Being an immigrant to the new world was never a simple task. Adversity, opportunity, and adaptability lurked around every corner as these foreign families sought a new and better life. Struggling with standing out as a “new immigrant”, overcoming poor work conditions, pay, and unstable jobs, and seeking out new opportunities while adapting to necessary survival strategies are some of the many trials a new immigrant would face while coming to a new land. Having lived through it all, Kracha and Dubik from Thomas Bell’s Out of This Furnace saw every aspect of becoming an American. A native-born American could easily pick a “new immigrant” out of a room. Of course, there were the obvious differences such as style, language, and mannerisms, to
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Dubik, who thought to have had a stable job while settling down in the new world, approached his workplace one day to see the sign “All men not otherwise notified should consider themselves discharged” (Bell, p. 23). With the value of the workers having been low and the expendability having been high, this is the news that far too many new immigrants received. As a new immigrant, besides just the difficulty of finding a stable job, getting a decent pay afterwards was rare, to say the least. Dubik would once utter “no man with a family can live on what they pay” (Bell, p. 33). Kracha, a friend of Dubik, felt this trend quite strongly, for “It was an excellent month when he made as much as twenty-five dollars” (Bell, p. 21). Even beyond just the poor payments and instability of these jobs, the work conditions were far from pleasant. To end up in a steel factory was to be faced with smoke-saturated air, unbearable heat, hours after hours of back-breaking work, and day after day of a constant grind. “I work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, until there are times when I couldn’t tell you my own name” Dubik once said in regards to the constant repetition of the factory work life. The jobs were unstable, the work conditions were unpleasant, and the pay was minimal, but that was just what it meant to be a new …show more content…
It meant opportunity and chances to adapt. A major adaption for survival was moving for work. If the work was not at the feet of the eager immigrant, it was imperative that he/she move to where it was. Kracha had the common story of moving repeatedly as he chased a paying job. He and his family “boarded a train for Harrisburg, where they changed to a train for Pittsburgh, where they changed to a train for Homestead” (Bell p. 25) on their way to yet another job opportunity. Furthermore, although the work stability was low, the job opportunities were fairly abundant. It took neither a significant skill nor an excess of luck to find a paying job if an immigrant was willing to search for it. Having moved for the sake of a new job, Kracha naturally found himself one very quickly. Andrej, a friend of Kracha, would say to him “There you are […] you got here two days ago and tomorrow you go to work” (Bell p.
Dubik, who thought to have had a stable job while settling down in the new world, approached his workplace one day to see the sign “All men not otherwise notified should consider themselves discharged” (Bell, p. 23). With the value of the workers having been low and the expendability having been high, this is the news that far too many new immigrants received. As a new immigrant, besides just the difficulty of finding a stable job, getting a decent pay afterwards was rare, to say the least. Dubik would once utter “no man with a family can live on what they pay” (Bell, p. 33). Kracha, a friend of Dubik, felt this trend quite strongly, for “It was an excellent month when he made as much as twenty-five dollars” (Bell, p. 21). Even beyond just the poor payments and instability of these jobs, the work conditions were far from pleasant. To end up in a steel factory was to be faced with smoke-saturated air, unbearable heat, hours after hours of back-breaking work, and day after day of a constant grind. “I work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, until there are times when I couldn’t tell you my own name” Dubik once said in regards to the constant repetition of the factory work life. The jobs were unstable, the work conditions were unpleasant, and the pay was minimal, but that was just what it meant to be a new …show more content…
It meant opportunity and chances to adapt. A major adaption for survival was moving for work. If the work was not at the feet of the eager immigrant, it was imperative that he/she move to where it was. Kracha had the common story of moving repeatedly as he chased a paying job. He and his family “boarded a train for Harrisburg, where they changed to a train for Pittsburgh, where they changed to a train for Homestead” (Bell p. 25) on their way to yet another job opportunity. Furthermore, although the work stability was low, the job opportunities were fairly abundant. It took neither a significant skill nor an excess of luck to find a paying job if an immigrant was willing to search for it. Having moved for the sake of a new job, Kracha naturally found himself one very quickly. Andrej, a friend of Kracha, would say to him “There you are […] you got here two days ago and tomorrow you go to work” (Bell p.