Question

Bread and Roses, Too is a fictionalized example of the widespread shift to industrialized capitalism in the United States during the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. What tensions or difficulties does the book document? What were the desires and needs of workers and management? What were the shared labor concerns among workers in early twentieth-century America?

Answer 1

The book captures daily plight and misery of immigrant workers especially the most vulnerable - women and children. in Lawrence and their drive to lead a dignified life and get out of from the clutches of exploitation and oppression from their employers. The migrant workers faced prejudice in the society and shadows, fragments of such prejudice is still very much persistent in the society despite all the modernization and liberalization. The mill workers lived in dire poverty they could barely make ends meet and in order to comply with the new regulation the mill owners made the immigrant workers the scapegoat in order to reduce their cost. The immigrant workers wage was reduced by 32 cents and this was 2 weeks worth of bread for them. The immigrant workers migrated to America with the aim of leading good lives, on the contrary they lead decrepit lives. The earned meagre wages barely sufficient to make a decent living, they could not afford to have a decent house, adequately feed their children and send them to school instead the children were forced to work. Significant number of children died within couple of years of working. In the area where the migrant workers lived, Infant mortality rate was high compared to other areas in the US. The irony was though the migrant workers worked in the textile mills they could not afford to purchase the clothes which they made. The working conditions were pathetic to say the least, the roofs had holes , they were rats on the shop floor, the shop floor was unsanitary and hazardous. The most dehumanizing factor was that the workers were not allowed to use the washroom as the time they spent in the washroom would be a waste for the mill owners hence they were barely allowed to use the washroom, the condition of the washrooms is another debilitating factor in the miserable working condition which the migrant workers had to endure. The migrant workers had to bring toilet paper from home due to the wretched condition of the washroom in the Mill. The migrant workers were considered mere extentions of machinery by the mill owners and not as fellow human beings resulting in their dehumanizing treatment. Oppression, emotional degradation, use of foul & demeaning language by then employers and dehumanizing living & working conditions was the fate which the migrant workers had to endure as a way of their life. The employers treated the migrant workers as mere factory tools from whom they had to extract maximum profits regardless of their wellbeing. The migrant workers were Scorned, Oppressed and Disdained by their employers regardless of their efforts and toiling for 7 days a week 12 hours a day with wages barely enough to make ends meet. The workers were afflicted with hunger and occupational hazards and diseases. Working conditions and life in the Mills and neighbourhood of Lawrence were grinding and miserable. The migrant workers had come to America to lead a descent life instead they found themselves in the lowest paying jobs and tenements in the worst parts of the city. Through the strikes the migrant workers were fighting for the right to lead a meaningful life, right to have enough to eat, to have enough clothes, to feed their children, and have adequate housing and lead a respectable and dignified life and get fair returns for their labor.

The strike was undertaken by the migrant workers against their exploitation, to attain a decent standard of living and get paid fairly for their toil and labor, be treated in a dignified and respectable manner as fellow human beings and not as vermins. They just wanted to actively participate in the economy and get paid for their efforts and lead a life of dignity, freedom and respect. Fair wages ,Respect and Dignity were all the they had aspired for and fought hard to achieve because in all fairness they deserved to be treated equally and fairly.