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
Ford continues to improve his car until he’s confident enough to drive it during the day. Abner is amazed to see Ford drive down the street, even though the car sometimes breaks down. When this happens, Abner helps push Ford’s car home—something he talks about for the rest of his life. While the newspapers treat Ford relatively politely, bicyclists sometimes ride alongside Ford and make fun of him, and none of the businessmen take his invention seriously as a commercial possibility. Ford decides to resign from his job at the electric company to work on his invention full-time.
Ford continues to demonstrate his idealism, as he believes that he’ll find success with his invention through sheer perseverance and hard work. The fact that Abner is proud of being able to push Ford home illustrates that he, too, shares in this idealism. The fact that Abner talks about this for the rest of his life foreshadows the massive success that Ford will attain, and it illustrates that Abner is proud of having faith in Ford before he becomes massively successful.
Themes
