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
Back in Highland Park, Abner’s father, Tom, is now in his 60s, and his legs are overcome with joint pain. Though he has been working for the same company for 25 years, he is promptly fired without a note of thanks, and Abner and Milly are forced to take in Tom and Abner’s mother. Milly, who is often aggravated by her children, becomes jealous of Abner’s mother, whom the children love much more openly.
Tom’s firing demonstrates the problems with lack of regulation or unions. He is unable to work through no fault of his own, and as a result he loses all benefits and has no protection for the future. While some people are able to survive these situations—Tom is able to move in with his son—this is not always the case, and this is one of Sinclair’s first illustrations of why protective regulations are necessary.
Themes
Abner tries to keep the peace at home, but his worries are offset by the fact that his wages have been raised again, and he is getting over $6.50 a day now. Yet at the same time, prices are going up, and so are the family’s demands. Abner tries to tell his children how lucky they are, and how they didn’t have to grow up amid hard times like he did. They do have one luxury: the car. On Sundays they drive out to visit his brother’s family or Milly’s sisters. For years they brought home cheap groceries from these trips, but now the farmers are ramping up their prices as well.
While the new technology allows Abner to gain some benefits, and while Ford is giving Abner greater wages, the cars start to have widespread economic impact. Although Abner is able to go to cheaper groceries, farmers recognize the new demand for their products and raise prices accordingly. Thus, the capitalist system makes it so that Abner is essentially as poor as he was before.
Themes
