Poverty in “Life in the Iron Mills” and “Poor in the City”

            In reading through Godey’s Lady’s Book, I ran across an article entitled “Poor in the City.”  While skimming through this article I found myself thinking back to Rebecca Harding Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills” and how different the depictions of poverty and the conditions in which people were living were between these two pieces.  The article “Poor in the City” is a very short article written by the editor, Sarah Hale which compares poor people living in the city to those living in the country and attempts to explain why poor people flock to the city.  It was published in 1856, in the LII Volume of Godey’s Lady’s Book.  Rebecca Harding Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills” was written in 1861, only five years later.  This story discusses the struggles of those individuals who worked at an iron mill, located most likely in Wheeling, Virginia [now West Virginia].  In each of these pieces the authors deal with the social, political, and personal aspects of poverty but each examines them from different angles.  “Poor in the City” looks at poverty in a much more positive, romanticized way while “Life in the Iron Mills” examines poverty from a very realistic and often dreary point of view.  By analyzing these two pieces, specifically their explanation of the city and what it represents and their examination of the relationship between the rich and the poor, the reader can see how these two authors view poverty in very different manners despite living during the same time period. 

            The first difference which can be seen between the two writers is in their description of their surroundings.  In “Poor in the City”, Hale opens up her article by asking the question of why the poor gather in the city.  In answering this question, she gives a very brief description of their surroundings.  She writes, “In the city, even in its crowd, and filth, and bustle, hope may cast her anchor…and the poor man hopes to be spared reviling when he casts his lot with his own caste, in the all-encircling city” (178).  Hale uses three negative words to describe the city yet when reading this line, I had this feeling that the city offered hope not only to those individuals who were poor, but for all people.  Hale does not give the much detail about the city but instead leaves it up to the reader to imagine what the city would look like.  By giving the reader a sense of hope at the end of the line, the city does not appear to be unpleasant, but rather the best place for the poor to live.  However, in “Life in the Iron Mills”, Davis depicts a very different setting.  She writes, “The idiosyncrasy of this town is smoke.  It rolls sullenly in slow folds from the great chimneys of the iron-foundries, and settles down in black, slimy pools on the muddy streets…Smoke everywhere!  A dirty canary chirps desolately in a cage beside me.  Its dream of green fields and sunshine is a very old dream—almost worn out, I think” (1191).  In these lines, Davis gives a very dreary yet realistic depiction of an iron mill town.  This town offers no hope not only for the canary, but it also for the individuals who live there.  From these opening passages, the cities of which they described represented something very different.  In “Poor in the City”, the town of which Hale describes represents a positive symbol of hope and strength.  I had the feeling that the poor would be protected and could advance themselves and escape poverty in the city which Hale was describing.  In “Life in the Iron Mills”, the city, for me, represented entrapment and dreariness.  Poor individuals, once there, could never escape their social standing. 

            Another instance in which the two authors vary greatly is in their description of the relationship between the rich and the poor.  Hale describes this relationship in the way it should be rather than the way it is.  She states:

“Misery loves misery” and this enjoyment is of course, from a more abundant source in the city…And if here the poor man looks up to so many more blessed than himself, yet, in most cases, he can obey the precept to look down rather upon those who are not even so unfortunate as he.  With scripture precedent in his favor, the poor man can wait for the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table. (178)

Hale, through this description, sees the rich and poor interacting in such a way as to make one another grateful and more appreciative for what they do have.  This is a very romantic way of thinking.  On the other hand, Davis, through her story, gives a realistic picture of this type of relationship.  She states, “the overseer, Clarke—a son of Kirby, one of the mill-owners—and a Doctor May…Wolfe came closer.  He seized eagerly every chance that brought him into contact with this mysterious class that shone down on him perpetually with the glamour of another order of being.  What made the difference between them?” (1198-99).  Through these lines Davis shows how the rich view themselves, and are viewed by others, as being superior to the lower class.  They have what ever they want and do not have to share with those less fortunate.  However, the poor know what they need to survive and can see that those who are rich possess it.  It is this relationship which causes the conflict of Davis’ story as well as the conflict within our society today.  This is why Davis’ depiction is much more realistic.

            Although these pieces were very different, they each brought about some very interesting ideas about poverty and the issues that surround it.  It is interesting to note that despite being written within five years of one another, the ideas and simply the writing styles were very different, yet the issue remains the same. By comparing and contrasting these two pieces it allowed me to have a better grasp not only on the literary differences of the 1800’s but also to realize that even though many things have changed over the past 150 years, many things have stayed the same.  

 
Works Cited

Davis, Rebecca Harding.  “Life in the Iron Mills.”  The Norton Anthology of American

            Literature.  Ed. Nina Baym.  New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.  1191-

            1217.

Hale, Sarah.  “Poor in the City.”  Godey’s Lady’s Book.  Ed. Sarah Hale.  Vol. LII. 

            Philadelphia, 1856.  178.