Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Flivver King, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Capitalism and Dehumanization
American Idealism and Disillusionment
Misinformation, Media Bias, and Ignorance
Individualism vs. Unionization
Technology and Progress
Summary
Analysis
While the public believes that Ford is going to pay all of his workers at least $5 a day, in reality the workers will only get a biweekly bonus provided they “qualif[y].” Qualifications for married men include taking care of a family; for single men, they include “living wholesomely” and being the sole support of a family member. The company ascertains these qualifications by sending a company agent to each employee’s house and interviewing them. Abner qualifies for the bonus and receives an additional check for $25.44 every two weeks. While he is immensely grateful for this, other employees are frustrated by the department’s snooping in their personal lives. Employees also begin to spy on and report one another if they don’t meet the qualifications, and people who try to subvert the rules are fired.
While the press reports on Ford’s generosity, the reality is not as kind. Ford is still trying to maximize profits—only giving bonuses to a subset of people who “qualify” by living up to his version of American ideals and values. In addition, he is starting to sow discontent and mistrust among his workers. Rather than trying to work together and ensure that they all get the same benefits, the workers are only looking out for themselves as individual people and are turning on anybody whom they don’t think deserves the bonus.
Themes
