''Christ in Concrete'' is a

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

novel by Pietro Di Donato about Italian-American

construction worker A construction worker is a worker employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definition By some definitions, workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be sk ...

s. The book, which made Di Donato famous overnight, was originally published by ''

Esquire Magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst Communications, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under t ...

'' as a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

in 1937, and subsequently expanded into a novel by the 28-year-old Di Donato. The novel was inspired by the death of Di Donato's father in a construction accident on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

in 1923. It tells the story of a bricklayer and his struggle to provide a home for his family. As indicated by the title, the novel is noted for its rich religious imagery, presented in a largely

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

stream-of-consciousness style. It was adapted into a

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

motion picture, '' Give Us This Day'', directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ''Crossfire (film), Cros ...

. The movie's background, the director's

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying emplo ...

ing, and subsequent debut of the film in England, is covered on the Di Donato website.

Plot

I. Geremio: Geremio and his coworkers are gruesomely killed on the job when the building they are working on collapses. Geremio is swallowed in wet concrete; as he struggles desperately to breathe, his mind snaps, and he is transported to his sunny seaside youth in Vasto, Italy. The scene depicting the

building collapse, the horrific fate of his ''paesano'' fellow workers, and Geremio's agonizing struggle for air, shocked the American reading public of 1939 and permanently ensconced these characters in 20th Century literature. II. Job: Geremio's pregnant widow, Annunziata, is left with no way to provide for their already-large family. Her brother Luigi promises to help, but soon he himself is injured at work and loses part of his leg. Geremio and Annunziata's oldest son, Paul, tries to find charity from local businesses and from the church, but with no success. He decides to take his father's place as brick-layer, and after a while is accepted by the other workers as having inherited his father's skills; yet, because of his youth, the company pays him only a pittance and Paul overworks himself. In this section, the word "job" is treated like a character and often capitalized. III. Tenement: Unable to work, Paul remains at home; di Donato uses this section to explore some of the other families in the tenement, including the Olsens, whose daughter Gloria attracts Paul, and the Molovs, Russian Jews whose son Louis befriends Paul after telling him about the death of his older brother back in Russia. Also in this section, Annunziata and Paul visit a psychic, who reassures them that Geremio is watching over and praying for them, and attend the hearing at the Compensation Bureau, which ends indecisively with the construction company blaming the workers for the accident and the insurance company claiming the accident falls outside the bounds of the policies they have with the construction company. IV. Fiesta: Paul gets a better-paying job as a bricklayer, and later gets a job working on skyscrapers. Luigi comes home from the hospital and eventually marries Cola, providing the fiesta of the title. V. Annunziata: The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

hits, and Paul helps his mentor Nazone get work, only to have Nazone fall to his death after a fight with the foreman. Distraught, Paul tells his mother that he no longer believes in God or in the afterlife, a confession that shatters her and for which he spends the final pages asking forgiveness.

Characters

*Paul *Geremio *Annunziata *Luigi *Nazone *Louis

External links

On the Pietro Di Donato website
a full discussion of the creation of Christ in Concrete, including its context in depression-era American literature, biographical material on the author, an
Fred L. Gardaphe's
introduction to the 1993 Signet Classic paperback edition of the novel.
"Christ in Concrete and the Failure of Catholicism," by Sarah BenelliSpecial Collections at Stony Brook University house the Di Donato manuscripts, papers and various related artifacts

Pietro di Donato papers
at th
Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries

English students at Stony Brook University explore literary history, conducting research using one-of-a-kind, rare primary sources from the Pietro di Donato Collection

References

{{Reflist 1939 American novels Italian-American novels American novels adapted into films Novels set in New York City Fiction set in the 1920s Italian-American culture in New York City Novels based on actual events Novels set in the 1920s 1939 debut novels Bobbs-Merrill Company books