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 closes down his plant for “reorganization.” He assures workers that the plant will be shut down for only a few weeks and they will get their Christmas bonuses, but they aren’t convinced. Abner has saved a little money, but those savings vanish quickly in these “hard times.” As Abner picks up odd jobs like cleaning sidewalks, he realizes how out of shape he has become from his work at the plant, where he usually walks around overseeing other workers.
Here, Ford’s incessant pursuit of wealth prevents him from protecting his workers. The novel illustrates how the system falls hardest on people like Abner, who have very little money and no job security or unemployment. These men also have difficulty finding and performing other work because they have been driven so hard by the work in the plant and have also become out of shape.
Themes
The waiting period stretches to six weeks, after which Abner returns to the plant. He discovers that Ford’s reorganization means reducing the amount of men on the assembly line. Before the reorganization, the factory employed 15 men per car; now, the factory only needs nine. As a result, Ford saves $60 million a year, but thousands of men are out of work.
The reorganization again emphasizes the need for union protection and regulation. Not only are many workers unemployed as a result of the reorganization, but the remaining workers also have to work even harder than they did before to maintain the same production levels.
Themes
Now one foreman watches the work of 20 men, and Abner becomes one of the 20, getting back on the assembly line. Abner’s job lets him rest his legs, but his back begins to ache and his arms are ready to give out from putting in cotter-pins, which secure the bolts on the wheel in place. But he endures the pain because he is over 40 and worries about losing his job if he can’t keep up.
Ford’s desire for profit is degrading the conditions of the workers. Without any regulations, Abner worries that he could easily loses his job, and therefore he doesn’t protest the harsh working conditions. This emphasizes the problem with individualism: because the workers are worried only about their own jobs, there is no one protecting their working conditions collectively.
Themes
