The air was filled with smoke and thick dust every breath he took filled his old lungs with the toxic air. The dim flickering flashlight equipped on is heavy helmet barely shone through the suffocating mine shaft which went on for miles under the Kentucky soil. Every morning John Effondrer woke on his thin mattress which was provided by the mining company, then went out to the small kitchen to have a loaf of bread, if he was lucky his wife Marion packed a lunch for him to take to the mines, other times he had to prepare a lunch himself. Most days John went in the mines and found nothing making the day and all the energy he put out while working feel like a waste. Sometimes months went by and no one found a single speck of gold, when that happened, John felt somewhat defeated. It was always harder to find enough …show more content…
John was keeping the promise he made to himself years ago when he was but a child, the promise of never sending his children into the mines to work because he knew how it felt to have his dreams taken, how it felt to work in the mines shoveling coal. To him coal mining offered no future, it only took years from hard working people who had nowhere else to turn or knew of nothing else. Sometimes while John was working on one of the cars that was brought into town to be fixed he heard news of his former town Galesburg, it was mostly bad news that he did not wish to learn but he had. Galesburg was said to be a ghost town, with no occupants, it was abandoned after the accident and not a single soul remained. After the accident, no one could find jobs and most ran out of money after John left many of the store owners closed up shop and moved their business somewhere else, which kind of pressured all of the remaining residents to pack up and leave to another town to live
John says in the movie he’s always reminded of the crash everyday because of his leg and he doesn't think it's ever gonna go away. His drugs abuse takes over his life causing him to be evicted and become homeless. John family takes him in during his crisis but he begins to steal from them to the point where he steals his mother’s Cadillac from the garage. John ends up living under a bridge because he loses the support of his family. The family last straw is when John joins The Judge Mathis show seeking legal action against Shannon Whisnant for custody over who owns the leg. During the show he’s so high off coke and
The primary source, The Testimony of Young Mine Workers has serval authors, who are Mr. Payne (Coal Master), Ann Eggley, Patience Kershaw and Isabel Wilson (Coal Putter). Some of them are just teenagers, while some are adults.
Homer Hickam thoroughly details much of his childhood and early to late adolescents in his novel “We Are Not Afraid.” Outlined in 4 parts where Hickam details the positive aspects of surviving and making a living working the coal mines. We Are Not Afraid primarily follows working-class Caucasian men, outlining both the positive and negative aspects during this time. As a whole, the novel’s purpose is to turn a disheartening time in history into a time full of pride and happiness. Similar to the memoir Warriors Don’t cry, by Melba Beals, a strong religious atmosphere is present. Coal Miners realize their job is exceptionally dangers, and anticipate the end of their lives. In today's society death is not as prevalent, but it is essential to take death into consideration.
Employees in coal mining are more likely to be killed or get a non-fatal injury or illness and often do not see the sun for days at a time. On the other hand, Rudy would have to work at a steel mill. After high school, Ruettiger went to work at a steel mill but after his best friend died at work there, he knew it was time to get out and chase his dream of playing college football. If this did not work out for him, of course, he would have to return to work at the mill. These two men worked hard to reach their
John still feels as though he can relate with his brother on a new level of trust and respect. “But where was I? Who was I? How did I miss so much (Wideman 687)?” John admits to himself here that the situation with Robby had gotten so out of hand for him and his family most of the time they chose to look away. He has blocked so many wrongful actions from his mind that Robby’s “confession” made him realize all that he had been suppressing for years. John feels like a “hypocrite” because when the TV was stolen his father in law bought him and his wife a new one. With their homeowners insurance though they were refunded 100 dollars. Instead of giving it to his father in law he chose to keep it. When the truth came out his father in law was hurt and felt that John had manipulated the situation. Though this is a small mistake compared to Robby and his crimes,
Even though Dad had been fired from the barite mine, we were able to continue living in the depot by paying rent to the mining company, since not a lot of other families were vying for the place.We now had food in the fridge, at least until it got toward to end of the month, when we usually ran out of money because neither Mom nor Dad ever mastered the art of budgeting” (Walls 76).
According to mom, Dad thought all I was good for was working there as a clerk” (Hickam 45). Sonny realizes his father thinks nothing of him and only expects him to live upto the norm in their society. His mom tells him that no matter what he does, he needs to prove to his worth to his dad and proves that he belongs with everybody. The mine’s cruelty firmly describes the importance to its residents. It represents their daily hard work and desire to make a living and to support their families. The mine, essential to the residents, holds the town together. Many people get the chance to work for the mine, but they simply do not meet the standards while working. As the superintendent, Sonny’s dad bears the duties of announcing the men whose services are futile to the mine. In Chapter 4, Sonny’s dad makes the announcements that could possibly change the lives of some men forever. “Twenty-five men were cut off from the company. The phrase was apt. Not only were the men separated from their work, they were cut off from their homes, credit at the company stores, and identification as a Coalwood citizen. The miners cut off were required to leave their houses within two weeks” ( Hickam
The workdays began before dawn in the coal country.When the men and boys got ready for work,they wore different clothing. The men wore rubber boots with coveralls,as the boys pulled on caps,overcoats, and laced up hobnailed boots.The young boys worked in the breaker.The breaker was the tall,gloomy part where coal was broken and
“There Was Blood” by Caleb Crain made light of the mining situation in the United States in late 19th century and early 20th century. Crain started with a description of the tragic event at Ludlow, Colorado where a fight between the Colorado National Guards and several miners. He then described the events leading up to the incident. When the people of Colorado was suffering from “an energy crisis”, they turned to the coals. Coals was used to power everything ranging from “bak[ing] bread” to “powered engines that pumped water.” The mining of coals became immensely popular due to this. However, mining coals was dangerous and hard work. The workers were expendable to companies since they could just hired more men for the work. Companies tried to prevent strikes by building open camps, later concrete and wood house, hospitals, schools, and company stores. The workers felt this was a company’s monopoly and those who spoke out got beaten up. Mining deaths were often in Colorado. When John D. Rockefeller took over the company in Colorado, he assigned LaMont M. Bowers to supervise. Bowers made the conditions worse for the workers. Later, the workers
He refers back to the time when his children were starving, saying that “I would rather cross the Atlantic ten times than hear my children cry for victuals once” (Dowe 43). John is explaining how he would rather risk his own life by crossing the ocean than have his children cry from hunger. Dowe hopes to make his wife realize that it’s worth the long journey. Coming to America is worth the risk because him and his family would not be hungry anymore. In the last paragraph, Dowe puts in writing how America “is a country where a man can stand as a man, and where he can enjoy the fruits of his own exertions, with rational liberty to its fullest extent” (Dowe 59). Dowe says ‘fruits of his own exertions’ as a metaphor for how nobody can take away a person's freedom to live and enjoy life. He needs his wife to understand that they will be safe to do as much as they want in their new life together in
Toward the end of 1948, the Harpenau’s realized that the new technology was advancing past their old mining practices; the crew began to remove the equipment and track from the Christmas Mine. The once believed, “safe mine,” now shows signs of just the opposite. One story that proves the mine unsafe was that a wooden pole propped gently against the ceiling one day wouldn’t budge just days later. On the calm morning of December 16, 1948, the 12 employees of the Christmas Coal mine, continued to remove the expensive metal track along with the last layer of coal. Jacob Harpenau, in charge of the Christmas Mine, had a reputation that is one to look up to. He was known to never send anyone to do a job that he wouldn’t do. He held true to his reputation
John knew he could live with his wrongdoing for his children but then he heard that Glies Cory died by being crushed to death for refusing to go to trial. What really was the last straw was when he saw Rebecca Nurse being brought in and refusing to confess a crime she didn't commit. He then realizes again that honor is more important and proceeds to rip up his signed confession.
The Face of Decline proceeds with the chronological coverage from the start of the mines/mining industry to the decline of the mines/mining industry. First, the book gave a very clear and concise description of the different topics that would be discussed. Also, they discuss how many people’s lives were affected from the mining industry. According to the many different details listed throughout the book, the book focused generally on the importance of the coal mines, the employees, and the hard times that everyone went through during the rising and declining on the mining regions. Next, the book focuses on how being in the mines led to many health problems and even death. Many health problems led to “black lung” which is caused from inhaling the fumes and dust from being in the coal mines. The integration of the personal input and interviews about how their lives were directly affected by the coal mining industry was a very effective strategy.
The suffering of farmers caused them to lose money, crops, and their farm lands. Farmers have nowhere to go now that they have lost their farm land and no longer have any money. The farmers are suggesting on going to California to find work. The farmers lands will be destroyed with tractors and their houses will be tore down. Jim Casy and the Joad family go into the town to sell their belongings hoping to sell them for enough money that they can buy themselves are car to go to California. The family are in a used truck going to
Germinal, based on the landmark novel by Emile Zola, presents a startlingly authentic and powerful look into the tumultuous, tragedy-riddled lives of 19th century French coal miners. Forced to endure hellish conditions, risk death and dismemberment, and work from before dawn until after dusk, these men and women had only one alternative to mining: starvation. Germinal is not a happy story, but it is impossible not to sense the realism that pervades the project.