# XVII: The Exposure explained — Oil! > Chapter companion for Oil! by Upton Sinclair. ## What happens Bunny Ross visits the jailed radical oil workers and is deeply moved by their plight. He pressures his father and Vernon Roscoe to secure their release, threatening to speak at a protest meeting and involve Annabelle. Roscoe eventually intervenes, and the prisoners are freed. Later, Bunny negotiates a fund for radical education, offering Rachel Menzies a job to run a socialist paper. ## Themes in this chapter ### Class Struggle and Labor The jailed oil workers represent the fight for labor rights against the 'open shop' business interests. ### Corruption and Power Vernon Roscoe uses his political influence to secure the prisoners' release, highlighting the corrupt ties between business and justice. ### Idealism vs. Pragmatism Bunny's moral outrage clashes with his father's pragmatic concerns about family and business relationships. ## Character check-ins ### Bunny Ross Visits jailed radicals, pressures his father and Vernon Roscoe, and negotiates a fund for socialist propaganda. ### Dad Ross Reluctantly supports Bunny's demands, conveys ultimatum to Vernon Roscoe, and arranges a fund for education. ### Vernon Roscoe Returns from Washington and uses his influence to have the syndicalism cases dropped. ### Paul Watkins Planned as principal speaker at the protest meeting; his case is part of the political prisoner situation. ### Rachel Menzies Bunny offers her a paid position to run a socialist paper and continue her work with the Ypsels. ### Vee Tracy Gets back her ten thousand dollars bail after the prisoners are released. ## Key lines > Bunny had sent them some books—they were allowed to have books that didn’t look radical to very ignorant jailers, and provided the books came direct from the publishers, so that they would not have to be searched too carefully for concealed objects such as saws and dope. Bunny sent books to the prisoners, which were permitted only if they appeared non-radical and came directly from publishers to avoid suspicion of containing contraband. _Illustrates the censorship and harsh conditions faced by political prisoners._ > I just can’t let my love for any one person in the world take the place of my sense of justice. We’re committing a crime to keep those men in jail, and I say Verne has got to let them out, and if he don’t, then I’m going to make it hot for him. Bunny tells his father that his sense of justice overrides personal loyalty, and he will publicly pressure Vernon Roscoe to free the prisoners. _Shows Bunny's growing radicalism and willingness to confront power._ > A thousand dollars a month! Gee whiz! Bunny forgot the standards of his own class, according to which a thousand dollars a month would not keep a string of polo-ponies or a small racing yacht; he thought according to the standards of the radicals, to whom a thousand dollars a month meant a whole labor college or a weekly paper! Bunny realizes that a sum trivial to the wealthy could fund substantial radical propaganda, shifting his perspective to that of the activists. _Highlights the class divide and Bunny's ideological transformation._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/oil_se/chapters/xvii-the-exposure - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/oil_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/oil_se/chapters