Essay Questions

Why don't the workers understand Moore's predicament and what he is doing?

The workers do not understand the bigger picture when it comes to Moore's plans for the factory. They see a greedy factory owner who is going to introduce more efficient equipment so that it will do the work of actual people, resulting in lay-offs. They do not realize that if he does not get the new equipment, the productivity of the factory will fall behind their competitors. Orders will dry up, and he will be forced to lay off even more workers. They cannot see that by letting a few of the workers go he is saving as many as he can. They judge him very harshly and cannot see that there is any kind of pragmatism in his decisions or plans. To the workers, he is the man who does not care about them and is determined to exploit them, or replace them with machinery.

Shirley is described as having the character of a man. What does this mean?

It is almost offensive to read that a woman with any kind of independent spirit or gumption is considered to be more like a man than a woman. Of course, this was a reflection of the times, when women were not supposed to have spunk or an independent streak at all. Shirley is not the typical woman of her time. She is fiercely independent. She comes and goes as she pleases, not as her elders tell her. She strikes out on her own, is bold, and does not want to be held back by the constraints of her gender. In this way, she is seen by her peers to be more like a man than a woman.

Shirley believes Robert's first love to be his factory. What are her reasons for thinking this? Is she right?

Shirley believes that Robert's first love is his factory because it appears to be the thing that he prioritizes most. He is not a particular believer in, or fan of, marriage. He thinks that marriage is designed to make both parties miserable. He cites many examples of unhappy marriages and thinks that married people are not happy. He also believes that far from being a social shame of some sort, being an unmarried woman is the preferred option to an undesirable marriage.

Shirley knows that Caroline is falling in love with Robert, and feels that if he felt the same way, he would act on his feelings. However, he never seems to take the opportunity to spend time with her, because he is always rushing off to attend to other matters at the factory. It seems to be all that he thinks about even when in the company of a lovely young lady.

Caroline feels that Robert prefers Shirley to her, but still sees that he seems to choose to attend to factory matter more than he wants to attend to her. Shirley's belief is that he is so devoted to the factory that there is no room in his life, or his heart, for anything else, including a relationship with a woman.