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
Mike leaves the steel mill to have supper with Mary and the children, and Mary is surprised to see him home so early. The family sits down to a steaming pot of soup, and Mary chastises Mikie for making a mess. Pauline, meanwhile, stops eating. She is “a very thin, big-eyed child,” and Mike tells her stories about how Mary used to trick her to get her to eat. Johnny brags that he could “eat ten times a day,” much to the detriment of the family’s budget.
Bell sprinkles these rare moments of family togetherness throughout the novel to show why the American Dream means so much to Slovaks like Mike and Mary. The ability to put food on the table and enjoy family time is priceless, even if it comes at the steep price of living in the steel town and working in the steel mill.
Themes
After dinner, Mike discusses his money worries. The steel mill is not running full-time and his paycheck is not covering their expenses. The family is in debt, and Mike’s visits to the bank are getting more frequent. Their savings are also diminishing daily. The money troubles push Mike to the brink of frustration. “I work like a horse sometimes. And I have less every payday. What good is all my work if they won't pay me enough to keep my family?” he says in anguish. Mary tries to sooth him, but he laments that he is “a Hunky, and they don’t give good jobs to Hunkies.” Mary suggests moving to a bigger house and again taking in boarders, but Mike refuses, citing the risk to her health. She gives him some change so he can go get a drink with Steve.
Here, the harsh way that the reality of the American Dream contrasts with its mythos is becoming too much for Mike to bear. No matter how much he follows the script of working hard to achieve success, he cannot even make enough money to support his family. In addition, he realizes that no amount of attempted assimilation will ever erase his status as a “hunky” in the eyes of the mill bosses. For Mike, the American Dream has become a true nightmare just as it did for Kracha, despite all of Mike’s efforts to build a better life.
Themes
