Response 1 In the short story, “Life in the Iron Mills”, by Rebecca Harding Davi

Response 1 In the short story, “Life in the Iron Mills”, by Rebecca Harding Davis there are two characters that stand out to me when I think of boldness. The first is Hugh Wolfe. He is a furnace tender who works in the Iron mills in the 1800’s. He is depicted as ” A morbid, gloomy man, untaught, unled, left to feed his soul in grossness and crime, and hard labor, grinding labor.” (Davis,1861/2023, p.1257), yet he displays that there is much more going on with him than appears. A group of distinguished men come to tour the iron mills and discover a life size figure carved out of korl. They are in awe of how well it is sculptured and question Hugh, trying to understand the emotions this figure is expressing. He boldy lets them know she is hungry, but not for food. One of the men understand that the hunger is for another life. Considering Wolfe is not well liked at his job, he still holds on to hope for an improved existence, away from poverty, disrespect, and filth.

His cousin Deborah Wolfe is the second character I have chosen to display boldness in the story. She overhears the conversation between the prominent men about Hugh having a chance as a successful artist, if he only had money. Her boldness becomes known when she decides to pick pocket one of the gentlemen and later gives Hugh the money, proudly admitting to her crime, “It is here,” she said, suddenly, jerking into his hand a small roll. “I took it! I did it! Me, me!” (Davis, 1861/2023, p. 1267)

Hereafter Hugh displays another act of boldness by considering keeping the gold and pursuing his dreams. He begins to question why it was not all right for him to live like some of the better off people he passes walking through the town. Later in the story, he is arrested and sentenced to 19 years for theft. He again portrays boldness by trying to escape numerous times and even continues so until his death.

RESPONSE 2 In American literature, boldness is oftenly used as a character trait that distinguishes a major character from others. The most common way that the trait boldness can be reflected is through one’s action or expression. Bold people are always protrayed as risk-taking, confident, and determined. In Rebecca Harding Davis’s book “Life in the Iron Mills”, boldness is displayed in many characters and reflected in different ways.

Hugh Wolf illustrates his boldness through his powerful artworks. There are many moments in the story depicting Hugh working on his artwork. And as the story plot moves on, it is clear to see that Hugh’s art is a way to protest his horrible life in the factory and the injustice of the social class system. The narrator illustrates this idea when he writes, “There was not one line of beauty or grace in it: a nude woman’s form, muscular, grown coarse with labor, the powerful limbs instinct with some one poignant longing” (Davis, 1861). The artwork that Hugh made truyly reflects the figure of a working class person under the harsh working environment. This shows that art is Hugh’s manner to show his anger, suffer, hunger, and poverty in the Iron mill.

Deborah demonstrates her boldness through her selfless love towards Hugh. She is willing to sacrifice herself to bring Hugh to a better place. Her bold act of sacrification was shown when she stole the money and decides to give all of them to Hugh, “I took it! I did it! Me, me!—not hur! I shall be hanged, I shall be burnt in hell, if anybody knows I took it!” (Davis, 1861). Despite Deborah acknowledges the fact that she will face horrible consequence if she got caugh stealing money, she still risks her life in helping Hugh. This selfless love is no doubt a reflection of boldness.

In summary, boldness is a character trait that makes one to stand out. In the book “Life in the Iron Mills”, the trait boldness is reflected by character’s expressions and actions. The trait is found in two characters: Hugh and Deborah. Hugh reflects his act of boldness by protesting, while Deborah reflects her act of boldness by being selfless.

REQUIRMENTS:

• 200 words minimum for each post (excluding quotations and citations)
• Include at least one direct quote from the story to support your ideas. See the Literary Analysis Tools Module from this week’s activities for information about integrating and citing direct quotations.