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
After Ford’s car wins the race, Abner realizes that Ford’s business will likely grow, and Abner wonders if Ford might give him a job. Abner is now 24 and works at a tool company. Having worked there for three years without receiving a promotion, Abner realizes that he doesn’t much chance of advancing. He also asked a girl named Milly Crock to marry him five years earlier, but they are still trying to save enough money to get married. It is the era of Teddy Roosevelt and business is booming—but it seems to Abner that everyone is getting rich except for him, so he decides to meet with Ford.
Abner’s situation hints at both the benefits of and the inequality in the American capitalist system. While it is true that Abner has the opportunity to gain success alongside Henry Ford, Abner and other working-class people are also being left out of the 1890s’ economic boom. He has very little opportunity at the tool company, to the point where he can’t afford to marry or have children, suggesting that the capitalist system doesn’t always allow people to earn a decent living.
Themes
