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
Tom Jr. graduates from college with a great sense of idealism. Daisy is the only one who attends Tom’s graduation ceremony, and as they drive home Tom tells her about economic forces and corruption he studied. Wages always drop faster than profits and never come back as quickly, and he wants to ensure that the country can achieve greater economic equality. Daisy replies that he talks like a “Red,” and Tom agrees that the newspapers would probably call him one, but he knows that the laborers are getting a bad deal.
Tom Jr. quickly becomes the central representative for the labor movement in the book. He recognizes that the capitalist system is hardest on the working-class, because their wages do not keep up with the profits of entrepreneurs like Ford. Daisy’s response to Tom continues to highlight the effects of media bias, as she immediately believes Tom is a communist simply for supporting the labor movement because of the way that newspapers write about these issues.
Themes
