Immigration and American Identity
In Out of This Furnace, Thomas Bell explores how immigration continually redefined the meaning of American identity at the turn of the twentieth century. When Slovakian immigrant George Kracha and his family settle in the steel town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, they face constant discrimination from the native-born workers who hail from Irish, English, and German “old immigrant” stock. Bell follows three generations of Kracha’s family to show just how long it takes for them…
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Industrialization and Destruction
The title of Bell’s novel references how everything that happens therein literally and metaphorically comes from “out of the furnace.” The furnaces bring both life and death; it symbolizes both creation and destruction. The steel mills inspire Slovak immigrants to come to America with hopes of achieving a better life. Yet while the mills provide income for Slovaks to support their families, workers are subject to endless hours, terrible wages, and a loss of autonomy…
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The American Dream vs. Reality
Out of This Furnace is told from the perspective of the people who built America. American mythology, however, does not tell immigrant workers’ stories because their stories highlight the gulf between the promises of the American Dream and the struggles immigrants faced trying to realize that dream. The American Dream promises success regardless of birth or station in life to anyone willing to work to achieve it. Bell’s characters, however, learn that American society is…
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Women’s Work
The men in Out of This Furnace work in the steel mills, while the women tend to homemaking and childrearing. Bell makes clear that domestic work is just as backbreaking and stress-inducing as work in the furnaces. Unlike millwork, which at least comes with downturns, women’s work has no breaks: it is a full-time job, seven days a week. In addition, because work in the mills is so dangerous, the very real potential of…
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Capital vs. Labor
The struggle between capital (the class who owns the means of production) and labor (the workers who sell their work to the capitalist class) is at the heart of Out of This Furnace. Capital—the owners and bosses of the steel companies—wields immense power over labor. It prevents workers from forming a union to bargain for higher wages, shorter hours, and better pensions. Since individual workers in Braddock are powerless to improve their conditions, they…
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