The Power Struggle In Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton

Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton focuses on the early 1840s, a decade known as the Hungry Forties. Through the story, Gaskell expresses her sympathy for the labourers who suffer economic hardships and social problems. However, when they combine forces, she describes them with fear; the narrator states that “combination is an awful power” (168). The period in which Gaskell lived saw the important innovations of the Industrial Revolution and accompanying social problems because of increasing industrialization. Gaskell conveys the danger of united labour’s action. The first half of the novel climaxes with the burning of Carson’s mill. During this scene, characters with and without interests in labour-management problems are described quite differently. For example, “the multitude in the street absolutely danced with triumph, and huzzaed, and yelled . . . and them, with all the fickleness of interest characteristic of a large body of people, pressed and stumbled, and cursed and swore” (53–54). They move together, while “the eager inquiries, the shouts, the sea-like murmurs of the moving rolling mass began again to be heard” (52–53), and “the closely-packed body of men heaved and rolled from side to side” (53). Gaskell describes them not as a violent revolutionary group but alludes to them as rolling waves; in this way, she identifies …show more content…
When describing the burning mill, Gaskell draws parallels between the fire and the crowd: “the mighty diapason of whose roaring flames formed an awful accompaniment to the screams, and yells, and imprecations, of the struggling crowd (54). The roaring fire symbolizes exploding the working class’s rage towards the middle class and the destructive power which is released when labour bands