Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis
He had stepped aside where the light fell boldest on the figure, looking at it in silence. There was not one line of beauty or grace in it: a nude woman's form, muscular, grown coarse with labor, the powerful limbs instinct with some one poignant longing. One idea: there it was in the tense, rigid muscles, the clutching hands, the wild, eager face, like that of a starving wolf's. Kirby and Doctor May walked around it, critical, curious. Mitchell stood aloof, silent. The figure touched him strangely.
“Not badly done,” said Doctor May, “Where did the fellow learn that sweep of the muscles in the arm and hand? Look at them! They are groping, do you see?—clutching: the peculiar action of a man dying of thirst.”
“They have ample facilities for studying anatomy,” sneered Kirby, glancing at the half-naked figures.
“Look,” continued the Doctor, “at this bony wrist, and the strained sinews of the instep! A working-woman,—the very type of her class.”
“God forbid!” muttered Mitchell.
“Why?” demanded May, “What does the fellow intend by the figure? I cannot catch the meaning.”
“Ask him,” said the other, dryly, “There he stands,”—pointing to Wolfe, who stood with a group of men, leaning on his ash-rake.
The Doctor beckoned him with the affable smile which kind-hearted men put on, when talking to these people.
“Mr. Mitchell has picked you out as the man who did this,—I'm sure I don't know why. But what did you mean by it?”
“She be hungry.”
Wolfe's eyes answered Mitchell, not the Doctor.
“Oh-h! But what a mistake you have made, my fine fellow! You have given no sign of starvation to the body. It is strong,—terribly strong. It has the mad, half-despairing gesture of drowning.”
Wolfe stammered, glanced appealingly at Mitchell, who saw the soul of the thing, he knew. But the cool, probing eyes were turned on himself now,—mocking, cruel, relentless.
“Not hungry for meat,” the furnace-tender said at last.
“What then? Whiskey?” jeered Kirby, with a coarse laugh.
Wolfe was silent a moment, thinking.
“I dunno,” he said, with a bewildered look. “It mebbe. Summat to make her live, I think,—like you. Whiskey ull do it, in a way.”
The young man laughed again. Mitchell flashed a look of disgust somewhere,—not at Wolfe.
“May,” he broke out impatiently, “are you blind? Look at that woman's face! It asks questions of God, and says, 'I have a right to know,' Good God, how hungry it is!”
Style Analysis of Rebecca Harding Davis
In Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis, the author chooses some very powerful style devices to convey truly the issues of factory workers in the 1860s. In this realistic novella, the story revolves around themes of workers rights and uses a story telling format to transcend this idea. Since the novel was written in 1861, the story is intended to be an expose of how iron mills functioned at this time in history. Harding Davis both paints a vivid description of the statue and uses codeswitching in an interesting context in this passage. By using these two devices Rebecca Harding Davis builds a beautiful juxtaposition of style devices to radiate an important message in her expose. The first style device used by Harding Davis is the use of airy poetic writing. She uses an ethereal word choice to detail out a korl woman crafted by an iron worker named Wolfe. By doing this, she opens up the dialogue for the reader. No longer is this sculpture just a rough-hewn piece, but yet the korl woman is this delicately crafted even to the smallest details. A great example of this poetic footing is the line “the powerful limbs instinct with some one poignant longing” (Harding Davis). This quote does a great job transcending the typical description of an object but yet adds feelings to the sculpture. By describing the korl woman this well, it helps add value to the conversation later presented.
Another interesting style device used in Rebecca Harding Davis’ piece is the use of mixing languages. Not in the sense of bilingualism, but in terms of class language. In this conversation we see a reporter (Mitchell), a doctor (unnamed), the iron mill overseer (Kirby), and an iron worker (Wolfe). For most of the conversation we can see the three ‘white collar’ characters talking down towards Wolfe. The interesting part of this device is that although Wolfe comes across as less educated, his art transcends words and even wittily replies to the doctor. This can be seen in the quote"
“Not hungry for meat,” the furnace-tender said at last.
“What then? Whiskey?” jeered Kirby, with a coarse laugh.
Wolfe was silent a moment, thinking.
“I dunno,” he said, with a bewildered look. “It mebbe. Summat to make her live, I think,—like you. Whiskey ull do it, in a way”" (Harding Davis). Wolfe acknowledges this talking past each other, even though he is perceived to be the uneducated speaker in this conversation. This is a powerful message conveyed by the author by highlighting people’s ignorance. The quote shows that even though they are speaking “different” languages, it’s the high-class people who don’t understand the plight of the workers. With the poetic description of the korl woman and the codeswitch between the “different” languages, this shows a contrast between the workers’ struggles and the beautiful art produced. By paralleling these two style moves, the reader is set up with a scene that is painted beautifully conveying the authors aim.
