King Coal · Chapter
XIII explained
Hal and Mary encounter her drunken father, revealing the deep-seated problem of alcohol in the mining community.
What happens
Hal and Mary encounter her drunken father, revealing the deep-seated problem of alcohol in the mining community. Mary expresses her hatred for O'Callahan, who profits from selling liquor to the miners, and her frustration with the company's indifference. Hal reflects on the hypocrisy of the Reverend Spragg, who preaches temperance while ignoring the systemic exploitation that drives men to drink.
Themes in this chapter
Class Conflict and Exploitation
Mary's anger at O'Callahan and the company's profiting from alcohol sales illustrates the exploitation of miners by those who control their livelihoods.
Illusion of the American Dream
Hal's realization that the church and company offer only empty promises of future reward while plundering workers in the present underscores the shattered dream of upward mobility.
Gender and Family in Industrial Life
Mary's burden of her father's alcoholism and her role in the family highlights the gendered impact of industrial poverty.
Characters to notice
- Hal Warner
Walks home with Mary, witnesses her father's drunkenness, and reflects on the drink problem and the hypocrisy of the church.
- Mary Burke
Reveals her father's alcoholism and her hatred for O'Callahan; discusses the systemic causes of drinking in the mining camp.
- Reverend Spragg
Passes Hal on the street; his sermons are criticized as a mockery, focusing on heavenly rewards while ignoring earthly exploitation.
- Patrick Burke
Mary's father, seen lurching drunkenly home, causing Mary distress.
Key passages
“Oh, how I hate O’Callahan, that sells the stuff to my father! His home with plenty to eat in it, and his wife dressin’ in silk and goin’ down to mass every Sunday, and thinkin’ herself too good for a common miner’s daughter!”
Mary expresses her hatred for O'Callahan, who profits from selling alcohol to her father, while his own family lives in comfort and looks down on her.
Mary's outburst reveals the class resentment and the systemic nature of the drink problem.
“What a mockery it seemed! Once, indubitably, people had believed such doctrines; they had been willing to go to the stake for them. But now nobody went to the stake for them—on the contrary, the company compelled every worker to contribute out of his scanty earnings towards the preaching of them.”
Hal reflects on the hypocrisy of the church, which once inspired martyrdom but now serves the company by extracting money from workers for empty promises.
This passage critiques the co-opting of religion by corporate interests to maintain control over the workforce.