''Out of This Furnace'' is a
historical novel and the best-known work of the American writer
Thomas Bell. It was first published in 1941 by
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
.
Description
The novel is set in
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 census.
The borough is represented by the ...
, a
steel town just east of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, along the
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-cen ...
. Based upon Bell's own family of
Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn l ...
and
Slovak immigrants, the story follows three generations of a family, starting with their migration in 1881 from
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
to the United States, and finishing with
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The novel focuses on the steelworkers' attempt to unionize from 1889, the first
Homestead strike
The Homestead strike, also known as the Homestead steel strike, Homestead massacre, or Battle of Homestead, was an industrial lockout and strike that began on July 1, 1892, culminating in a battle in which strikers defeated private security age ...
(mentioned by Andrej on p. 38) through the big Homestead Steel Strike of 1892, the Great
Steel Strike of 1919 right after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and the events of the 1930s. A common connection of struggle, poverty, and entire need of the characters of forces out of their control come together to tell a story of a tragic depiction of a truly troubled group of people. Shared with unbearable financial adversity, the Rusyns and Slovaks nicknamed "Hunkies" were also exposed to discrimination by other "Americans." The novel's title refers to the central role of the
steel mill in the family's life and in the history of the Pittsburgh region.
Reissue
Long out of print, the novel was rediscovered in the 1970s by
David P. Demarest, a professor of English at
Carnegie Mellon University, who convinced director
Frederick A. Hetzel at the
University of Pittsburgh Press
The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The press ...
to reissue it in 1976. The book quickly became a regional bestseller. By the 1980s, however, it found an even larger readership on American college campuses. ''Out of This Furnace'' is regularly used as required reading in universities to introduce students to the history of
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
,
industrialization, and the rise of
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
ism, as well as to the
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of the American
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
novel.
Adaptations
The novel was adapted into a play by
Andy Wolk
Andy Wolk is an American television and theatre director.
His television credits include ''Tales from the Crypt (TV series), Tales of the Crypt'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Arliss (TV series), Arli$$'', ''The Practice'', ''The Division'', ''Medium (TV ...
, and
Pittsburgh theatre company Iron Clad Agreement mounted a well-received production of it in 1977.
Unseam'd Shakespeare Company mounted successful productions of the play in 2008 (as part of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary) and 2011.
[Carter, Alice T. (2011-06-03).]
"'Out of This Furnace' Returns on a Smaller Production Scale."
''TribLive.com''. Trib Total Media, Inc. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
Further reading
*
*
References
{{Reflist
American historical novels
Rusyn-American history
Slovak-American history
1941 American novels
Novels set in Pittsburgh
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Rusyn-American culture in Pennsylvania
Slovak-American culture in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Labor History
American novels adapted into plays
Rusyn culture