100 pages • 3 hours read
Upton SinclairA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-18
Chapters 19-21
Chapters 22-24
Chapters 25-27
Chapters 28-30
Chapters 31-33
Chapters 34-36
Chapters 37-39
Chapters 40-42
Chapters 43-45
Chapters 46-48
Chapters 49-51
Chapters 52-54
Chapters 55-57
Chapters 58-60
Chapters 61-63
Chapters 64-66
Chapters 67-69
Chapters 70-72
Chapters 73-75
Chapters 76-78
Chapters 79-81
Chapters 82-84
Chapters 85-92
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Abner forgets to write an address on the envelope but sends his letter. He spends the next day waiting anxiously for a response until Milly and Daisy scold him and he goes out looking for work again. Meanwhile, the letter reaches Mrs. Ford’s secretary, who follows protocol and has an employee investigate Abner Shutt. When the investigation shows that Abner’s claim to have worked for Ford for 30 years is true, the company sends a field worker to the Shutt home.
The field worker, finding only Milly at home, confirms the truth of Abner’s story: Abner was truly hired by Ford himself and is struggling to support his sick wife. The Shutt family is overjoyed when a letter arrives instructing Abner to report for work at the Highland Park plant. Abner’s new task is inserting screws on the assembly line two days a week, and the $8 he earns sounds “like heaven to people who had been so near to starving” (184). Abner writes Mrs. Ford a thank-you letter “of touching gratitude” and she carries the letter in her purse to show people “what a good and kind institution the Ford Motor Company was” (184).