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
Kracha misses Elena, but only as an acquaintance, for “she had long since ceased to be a large part of his life,” and he was, in effect, “a widower long before Elena died.” After a month, he resumes seeing Zuska. His business is no longer thriving, Elena’s funeral has cost him what little savings he retained, and he continues to give money to Zuska. As a result, he is heavily in debt. Late in April, the United States drifts closer to war with Spain when the U.S.S. Maine blows up in Havana harbor. Kracha worries that war will inflate the price of meat and cease any railroad construction on his invested property. He is already unable to sell the lots.
Kracha’s American Dream comes crashing down on him, but he has aided his own demise by clinging to an impossible-to-maintain state of ignorance about American society. He also openly embraced his most selfish desires while neglecting the needs of his wife and family. Bell juxtaposes the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine with the destruction of Kracha’s own life to emphasize the monumental and explosive nature of the losses he is enduring.
Themes
Following the news of the Maine’s destruction, Kracha visits Zuska at her house. She tells him she is pregnant. Overwhelmed with his troubles, Kracha tells her, “I feel like a man in a foreign country.” He can deal with trouble, but he cannot deal with an uncertain future. “Maybe I should have stayed in the mill,” he says, “that's where I belong. And if things don't take a turn for the better soon that is where I'll end up.” Kracha and Zuska agree to get married, but in the summer, Kracha loses his remaining funds and spends his days getting drunk. One day in late August, he beats Zuska in a drunken rage and is jailed. Upon his release, he finds she is gone. He also loses his property, his business, and his home.
For Kracha, the American Dream has become a nightmare. Unable to deal with the troubles that have befallen him, he resigns himself to the belief that the American Dream’s goal of betterment through hard work is simply unattainable for a poor Slovak immigrant. Moreover, his own deep flaws, especially his weakness for alcohol, cloud his judgment and play a crucial role in his demise. His resignation that the mill is “where I belong” is both a self-fulfilling prophecy and a testament to the stark disconnect between the ideal of the American Dream and its harsh reality.
Themes
