# XVII explained — King Coal

> Chapter companion for King Coal by Upton Sinclair.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se/chapters/xvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se/chapters