58 pages • 1 hour read
Thomas BellOut of This Furnace
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1941A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
What were the living and working conditions like in the steel mill towns? How does this relate to the early attempts at strikes and labor unions?
Kracha began as a laborer working in the mills. By the end of Part 1, he has lost everything. How did he lose everything, according to his own account? Retrace the events leading up to his disastrous end and assess the factual reasons for his loss.
What are some of the reasons for immigrating to America that are mentioned in the novel? How did the lives of Kracha, Mike Dobrejcak and other immigrants profit from leaving their home country behind? Did they profit?
Detail the similarities and differences between the lives of men and women in the novel. Who do you think suffered most?
Compare Kracha’s mill experience with that of Dobie’s at the end of the novel. How was justice in the mills achieved by novel’s end compared to its early failures?
Compare the three generations found in Out of This Furnace. How did matters improve for workers with each successive generation?
Describe Joe Dubik and his role in the novel. What was his importance to Kracha, and how might Kracha’s fate have been different—per Kracha—if Joe had lived?
Compare the differences between Mike Dobrejcak’s arrival and Kracha’s arrival to America and Braddock. What might the difference indicate?
What were the reasons behind Dobie’s involvement in the union movement, and how were these reasons indicative of his generation as opposed to Kracha’s?
How does the specific role of politics, place and self-worth change from the early days of Kracha in the mills to the union’s victory at the end of the novel? Give examples.
