Man vs. Machine
Chaplin learned that men were suffering from nervous breakdowns on the assembly lines at Henry Ford's auto plants, and was moved by this to make the incompatibility of man and machines into a major theme in Modern Times. For the first few scenes of the film, the Tramp is gradually broken down by a machine that keeps on speeding up and expecting more and more from him. He nearly becomes a piece of machinery himself, able only to tighten bolts, as shown when he continues twitching as if tightening bolts even when he leaves the line. He fights this off twice and shakes the twitches away, but is eventually sucked into the gears of the machine, symbolically succumbing and become part of the machine. This proves too much for the Tramp, who then completely breaks down and runs around the factory trying to destroy it. This theme comes back later, when the Tramp is back in the factory and the machine angrily spits the tools at him and the mechanic, and when the mechanic is eventually sucked into the machine in a similar way. The growth that came from the factories at this time was enormous, and while the country saw new inventions make life better for some, many suffered in order to make that progress possible, as Chaplin points out in the film.
Looming presence of the powerful, powerlessness of the poor
In the early factory scenes, we see The Tramp take a smoke break in the bathroom and the President of the factory booms in over a closed circuit television to tell him to get back to work. This ubiquitous presence, as well as the President having the only voice in the factory, creates a feeling that the powerful (those connected with industry or the government) are constantly looming over the workers or the less fortunate, and gives a sense that the workers are always under watch or being controlled. We also see this when the workers enter the factory, and the foremen are shot from below as they stand high up on machines and walkways, watching over the workers. We also feel this presence in the end of the film, in the welfare officers' search for The Gamin. Throughout the entire film, we know that the police are present and ready to detain anyone breaking the law. All of these are forces that the working man constantly feels in his day to day life. In order to prevent rebellion, the ruling class trains workers to be obedient and subservient. This is shown clearly with the Tramp’s obsession with punching in his time card, one of the important rules of his supervisor. He must punch in and out when he goes to the bathroom, and even punches in and out when he runs out of the factory and returns during his nervous breakdown.
Unemployment, Poverty, and Crime
Unemployment is ubiquitous throughout the film, as most people struggle to find work and, as a result, struggle to support themselves. The Tramp has incredible difficulty finding work after his first stint in the mental hospital, and the Gamin’s father struggles similarly. Machines have replaced human jobs under the pretense that they will increase efficiency and improve lives, but mostly they have only succeeded in creating mass poverty. We also see the link between poverty and the prison system when the Tramp goes around the city trying to get himself arrested because at least he will be fed in prison. This suggests a strong critique of the lack of a practical welfare system, the absence of which makes it better to be in jail than among the unemployed. Unemployment also causes an increase in crime, and we see former factory workers stealing at the department store not because they are ruthless thieves, but because they are hungry. This is hardly different from the Gamin’s stealing of bananas to feed her family at the start of the film.
Technology and Efficiency
One of Chaplin’s biggest issues with the advancement of technology was the obsession with efficiency that came with it. In a conversation with Gandhi before producing the film, Chaplain came to see that technology that only considered profit had ruined lives and caused unemployment. Because of this, he tried to use the film to dramatize the problems with excessive technological efficiency. We see early on that the President’s desire to speed up the factory more and more is what causes the Tramp’s breakdown, but he even more poignantly criticizes efficiency with the feeding machine sequence. The use of a “mechanical salesmen” is meant to demonstrate that efficiency can quickly become ridiculous, as this technology is used to standardize the sales pitch, but takes away a job from the salesmen even though they need to be there anyway to show off the machine. The machine itself is also ridiculous—in an effort to increase efficiency, it turns the workers into animals who feed at a trough, and takes away a great deal of their freedom. The final punch line in the scene is when the President rejects the machine, not because of the harm it caused his workers, but simply because it is not practical or efficient enough.
Communism and Workers' Rights
Communism and labor unions feature heavily in the film, and this focus likely came both from the prevalence of labor struggles at the time, as well as Chaplin’s sympathy with workers’ rights movements. He was becoming increasingly outspoken about his political views and was just beginning to suffuse them into his films at this time, and he staunchly opposed the treatment of workers and unions by the government and industry leaders. Anti-communist attitudes were mounting during this time, especially in the US, toward a peak in the 1940s and 1950s, and he saw these attitudes as oppressive.
Chaplain criticizes communist paranoia clearly in the scene in which the Tramp is arrested (and beaten) as a communist simply for waving a flag in the wrong place at the wrong time. Throughout the film, we see examples of police being used to break up workers protests, treating workers with excessive force, and constantly siding with industry over workers, which Chaplin saw as problematic and undemocratic. These opinions would get Chaplin in trouble in the US later, where he was suspected of having communist ties and had his visa revoked during the years of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Hope and The Good Life
Despite the hardship that the Tramp and the Gamin face, they maintain hope for a better life throughout the film, which keeps them going. Until he meets the Gamin, the Tramp seems to have given up on a better life and is resigned to returning to prison in order to at least stay fed. Once they are together, she brings hope back into his life, and they build each other up and help each other maintain hope. They plan a future together, and the fantasy sequence of them in a suburban house together shows their idea of what a good life entails—they live peacefully in a large, clean house with plenty of room, and most importantly, they always have plenty to eat. Despite having, in reality, almost nothing, their hope for this life sustains them, maintains their relationship, and keeps them going through even terrible circumstances. The ending of the film more clearly articulates this idea, as the Gamin is ready to give up and begins crying, but the Tramp turns her mood around by getting her to buck up and maintain hope. After this touching scene, they walk into the sunset cheerfully, as if they have little to worry about and a happy life.
Class Divisions and Hunger
The main characters of the film are almost constantly starving, having very little to feed themselves, and often needing to steal to survive. We see that the Gamin must steal bananas to feed her family, and that their family dinner consists only of those bananas. Later, she meets the Tramp while trying to steal a loaf of bread to feed herself. In prison, the Tramp hardly gets anything to eat, but it is better than nothing, and so he tries to return—because at least there he won't starve to death. Big Bill and two other unemployed men break into the department store in order feed themselves. At the same time, we see that many of the wealthy in society live opulently, with plenty to eat and many luxuries. This divide is shown most clearly in the department store sequence—in the night, the Tramp and the Gamin are able to briefly experience life the way the other half lives, and they forget their troubles and have fun for a night. They finally feed themselves, and they are able to enjoy recreation and a comfortable bed. The fact that their class bars them from true access to such things is apparent the next morning, when they are found to be out of place in the department store and are removed. We can also clearly see how much more the wealthy have, to a point that is excessive, while the poor have almost nothing. These divisions come out clearly earlier as well, when the Gamin tries to steal the bread and a wealthy woman in fine clothes, who cannot understand the Gamin’s struggles, gets her in trouble. In the fantasy sequence as well, we see that part of how the Tramp thinks the wealthy live is that they have so much food that they can just waste it and throw away half-eaten oranges.
