The ending of the story is in many ways a great disappointment. Hugh is caught and imprisoned, ultimately committing suicide because of the hopelessness of his situation, and Deborah is saved by the mysterious Quaker woman. Through this sudden, and largely unexplained intervention, Deborah changes sides, becomes the upper class, and ends the story in a luxurious room, where Hugh’s statue is kept “hid behind a curtain, - it is such a rough, ungainly thing.” (Davis, 38). Not only is Deborah ashamed of this monument to Hugh’s sacrifice, she turns it into a romantic symbol of yearning for “the promise of the Dawn” (Davis, 39). What this shows is that there is no realistic or effective solution for the masses. Deborah has been rewarded, in effect, for stealing and is plucked out by the chance appearance of a mysterious benefactor. Money was indeed the solution for Deborah, but it can never be the solution for all the others who still toil in the oppression of the iron mills and cotton mills. The reality is that working class people can choose between submission or criminal activity, both of which usually lead to unpleasantness and death. Access to money comes only via the whim of the upper classes. The awful truth of this story is that the American Dream is built on the oppression of the weak, and that notions of a ladder which can be climbed are just romantic fantasies. References Davis, Rebecca Harding. “Life in the Iron Mills, or, the Korl Woman.” First published 1861. Available online at: http://www.cnmed123.com/bitstream/123456789/39044/1/Life%20in%20the%20Iron-Mills.pdf Read More