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
One day, Abner happens to drive by Ford’s new building and notice the sign; he decides goes inside to ask Ford for a job. Abner reintroduces himself to Ford and explains that he’s a good worker, that he never drinks, and that he’d be grateful for the chance to work at Ford’s company. Impressed by Abner’s sincerity, his worker’s clothes, and his calloused hands, Ford agrees to give Abner a job. Abner is thrilled and grateful, and he plans to start the next day.
Abner’s ability to get a job proves the capitalist system’s benefit: even working-class people can rise up and gain a degree of success alongside a company’s entrepreneur. Additionally, Ford shows that at this point, he values American ideals like hard work and strives to provide others with opportunity, prosperity, and social mobility in exchange for that hard work.
Themes
