Life In The Iron Mills

The story’s final paragraph invokes a “Dawn” (65), one that seems both actual and metaphorical. It implies a hopefulness that can be gleaned from the grim events that take place in the story. Where do you think the narrator sees cause for hopefulness? Does the reader share in this sentiment?

A mysterious understanding seems to arise between Mitchell and Hugh Wolfe: not precisely friendship, but a kind of “recognition” (39). What is it that you think the two men see in one another? How might both men interpret their brief exchange? Cite textual evidence.

Mitchell is an ambiguous character: intelligent and perceptive, yet cold and unsympathetic. The narrator states that his type is “not rare in the States” (29). What do you think she means by this? How is he a man of his class and time? 

There is a strong sense of physical atmosphere in this story; in the way that both the mill town and the mill itself are described. How does this atmosphere affect the characters in story, as well as our understanding of these characters? 

After his meeting with Mitchell, Hugh Wolfe seems to have an altered awareness of his existence. While walking home with Deborah, he repeats to himself, “Home–and back to the mill!” (41). What do you think that his encounter with Mitchell has made him understand (or suspect) about his life?