Life In The Iron Mills Summary

Life in the Iron Mills exemplifies the struggles that face many “have-not” citizens that authors throughout history have been discussing.
Life in the Iron Mills is a tragic yet poignant story of the effects of a man’s socioeconomic status. Although set in the nineteenth century, the story is all too familiar. The short story begins with a reflective narrator begging the audience to read the story with an open mind not tainted by the ideals of high society (Davis). The narrator suggests the story be read from the perspective of the protagonist, Hugh Wolfe, a lowly puddler at the iron mill (Davis). Hugh works long, hard hours at the mill for little to no pay in attempts to provide not only for himself but also for his cousin, Deborah, and …show more content…
As they were about to leave, they discovered one of Hugh’s korl sculptures that particularly moved a few of the visitors (Davis). The sculpture was of a starving woman desperately reaching out for something (Davis). The men were impressed by the verisimilitude and poignancy of sculpture and fervently encouraged Hugh to leave the mill and become a sculptor; however, the men became hesitant when they became aware of Hugh’s lack of education and resources (Davis). None of the men were willing to personally educate nor fund Hugh’s education (Davis). Hugh is left with a sense of disappointment because he began to believe that he could leave the mills and become a sculptor until the monetary reality dawned on him (Davis). Throughout the entire exchange, Deborah was lying in the ashes of the mill (Davis). She heard the conversation and decided to steal money from one of the men (Davis). She later presents Hugh with the money telling him that it will solve all of their issues (Davis). Hugh struggles with the morality of taking the money, but ultimately decides that his cousin is right (Davis). Unfortunately, Hugh is caught with the money and sent to prison where he later dies (Davis). The socioeconomic struggles are quite …show more content…
Throughout Davis’s work, she constantly reminds the audience of the uneducated nature of the lower class citizens. The dialogue between Hugh and Deborah is littered with words such as “hur,” “wunnot,” and “hyur,” whereas the upper class men have intelligent conversation where some men even through in a few foreign phrases (Davis X). The difference between the dialects essentially creates a language barrier. Davis writes statements such as, “Greek would not have been more unintelligible to the furnace-tenders,”() and, “do you understand?" (talking down to the capacity of his hearer: it is a way people have with children, and men like Wolfe,)” () suggesting that the workers could not understand the simple banter the upper class men spoke. Davis also calls to attention the fact that without education people are essentially stuck in the status quo. There is no possibility of progress. Davis states, “His soul within him was smothering to death; he wanted so much, thought so much, and knew—nothing”(). Hugh wants to improve; however, without a proper education, it is not