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
Some of Ford’s investors, like the Dodge brothers, buy out of the company to start their own ventures, earning nearly 1,000 times what they invested. Abner reads about these deals in the paper and wishes that he invested in Ford’s company when he knew the man on Bagley Street. It is a very romantic idea in the United States, knowing someone can invest in something and win the lottery. But because of this romantic idea, many scammers are able to take advantage of people trying to invest in “get-rich-quick” schemes, robbing people of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Again, Sinclair emphasizes that while capitalism can come with a kind of romantic idealism, it also leads to a great deal of corruption and disillusionment. While people are attracted to the idea of making a lot of money quickly, this mindset allows greedy people to take advantage of those who don’t have very much money to begin with. Likening it to the lottery is apt, as success is a rare occurrence but losing money is frequent.
Themes
