VII: The Strike explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Class Struggle and Labor

  The chapter centers on the impending strike, union organizing, and the conflict between workers demanding fair wages and hours and employers bound by a federation that resists concessions.

• Corruption and Power

  Dad Ross reveals how a small group of business elites controls banks, credit, and the entire economic system, forcing compliance through the Employers' Federation and other interlocked organizations.

• Idealism vs. Pragmatism

  Bunny's idealistic views on social justice clash with his father's pragmatic acceptance of business realities, as Dad explains that wealth requires standing with the powerful or being destroyed.

Characters to notice

• Bunny Ross

  Nearly eighteen, Bunny is torn between his father's business pragmatism and the workers' demands, engaging in deep discussions about unions and social ethics.

• Dad Ross

  Dad is financially constrained by the Employers' Federation, unable to grant concessions despite his sympathy for the eight-hour day, and struggles to explain the realities of business to Bunny.

• Paul Watkins

  Paul has joined the carpenters' union and discusses unionization with Bunny, representing the workers' perspective and pushing Bunny to question the status quo.

• Tom Axton

  Tom Axton is the union organizer who challenges Bunny's views, pointing out Dad's ignorance of the Employers' Federation and the spread of discontent among workers.

• Ruth Watkins

  Ruth is the 'Superintendent of Horticultural Operations' at the ranch, managing laborers and the grounds, a minor but present figure in Bunny's domestic life.

Key passages

• “You may find that your father has been neglecting the affairs of his union, just as most of the workers neglect theirs.”

  Tom Axton suggests that Dad Ross, like many workers, has been ignoring the responsibilities of his own employer federation.

  Highlights the theme of class struggle and the hypocrisy of employers who criticize unions while neglecting their own organizations.

• “It will be a strike for the three-shift day, among other things; and when it comes, your father will have to consider whether to deal separately with his own men, or to stand by his employers' union, and let a bunch of big business rowdies drag him into trouble.”

  The organizer predicts a strike for an eight-hour day and warns that Dad will be forced to choose between negotiating directly or being dragged into conflict by the Employers' Federation.

  Foreshadows the central conflict of the chapter and Dad's eventual dilemma.

• “But if Dad were to set out to fight the Federation, he might jist as well forget there was such a thing as a bank in the State of California; he’d have to pay cash for everything, he’d have to stop all his development work, and even then, he mightn’t be able to meet his notes when they fell due.”

  Dad explains that opposing the Federation would cut off all bank credit, forcing him to pay cash and halt development, risking bankruptcy.

  Illustrates the theme of corruption and power, showing how business elites control the economy.

• “Business was business, and not the same as a tea-party. Property was hard to get, and, as he had told his son many times, there was always people trying to take it away from you.”

  Dad justifies the harsh realities of business, arguing that property is precarious and must be defended collectively by the wealthy.

  Reflects the pragmatic worldview that clashes with Bunny's idealism.