Out of this Furnance essays

Out of this Furnance essays History is based on facts; novels are grounded in the authors imagination. Novels make interesting reading but are not particularly useful in studying history. After reading this quote, I thought deeply about was this person was trying to say. There are not many novels out there that can give you a full sense history, but in this book it does. I have recently read Out of this Furnace by Thomas Bell and I believe it to be a real and true statement of what life was like in the mid 1880s. This novel is about immigrants beginning a quest to start the American dream in the United States. Its a new beginning. They wanted to make money, to start a family, and become somebody in this wealth of riches. During the 1880s, there was a large number of immigrants came to the United States to make money. Most of these people must have been unhappy with their native homeland and decided to come over here. The problem with all of these people coming over was the fact that the owners of major companies could take advantage of all these people. With this power they were able to set wages that were extremely low. The immigrants had no other choice but to take these jobs and deal with the low pay. There was a good quote that shows this portrayal. His wages were ten cents an hour, and when bad times came and the company cut wages, nine. It was an excellent month when he made as much as twenty-five dollars (Bell, 21). This still was a problem because many of these people couldnt afford to live at all. Some of them have families couldnt even eat. America doesnt make it so easy for people to become wealthy and have tons of riches. In order for these immigrants to grow in riches, they must start from the bottom and try to move up. Sadly, they begin a long process of trying to show America what they are and what they can do. During these times, man ...