Out of This Furnace, by Thomas Bell

 

Characters
Kracha 1881	Mike Dobrejcak 1900	Mary 1914	Dobie 1930s
George Kracha “Djuro” Elena – wife Djuro – son, died Daughters: Mary, Alice, Anna   Andrej Sedlar Francka – wife, Kracha’s sister Sons – Victor, Andy   Borda – Kracha’s sister   Dorta Joe Dubik – 1st husband Steve Radilla – 2nd husband   Mike Dobrejcak   Joe Wold – Slovak Jew, owned saloon   John and Zuska Mihula – met on boat   Frick Carnegie Homestead Strike 1892	Mike Dobrejcak Mary Kracha – wife Children: John Joseph “Johnny” Pauline Mike “Mikie” Agnes   Kracha   Joe Dobrejcak – brother   Dexter family – employed Kracha daughters   Steve Bodner   Zuska Mihula Joseph – son, priest   Carnegie sold 3 mills to J. P. Morgan > US Steel 1901	Mary and children move to Homestead after Mike’s death   Kracha moves in   Dorta   Joe Dobrejcak   John Barry Anna – wife Moved to Donora   Johnny – road crew in Donora   Spanish Flu 1918   Kracha – living with Francka   Francka – making moonshine	Johnny Dobrejcak “Dobie” – secretary in union Julie – wife   John Barry Anna – active in politics   Kracha “Dzedo”   AFL – workers’ union Dobie Gralja Burke Walsh – organizer from Pittsburgh   ERP – company union Bill Hagarty   CIO - 1935   Flack - superintendent

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 1976 University of Pittsburgh Press edition.

1.       The book was written in 1941.  The author used the “n word” when discussing prejudice.  He wrote, “once it was the Irish looking down on the Hunkies and now it’s the Hunkies looking down on the n…” (page 330).  Is the term “hunky” as bad as the other word?  Why or why not?  Do you think one or both of these words should be edited out?

2.       The Slovaks who came to America were part of “an oppressed minority from the beginning of time” (page 123).  Why do you think they found the same “hostility and contempt of their neighbors, the men they worked with” (page 123) in America?

 3.       Did this book give you any insight into the development and causes of prejudice?

4.       Were you surprised at how the steel industry treated their early workers?  Early in the novel Joe Dubik dies in an explosion in one of the furnaces.  The author wrote that “it was the result of greed, and part of the education of the American steel industry” (page 54).

5.       Even with the bad living and working conditions, people were described as having positive characteristics.  One was hope – “Hope sustained him, as it sustained them all: hope and the human tendency to feel that” (page 47-48).  Another was goodness – “People are born good, they want to be good.  But there is something in the world that makes them bad” (page 217).  What other positive attributes did the characters display?

6.       Mary took Mike Dobrejcak to the Dexter’s house where she worked.  He was surprised to see furniture and dishes that were beautiful and not just functional.  He commented, “No matter how much you get you always want more.” and “Maybe it would have been better for me never to have seen it” (page 137).  Have you ever experienced suddenly wanting something that you never thought about previously?

7.       Do you think there is another side or perspective to this story?  For example, how would Carnegie, Frick, or the Dexter’s view this history?

8.       Dobie described Americans as “the kind that’s got Made in U. S. A. stamped all over them (page 410).  How did this apply to the development of the characters and the story?

9.       Did you like the ending?