King Coal · Chapter
XVII explained
Hal meets Jerry Minetti, a cheerful Italian shot-firer, and his family, including his young son Little Jerry.
What happens
Hal meets Jerry Minetti, a cheerful Italian shot-firer, and his family, including his young son Little Jerry. Impressed by their warm home and hospitality, Hal arranges to board with them, learning about Jerry's socialist views and the relative prosperity of those who manage to avoid the worst of mining life.
Themes in this chapter
Gender and Family in Industrial Life
The Minetti family represents a rare domestic haven in the coal district, with Rosa's cooking and the couple's shared socialist beliefs challenging traditional gender roles.
Awakening and Class Consciousness
Jerry Minetti's socialist views and willingness to speak about graft in North Valley reflect a growing class consciousness among some miners.
Characters to notice
- Jerry Minetti
A Milanese shot-firer, about twenty-five, of good stature, who becomes one of Hal's best friends. He is a Socialist and takes an Italian Socialist paper.
- Little Jerry
Jerry Minetti's young son, a cheerful boy in new blue overalls who imitates his father's walk and swears in English.
- Rosa Minetti
Jerry's wife, a black-eyed Sicilian girl who is also a Socialist and a good cook.
- Hal Warner
The protagonist, who befriends Jerry Minetti and arranges to board with his family.
Key passages
“Such conditions made the coal-district a place of despair. Yet there were men who managed to get along somehow, and to raise families and keep decent homes.”
Despite the general hopelessness of the coal district, some men succeeded in maintaining families and homes.
Introduces the contrast between typical mining life and the relative success of men like Jerry Minetti.
“He was a Milanese, and his name was Gerolamo, which had become Jerry in the 'melting-pot.'”
Jerry Minetti, originally Gerolamo from Milan, had his name Americanized in the melting pot of immigration.
Highlights the assimilation of Italian immigrants in America.
“Minetti was a Socialist, Hal learned; he took an Italian Socialist paper, and the clerk at the post-office knew what sort of paper it was, and would 'josh' him about it.”
Hal discovered that Jerry was a Socialist who read an Italian Socialist newspaper, and the post-office clerk teased him about it.
Reveals Jerry's political leanings and the social awareness of his reading material.