Oil! · Chapter
III: The Drilling explained
Dad Ross teaches Bunny the oil business, emphasizing practical knowledge over book learning.
What happens
Dad Ross teaches Bunny the oil business, emphasizing practical knowledge over book learning. The Ross family moves to a new town with grandmother and Aunt Emma, who pursue genteel hobbies. Meanwhile, the Bonanza Syndicate collapses, ruining small investors like Mrs. Groarty and Mr. Dumpery, while Dad's Ross-Bankside No. 1 well succeeds. Bunny learns drilling operations and the harsh realities of the oil game.
Themes in this chapter
Oil and Capitalism
The chapter contrasts Dad's successful drilling with the Bonanza Syndicate's fraudulent stock sales, illustrating the boom-and-bust nature of oil capitalism.
Class Struggle and Labor
The drilling crew's respect for Dad as a 'real guy' who eats with them contrasts with the ruin of working-class investors like Mrs. Groarty and Mr. Dumpery.
Deception and Truth
The Bonanza Syndicate's fraudulent stock sales and the subsequent grand jury investigation highlight the theme of deception in the oil business.
Characters to notice
- Bunny Ross
Learns drilling from Dad, observes the collapse of the Bonanza Syndicate and its effect on neighbors.
- Dad Ross
Teaches Bunny the oil business, oversees the successful Ross-Bankside No. 1 well, and comments on the Bonanza Syndicate scandal.
- Old Mrs. Ross
Grandmother, age 75, takes up painting as a hobby, creating a large genteel landscape that hangs in the dining room.
- Aunt Emma
Widow of Dad's drunkard brother, enjoys shopping and attending ladies' club functions to uphold the Ross family prestige.
- Mrs. Groarty
A neighbor ruined by the Bonanza Syndicate collapse; Bunny visits her and sees her faded gentility.
- Mr. Dumpery
Another neighbor who lost money in the Bonanza Syndicate, now returns home wearily from manual labor.
Key passages
“Dad remarked to Bunny that this was probably a shakedown; some of the officials, and maybe some of the newspaper men, desired to be 'seen' by Mr. Kyber.”
Dad suggested to Bunny that the grand jury investigation was likely a shakedown, with officials and journalists wanting bribes from Kyber.
Reflects Dad's cynical view of corruption in business and politics.
“Bunny’s eyes took in these things, and he realized what Dad meant when he compared the oil-game to heaven, where many are called and few are chosen.”
Bunny understood Dad's saying that in the oil business, many try but few succeed, as he saw the ruined hopes of the Groartys and Dumperys.
Highlights the theme of social mobility and the harsh realities of speculation.