Oil! · Chapter
XII explained
Bunny confronts his father about money, revealing that Daniel Webster Irving is blacklisted from teaching due to his radical views.
What happens
Bunny confronts his father about money, revealing that Daniel Webster Irving is blacklisted from teaching due to his radical views. Bunny proposes using funds to start a labor college, but Dad is skeptical, seeing it as a breeding ground for socialism.
Themes in this chapter
Idealism vs. Pragmatism
Bunny's idealistic vision of a labor college teaching open-mindedness clashes with Dad's pragmatic view that it will produce 'reds' and undermine capitalism.
Class Struggle and Labor
The proposed labor college is explicitly aimed at educating young workers for the labor struggle, highlighting class conflict.
Characters to notice
- Bunny Ross
Confronts his father about money and proposes funding a labor college for workers' education.
- Dad Ross
Alarmed by Bunny's request, he is skeptical of the labor college and fears it will promote socialism.
- Daniel Webster Irving
Blacklisted from teaching; Bunny seeks to help him by funding a labor college he would run.
- Harry Seager
Discussed with Bunny the possibility of starting a labor college.
- Peter Nagle
Discussed with Bunny the possibility of starting a labor college.
Key passages
“Look here, Dad! If you’ve got five hundred for a joke with Eli Watkins, I want five hundred for something serious.”
Bunny confronts his father, demanding the same amount of money Dad gave to Eli Watkins for a serious cause.
Bunny uses Dad's previous financial transaction as leverage for his own request.
“They don’t teach them anything about labor. At least they don’t teach them anything that’s true. So the labor men are founding places where bright young fellows can be fitted to take their part in the labor struggle.”
Bunny argues that regular schools fail to educate workers about labor issues, so labor activists are creating alternative colleges.
Bunny justifies the need for a labor college by criticizing mainstream education.
“I don’t mind your giving five hundred to Mr. Irving, but it’s going to be kind of tough on me if I’m to spend my life earning money, and then you spend it teaching young people that I haven’t got any right to it!”
Dad worries that Bunny's donation will be used to teach workers that his wealth is illegitimate.
Dad foresees the ideological conflict between his capitalist earnings and the labor college's teachings.