The Flivver King Henry Ford - 1571 Words

The Flivver King: A Story of Ford America In the early 1900’s Henry Ford developed the idea of â€Å"a wagon that will run without a horse†.1 This idea and Ford’s success changed America and its people forever. The development of the automobile played a tremendous role in the economy, labor unions and society. Generally, when most people think of Henry Ford they reflect upon his wealth and contributions to the transportation industry as an infinitely positive phenomenon. It is thought that aside from just allowing consumers to purchase and use his inventions, he provided thousands of people with jobs and the promise of prosperity. The tale of Henry Ford’s legendary business and remarkably effective assembly line is unparalleled in†¦show more content†¦It was hopeful to think that if his idea of the automobile were to take off that he would contribute these ideals to the normally egotistic ways of capitalism. Later on in the story, after Ford transforms his idea into an extremely powerf ul mass production company, Sinclair makes it obvious that he is starting to change. Abner was as devoted as an employee could be. From the get go he admired Henry Ford and his attitude towards the inventor were hard to alter. At the beginning of the book the reader gets the same sense but it wasn’t until later on that the reader starts to see some of the fluctuations that Henry Ford starts to make in terms of how he handles his business. Some say it was because of the hard times beginning from what we know now as the Great Depression but whatever the reason, a recognizable shift was occurring the Ford’s ethics. After being temporarily laid-off for a while, Abner returns to work to realize that some things were different. Sinclair describes the situation by writing, â€Å"They put him back on the line. ‘We make no attempt to coddle the people who work with us,’ wrote Henry; so nobody apologized to Abner for his loss of status. ‘Men work for money,â €™ said the master.†4 At this point the reader is led to believe that the man who sent these messages seems like a completely different man from the beginning of theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Upton Sinclair s The Flivver King 1413 Words   |  6 PagesFlivver King Writing Assignment Zack Seymour US 102/ Professor Ward The Flivver King by Upton Sinclair tackles many social issues that were coming to be in the early 1900’s. Upton Sinclair used fictional characters in his book to depict how society viewed the rise of Ford and other enterprises. As a â€Å"muckraker† Sinclair had meaning behind every character and action in this book. His goal was to expose corporate enterprises for the â€Å"crimes† (no socialism or unionization) they had been committing.